Sykes v. United States explained

Litigants:	Sykes v. United States
Arguedate:	January 12
Argueyear:	2011
Decidedate:	June 9
Decideyear:	2011
Fullname:	Sykes v. United States
Docket:	09-11311
Oralargument:	https://www.oyez.org/cases/2010-2019/2010/2010_09_11311/argument
Usvol:	564
Uspage:	1
Parallelcitations:	131 S. Ct. 2267; 180 L. Ed. 2d 60
Prior:	Sentence enhancement affirmed, 598 F.3d 334 (7th Cir. 2010); cert. granted, .
Holding:	Felony vehicle flight, as proscribed by Indiana law, is a violent felony for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act.
Majority:	Kennedy
Joinmajority:	Roberts, Breyer, Alito, and Sotomayor
Concurrence:	Thomas (in judgment)
Dissent:	Scalia
Dissent2:	Kagan
Joindissent2:	Ginsburg
Overruled:	Johnson v. United States (2015)

Sykes v. United States, 564 U.S. 1 (2011), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that felony vehicle flight, as proscribed by Indiana law, is a violent felony for purposes of the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA).^[1] Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy wrote that vehicle flight requires officers to give chase, resulting in more injuries on average than burglary.^[2] Dissenting, Justice Scalia criticized the majority for producing an ad hoc judgment based on vague legislation, suggesting they should declare the residual clause of the law unconstitutionally vague.^[3] The court would follow that advice several years later in Johnson v. United States and declare the residual clause unconstitutionally vague.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 564

Notes and References

1. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-11311.pdf Skyes v. United States
2. Liptak, Adam Justices Say Fleeing Police by Car Is a Violent Felony New York Times "As a matter of both common experience and statistics, Justice Kennedy wrote, the answer was yes. Fleeing from the police in a car, he wrote, 'is a provocative and dangerous act that dares, and in a typical case requires, the officer to give chase.' As a statistical matter, he wrote, four police officers or bystanders are injured for every 100 pursuits. By contrast, he said, there are 3.2 injuries for every 100 burglaries."
3. Liptak, Adam Justices Say Fleeing Police by Car Is a Violent Felony New York Times "Justice Antonin Scalia, writing only for himself, issued a vigorous dissent. He said the provision of the federal law under review ('involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another') was a hopelessly vague Congressional 'drafting failure' and that 'today's tutti-frutti opinion' produces 'a fourth ad hoc judgment that will sow further confusion.'"