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June 26, 2015
A (way-too-quick) Top 5 list of thoughts/reactions to the votes and opinions Johnson
As noted here, the US Supreme Court issued a (very?) big constitutional criminal procedure ruling today in Johnson v. US. I will need at least a few hours (if not a few days and certainly many reads) to really figure out how big a deal Johnson is. But I can and will here, at the risk of prioritizing speed over accuracy, quickly type out the first big 5 thoughts that have come to mind concerning the line-up of jurists in the Johnson ruling:
1. It is truly amazing (and quite significant) that Justice Scalia was able to convince five of his colleagues (including three of the four newer Justices) to issue a big pro-defendant constitutional criminal procedure ruling in Johnson.
2. It is very significant that Chief Justice Roberts joined Justice Scalia's significant pro-defendant constitutional criminal procedure ruling for the Court in Johnson.
3. It is interesting that Justice Kennedy briefly concurred separately and did not join Justice Scalia's significant pro-defendant constitutional criminal procedure ruling for the Court in Johnson.
4. It is notable that the concurrence authored by Justice Thomas is longer than the majority opinion (and I suspect it was going to be the opinion for the Court before Justice Scalia convinced his colleagues to order rehearing on the constitutional issue the majority addressed).
5. It is not at all surprising Justice Alito alone dissents, and I may start formally counting how many (non-capital) criminal cases have been (and will in the coming years) be defined by that reality.
June 26, 2015 at 11:10 AM | Permalink
Comments
The ruling will generate $millions if not $billions in lawyer government make work jobs. So foregone conclusion, including the leadership of a conservative but Ivy indoctrinated, and LGBTQ dominated Washington culture based Justice, Justice Scalia.
Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Jun 27, 2015 7:00:49 AM
My son is in prison for a conviction under 18 USC Sec. 924(c). I am relaying this question from him: Does anyone have any thoughts on the potential impact of Johnson, if any, on the residual clause of 924(c)(1)(B), or the identically-worded 16(b)? Although Johnson dealt specifically with the ACCA, it also seems to disavow the "ordinary case" rule of James, and, as the 11th Circuit recently observed, every circuit to have considered the issue has found the James rule applicable to 16(b). Has Johnson impliedly overruled that, and what are the implications? Any ideas or links to articles or posts on this would be appreciated.
Posted by: Ray Royer | Jun 29, 2015 11:46:36 AM
My son is in prison for a conviction under 18 USC Sec. 924(c). I am relaying this question from him: Does anyone have any thoughts on the potential impact of Johnson, if any, on the residual clause of 924(c)(1)(B), or the identically-worded 16(b)? Although Johnson dealt specifically with the ACCA, it also seems to disavow the "ordinary case" rule of James, and, as the 11th Circuit recently observed, every circuit to have considered the issue has found the James rule applicable to 16(b). Has Johnson implicitly overruled that, and what are the implications? Any ideas or links to articles or posts on this would be appreciated.
Posted by: Ray Royer | Jul 3, 2015 12:50:17 PM
