Brief filed: 03/01/2024
Documents
Delligatti v. United States
United States Supreme Court; Case No. 23-825
Argument(s)
The Second Circuit held in this case that a conviction for New York attempted murder in the second degree is a crime of violence under the ACCA, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A), even though one can commit that crime without taking any action or using any force at all. See, e.g., People v. Steinberg, 595 N.E.2d 845, 847 (N.Y. 1992) (parents’ failure to provide child with adequate medical care “can form the basis of a homicide charge”). That decision continues an intractable split among courts of appeals as to whether crimes that can be committed by inaction alone categorically have as an element the “use of physical force.” That split is deeply consequential, subjecting criminal defendants in some jurisdictions— but not all—to lengthy mandatory minimum sentences for crimes no ordinary person would understand to qualify for such automatic, draconian penalties.
Author(s)
Joshua L. Dratel, Co-Chair, NACDL Amicus Curiae Committee, New York, NY; Alan Schoenfeld, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale And Dorr LLP, New York, NY; Thad Eagles and Megan Gardner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale And Dorr LLP, Washington, DC
