TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jun 26, 2015

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the definition of “violent felony” in the Armed Career Criminals Act is unconstitutionally vague, the ABA Journal reports. The law increases sentencing for a gun-related conviction if the defendant has at least three prior violent felony convictions. “Violent felony convictions” are defined to include “conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” The court found that this vague definition denies due process, but left intact other definitions in the act.