Order in the Court

In the course of one evening, William Dale Wooden burglarized ten units in a single storage facility. He later pleaded guilty, for that night’s work, to ten counts of burglary—one for each storage unit he had entered. Some two decades later, the courts below concluded that those convictions were enough to subject Wooden to enhanced criminal penalties under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). That statute mandates a 15-year minimum sentence for unlawful gun possession when the offender has three or more prior convictions for violent felonies like burglary “committed on occasions different from one another.” 18 U. S. C. §924(e)(1). The question presented is whether Wooden’s prior convictions were for offenses occurring on different occasions, as the lower courts held, because the burglary of each unit happened at a distinct point in time, rather than simultaneously. The answer is no. Convictions arising from a single criminal episode, in the way Wooden’s did, can count only once under ACCA. [More]

I'm not clear on what this really means because I thought one felony would be enough. Maybe someone familiar with this case can weigh in.

I notice the emphasis on the rule of lenity by Gorsuch, which is a point raised in complaints against the bump stock ban, saying it should apply instead of Chevron deference. I also read resistance to that from others on the court, and Kavanaugh has me worried. 

And it makes me wonder...

[Via Jess]