stringtranslate.com

Sykes v. United States

Sykes v. United States, 564 U.S. 1 (2011), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that felony vehicle flight, as proscribed by Indiana law, is a violent felony for purposes of the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA).[1] Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy wrote that vehicle flight requires officers to give chase, resulting in more injuries on average than burglary.[2] Dissenting, Justice Scalia criticized the majority for producing an ad hoc judgment based on vague legislation, suggesting they should declare the residual clause of the law unconstitutionally vague.[3] The court would follow that advice several years later in Johnson v. United States and declare the residual clause unconstitutionally vague.

See also

References

  1. ^ Skyes v. United States Syllabus p. 1 "Held: Felony vehicle flight, as proscribed by Indiana law, is a violent felony for purposes of ACCA."
  2. ^ Liptak, Adam Justices Say Fleeing Police by Car Is a Violent Felony New York Times "As a matter of both common experience and statistics, Justice Kennedy wrote, the answer was yes. Fleeing from the police in a car, he wrote, 'is a provocative and dangerous act that dares, and in a typical case requires, the officer to give chase.' As a statistical matter, he wrote, four police officers or bystanders are injured for every 100 pursuits. By contrast, he said, there are 3.2 injuries for every 100 burglaries."
  3. ^ Liptak, Adam Justices Say Fleeing Police by Car Is a Violent Felony New York Times "Justice Antonin Scalia, writing only for himself, issued a vigorous dissent. He said the provision of the federal law under review ('involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another') was a hopelessly vague Congressional 'drafting failure' and that 'today's tutti-frutti opinion' produces 'a fourth ad hoc judgment that will sow further confusion.'"

External links