United States v. Rodriquez

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United States v. Rodriquez, 553 U. S. ____ (2008), was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the interpretation of the Armed Career Criminal Act.

The Armed Career Criminal Act act set a minimum fifteen-year jail sentence for someone illegally in possession of a gun who had three previous convictions of serious drug offenses (a serious drug offense is one that has a maximum ten-year jail sentence). In the State of Washington, there was a drug statute that has a five year maximum sentence, but under a recidivist provision, it can go up to ten years. The question before the Court was whether this recidivist provision in the statute satisfied the ten-year requirement. The Court, in an opinion written by Justice Alito, answered the question in the affirmative.

[edit] External links

• Full decision