Page:Denard Stokeling v. United States.pdf/17

2 as an ACCA predicate if it is what ACCA calls a “violent felony”–that is, “any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” that "“(i) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another; or

“(ii) is burglary, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” §924(e)(2)(B)."

Clause (i) is often called the “elements clause” (or “force clause”), because it requires each qualifying crime to have an element involving force. The first part of clause (ii) is often called the “enumerated clause,” because it enumerates certain generic crimes–such as burglary–that Congress sought to cover. The final part of clause (ii), often called the “residual clause,” once offered a catchall to sweep in otherwise uncovered convictions, but the Court struck it down as unconstitutionally vague in 2015. See Johnson v. United States, 576 U. S. ___, ___ (slip op., at 15). So the elements clause and the enumerated clause are now the only channels by which a prior conviction can qualify as an ACCA “violent felony.”

Whether Stokeling is subject to the ACCA’s 15-year mandatory minimum hinges on whether his 1997 conviction for Florida robbery, see App. 10, qualifies under the elements clause. To determine whether a conviction qualifies as a violent felony under the ACCA, courts apply a method called the categorical approach. See Taylor v. United States, 495 U. S. 575, 600–602 (1990). In the elements-clause context, that method requires asking whether the least culpable conduct covered by the statute at issue nevertheless “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.” See §924(e)(2); Johnson, 559 U. S., at 137. If