Craft & Sheppard's Supreme Court Review
Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA)
For some time, the Court has generally sided with the U.S. in construing federal criminal law. Under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), the Court has applied its mandatory 15-year prison term for felons who unlawfully possess a firearm and have three prior convictions for committing “violent felonies,” 18 U.S.C. §924(e)(1). In U.S. v. Rodriquez, the Court determined that a state law recidivist enhancement statute for state drug-trafficking conviction qualified as “a serious drug offense” and approved upping the jail time for a convicted felon possessing a firearm, but in Watson v. U.S., ruled that trading drugs for a firearm did not violate the ACCA, and in Begay v. U.S., found that “previous convictions” that constitute a “violent felony” under the ACCA did not include driving under the influence (DUI).
