The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Barrett v. United States, No. 24-5774, to decide if the Double Jeopardy Clause permits a court to impose separate sentences for an act that violates both 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) and § 924(j). The petition is available here.
Section 924(c)(1)(A) is violated if someone, “during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime . . . , uses or carries a firearm, or [], in furtherance of any such crime, possesses a firearm.” Section 924(j) is violated if someone, “in the course of a violation of subsection (c), causes the death of a person through the use of a firearm.”
Most circuits to address the issue have held that § 924(c) is a lesser included offense of § 924(j), meaning that, under the Double Jeopardy Clause, a defendant may not be constitutionally punished for both offenses. The government itself agreed with this interpretation.
But in United States v. Barrett, 102 F.4th 60, 88-89 (2d Cir. 2024) (Raggi, J.), the Second Circuit disagreed. The Circuit held “[a]s construed in [Lora v. United States, 599 U.S. 453 (2023)], § 924(c)(1) and § 924(j) crimes are separate offenses for which Congress has clearly authorized cumulative punishments.”
The Supreme Court has now granted certiorari to review this holding.
This is not the first time Mr. Barrett’s case has gone to the Supreme Court. The Court has already reversed the Second Circuit once in this case. See Barrett v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2774 (2019). Looking forward to Mr. Barrett’s second hearing before the Supreme Court.
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