Justice Neil Gorsuch sided with the Supreme Court’s liberal justices on Monday, ruling that a long-criticized sentencing method for crimes involving guns was unconstitutionally vague.
The case in question involved two men, Maurice Davis and Andre Glover, who were convicted on several felony robbery charges, as well as another federal statute that requires mandatory minimum sentencing based on a “crime of violence.”
Davis and Glover’s attorneys successfully argued that the law was too vague.
In April, federal prosecutors said in court filings: “As the facts of this case illustrate, defendants whose prosecution requires application of [this law] include some of the most violent criminals on the federal docket.”
That wasn’t convincing enough for the Supreme Court.
While the justices on Monday were split in their decision, conservative justice Neil Gorsuch – who wrote the majority opinion – tipped the scales in favor of the defendants. He joined Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, while Justices Kavanaugh, Thomas, Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts dissented.
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2IEJOSe Tyler Durden