Johnson v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
135 S.Ct 2551 (2015)
Johnson (defendant), a felon under federal surveillance for suspected terrorism planning, showed an undercover agent firearms he possessed and was arrested and pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The government sought an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act's residual clause, arguing three of Johnson's prior convictions — including unlawful possession of a short-barreled shotgun — qualified as violent felonies under the clause's broad, conduct-based definition, and the trial court agreed and imposed a 15-year sentence.
Whether a statute defining a violent felony as any felony involving conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another is unconstitutionally vague.