17. Department of Justice · Notable
Require line attorneys to pursue mandatory minimums under the ACCA
Printed page 554 17. Department of Justice
“At the same time, the DOJ must ensure that its line attorneys are consistently using the tools at their disposal in cases with violent offenders, including pursuing mandatory minimum sentences under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA).”
What has happened
- Done
The policy is producing Armed Career Criminal Act sentences: a Tennessee defendant with prior violent felony convictions drew more than 18 years under the Act's mandatory minimum. Line attorneys are pursuing ACCA sentences under a binding policy that forces documented supervisory approval to do otherwise.
- Partially done
The Attorney General's charging policy directs prosecutors, absent unusual facts, to charge and pursue the most serious readily provable offense, and defines those as the offenses punishable by death or carrying the most significant mandatory minimum sentences, naming the Armed Career Criminal Act and 21 U.S.C. 851. Any departure requires the approval of a U.S. Attorney or Assistant Attorney General and must be documented in the file. The tool is now mandatory by policy; no charging under it had been published.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
The department publishes no aggregate figures for ACCA charging, so ‘consistently’ cannot be measured directly; the Status rests on the policy being mandatory with a documented departure procedure, plus published use.
- Action
- restore
- Object
- Armed Career Criminal Act mandatory minimums
- ID
- 1542