Johnson v. United States

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court issued its order in the case Johnson v. United States, Case No. 13-7120, in which the Court stated the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act is unconstitutionally vague and violates a person’s due process rights provided by the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  The Court reasoned that the inquiry required by the residual clause denies defendants fair notice of applicable crimes and invites arbitrary enforcement by judges.  The Court stated that courts must use a “categorical approach” when deciding whether a prior offense is a violent felony.  Courts are to look only to what a person was convicted of, rather than the facts or circumstances surrounding the prior convictions.