Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Law
Resolving The Post-Begay Maelstrom Statutory Rape As A Violent Felony Under The Armed Career Criminal Act, Sarena M. Holder
Resolving The Post-Begay Maelstrom Statutory Rape As A Violent Felony Under The Armed Career Criminal Act, Sarena M. Holder
Cleveland State Law Review
The Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA"), enacted in 1984, mandates a minimum fifteen-year sentence for defendants who unlawfully possess a firearm and who also have three prior convictions for violent felonies and/or serious drug offenses. Since its inception, the ACCA has presented a weighty problem: what constitutes a "violent" felony? The United States Supreme Court has made an effort to allay the confusion, most recently in its decision in Begay v. United States, requiring that violent felonies be purposefully violent or aggressive. This Note questions the reasoning of circuit courts that have disallowed statutory rape as a violent felony post-Begay, …