[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] decided two cases Tuesday. The Court ruled [opinion, PDF] in Chambers v. United States [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that failure to report to prison does not constitute a "violent felony" for purposes of sentence enhancement under the Armed Career Criminals Act (ACCA) [18 USC § 924(e), text]. Petitioner Deondery Chambers pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. At sentencing the state of Illinois argued that he was subject to a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence under the ACCA, based in part on a prior conviction for escape when he failed to report to prison. Justin Stephen Breyer wrote for the Court:

We now must consider whether the "failure to report" crime satisfies ACCA’s "violent felony" definition. It clearly satisfies the first part of that definition, for it is a "crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year." But it satisfies none of the other parts. It does not have "as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another." It does not consist of "burglary, arson, or extortion," or "involv[e] use of explosives." And, more critically for present purposes, it does not "involve conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another."

where a state court grants a criminal defendant the right to file an out-of-time direct appeal during state collateral review, but before the defendant has first sought federal habeas relief, his judgment is not yet "final" for purposes of §2244(d)(1)(A). In such a case, "the date on which the judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of the time for seeking such review" must reflect the conclusion of the out-of-time direct appeal, or the expiration of the time for seeking review of that appeal.