Mathis v. United States
Appearance
Mathis v. United States | |
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Decided June 23, 2016 | |
Full case name | Mathis v. United States |
Docket no. | 15-6092 |
Citations | 579 U.S. ___ (more) |
Holding | |
If a state law defines a crime more broadly than the common understanding of that crime, a conviction under that state law cannot be used as a sentencing enhancement under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Kagan |
Concurrence | Kennedy |
Concurrence | Thomas |
Dissent | Breyer, joined by Ginsberg |
Dissent | Alito |
Laws applied | |
Armed Career Criminal Act |
Mathis v. United States, 579 U.S. ___ (2016), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that if a state law defines a crime more broadly than the common understanding of that crime, a conviction under that state law cannot be used as a sentencing enhancement under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act.[1][2]
Description
[edit]The conviction at issue was under Iowa's burglary law, which criminalized unlawful entry into "any building, structure, [or] land, water, or air vehicle." To the Court, the common understanding of "burglary" was unlawful entry into a "building or other structure."[1]