The U.S. Supreme Court this week announced it will hear a case about whether a sentence enhancement Iowa resident Richard Mathis received under the Armed Career Criminal Act was fair. Mathis was arrested in 2013 after a 15-year-old boy claimed the man molested him. Federal prosecutors, however,  indicted him on a single count of being a felon in possession of a firearm – and a federal judge later sentenced Mathis to 15 years in prison under the Armed Career Criminal Act, citing five prior second-degree burglary convictions as violent felonies under the act. The nation’s high court will hear the case in the weeks ahead, to clarify rules related to career criminal sentencing. Law professor Carissa Byrne Hessick is prepared to comment on the case and can explain why the case is important in a time when many federal statutes incorporate state convictions and the definition of state crimes continue to expand.
Carissa Byrne Hessick Phone: 801-587-8756 | Email: carissa.hessick@law.utah.edu