Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has expressed approval of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. United States, which rejected a recidivist criminal’s argument regarding the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The case involved a defendant who contended that changes to the federal definition of cocaine should allow him to avoid enhanced penalties for his cocaine-related convictions.
"We have recently seen the devastating effects of pro-crime policies ripple throughout this country. But the Supreme Court moved to restore the rule of law by issuing a strong decision that prevents minor changes to federal regulations from allowing repeat criminals to dodge justice," said Attorney General Marshall. "The ACCA has been an important tool in protecting citizens from illicit drugs and violent crime, and that will remain true thanks to this decision."
Under the ACCA, enhanced sentences are applied to federal gun crimes when offenders have at least "three previous convictions by any court"—state or federal—"for a violent felony or a serious drug offense, or both." In 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that Eugene Jackson’s convictions for possession and distribution of cocaine were not "serious drug offenses" due to a narrow adjustment in the federal definition of cocaine made more than a decade after his convictions.
Attorney General Marshall filed a brief urging reconsideration, arguing it "makes little sense" to ignore crimes that were clearly "serious drug offenses" under state law at the time they were committed simply because of later changes in federal definitions. The Eleventh Circuit subsequently reconsidered and agreed with Marshall's position.
Today, the Supreme Court adopted this argument and affirmed Jackson’s sentence. Alabama's brief was supported by Florida and Georgia.