Corey A. Hill, Petitioner v. United States

Questions presented

SCOTUS records, cert granted 28 Nov 2011

Whether the District Court erred in not sentencing the Defendant-Petitioner pursuant to the "Fair Sentencing Act of 2010" where Petitioner was sentenced on December 2, 2010 after the effective date of the FSA and the amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines mandated by the FSA?

Opinion summary

Etalia.ai summary of the majority opinion

The case involved Corey A. Hill, who was convicted of a drug-related offense and challenged the sentencing enhancement he received under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The ACCA mandates longer sentences for individuals with prior convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses. Hill argued that his previous state conviction did not qualify as a 'serious drug offense' under federal law because it lacked an element requiring proof of intent to distribute drugs. The Supreme Court examined whether such state-level convictions could be considered serious enough to trigger enhanced federal penalties without explicit evidence of intent in their statutory definitions. Ultimately, the Court upheld Hill's sentence by determining that his past conviction met the criteria outlined in ACCA due to its potential penalty exceeding ten years, aligning with Congress’s intention behind enacting these enhancements.