DUI Not a Violent Felony For ACCA Sentencing
Less noteworthy but more heartening than today's Supreme Court decision affirming Kentucky's lethal injection protocol is today's 6-3 decision sensibly deciding that drunk driving is not a violent felony, akin to burglary, arson, or extortion, for the purpose of triggering a mandatory 15 year sentence for offenders who have three violent felonies on their record before being sentenced for unlawful possession of a firearm. The lower courts decided that Larry Begay should be sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act even though his only prior felony offenses were DUI crimes that caused no injury, given the potential for injury that often accompanies that crime. The Supreme Court limited the statute's scope to felonies that are purposefully violent or aggressive. (more ...)
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