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Elements; means; elements test; removal; deportation; criminal procedure; criminal law; immigration; Breyer; Kagan; Descamps; Mathis; Taylor; categorical approach; modified categorical approach; divisibility; juror agreement; ACCA; Armed Career Criminal Act; recidivism; Apprendi; constitutional avoidance; sentencing enhancement; federal sentencing; crimmigration
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Finally, A True Elements Test: Mathis V. United States And The Categorical Approach, Rebecca Sharpless
Finally, A True Elements Test: Mathis V. United States And The Categorical Approach, Rebecca Sharpless
Brooklyn Law Review
The fate of defendants facing lengthy federal sentence enhancements often turns on what the U.S. Supreme Court calls the categorical approach. The approach controls whether a federal defendant might face an additional decade or longer in prison based solely on having prior convictions of a certain type. At a time when many question the wisdom of mass incarceration, the Court has taken great care to delimit the circumstances in which a federal sentencing judge can lengthen sentences based on recidivism. The categorical approach also governs most immigration cases involving deportation for a crime. As Congress has cut back deportation defenses …