We need to keep armed career criminals off the streets

Nothing federal prosecutors do is more important than protecting our fellow Americans from violence. In recent years, however, we have lost one of the most important tools we use to protect our communities: the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). Only Congress can restore it.

The ACCA operated on a simple premise: when a felon is convicted of illegally possessing a firearm, he receives a mandatory 15-year sentence if his prior convictions include three or more “violent felonies” or “serious drug offenses.” These “armed career criminals” are not low-level offenders but rather criminals who have already been convicted of multiple serious offenses and then were caught with a firearm. Common sense tells us that when a felon with a violent past illegally possesses a firearm, he is extremely dangerous. The ACCA was intended to bring that common-sense idea to the law.

For a long time, the ACCA really worked. President Reagan signed the ACCA into law in 1984. Following the ACCA and other major criminal reforms, violent crime dropped by half between 1991 and 2014.

In 2015, the Supreme Court in Johnson v. United States destroyed the common-sense nature of the ACCA. There, the court considered whether Samuel Johnson, a white supremacist who admitted to planning acts of domestic terrorism, was properly deemed an armed career criminal after he was found guilty of illegally possessing several firearms and 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

In concluding that Johnson was not an armed career criminal, the Supreme Court held that part of the definition of “violent felony” in the ACCA was too vague and thus violated the Constitution’s guarantee of due process. As a result, many of the crimes that once were considered “violent felonies” under the ACCA no longer qualify.

Following Johnson, courts across the country have ruled that many plainly violent crimes are no longer “violent felonies.” Here in North Carolina, our common law robbery crime—taking property from someone by means of violence or fear—is no longer a “violent felony,” nor is shooting into an occupied building. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Because of Johnson, more than 1,400 violent career criminals have been released early, and 600 of those have already been arrested again just three years later. On average, these 600 offenders have been arrested or re-offended three times. The awful consequences of this have been felt in our communities nationwide, such as in Utah, where a career criminal released because of Johnson tortured and murdered two teenagers.

Last month in North Carolina, Charlie Terry was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for obstruction of justice and illegal possession of a firearm. Originally sentenced in 2008 to 15 years in federal prison, Terry was released in August 2016 because of Johnson. After his release he struck again, assaulting and robbing a couple at gunpoint. During the assault, Terry placed a pistol in one victim’s mouth, and cut the other victim’s head by repeatedly hitting him with the firearm. Terry received a 20-year sentence for his conduct, but if not for Johnson his victims would have been safe in the first place.

Johnson caused these violent offenders to be released early. Going forward, federal prosecutors will no longer be able to ensure sufficient sentences for many violent repeat offenders. But amidst all this bad news, there is still something positive: Congress can fix the ACCA by passing a new law that avoids the problems identified in Johnson.

The Attorney General has been working with members of Congress to create awareness about this urgent problem. The ACCA focuses on the most dangerous career felons—the kind we can and must take off the streets to protect our communities.

Congress made our nation much safer in 1984 by passing the Armed Career Criminal Act. Now we need Congress to keep us safe in 2018 by fixing it.

This story was originally published August 30, 2018 at 2:11 PM.