Brown v. United States Revisions: 5/28/24

Background

Two men — Justin Rashaad Brown and Eugene Jackson — were prosecuted for possessing firearms after having prior state felony drug convictions. Brown had several Pennsylvania convictions for possessing marijuana with intent to distribute and a Pennsylvania cocaine conviction; Jackson had prior Florida convictions for possession and distribution of cocaine. Later federal changes narrowed the federal definitions of some drugs: Congress excluded some hemp from the federal marijuana definition in 2018, and the federal government removed a radioactive cocaine derivative from the cocaine schedule in 2015. The question became whether those earlier state convictions still count toward the Armed Career Criminal Act’s enhanced 15‑year sentence.

Reasoning

The Court asked whether the federal and state definitions must match when the state crime happened, when the federal gun offense occurred, or when the defendant was sentenced. The Justices adopted the view that the match must exist when the state crime was committed. The Court relied on prior decisions that ACCA focuses on a person’s past convictions and on the statute’s wording that ties state convictions to the federal Controlled Substances Act. It explained that a later change in the federal drug schedules does not erase an earlier conviction, so those prior state drug crimes still count as ACCA predicates if the drug was federally scheduled at the time of the state offense.

Real world impact

Federal sentencing courts will compare the federal drug lists in effect when a prior state drug offense occurred to decide if that conviction counts toward ACCA’s 15‑year minimum. As a result, some defendants with old state drug convictions can receive enhanced federal sentences even if the federal definition changed later. This is a Supreme Court decision that will guide federal sentencing unless Congress or the schedules are changed.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Jackson (joined by Justice Kagan) dissented, arguing the statute’s text requires using the federal schedules in effect at the time of the federal firearm offense, not at the time of the state conviction, and that the present-tense cross-reference supports that view.