Sen. Blackburn Introduces Bill to Mandate 15-Year Sentences for Armed Career Criminals
This bill was introduced in the Senate and is currently being reviewed by the Committee on the Judiciary. It is in the early stages of the lawmaking process and has no upcoming votes scheduled. The bill is considered active as it waits for the committee to decide if it should move forward.
While the bill has support from prominent conservative leaders, it currently lacks the bipartisan support usually needed to pass sentencing changes in a divided Congress.
Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
People with three or more serious felony convictions who are caught possessing a firearm would face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in federal prison, up from current law that has been narrowed by recent court decisions. The broadened definition of 'serious felony' means more prior convictions will count toward the three-strike threshold, pulling more people into the enhanced sentencing category. Judges lose all discretion to impose lighter sentences like probation.
“imprisoned not less than 15 years and not more than 30 years, and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall not suspend the sentence of, or grant a probationary sentence to, such person”
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
To keep dangerous felons behind bars in Tennessee and across the nation, I introduced the Restoring the Armed Career Criminal Act, which would reinstate an important tool for prosecutors to go after the most dangerous career criminals.
The 'Restoring the Armed Career Criminal Act' would impose a mandatory 15-year sentence for people convicted of illegal firearms possession who have three previous state or federal convictions for 'serious felonies' that carry prison sentences of at least 10 years.
Our bill would restore the mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, but clarify which violent offenses qualify. Specifically, it would replace 'violent felonies' and 'serious drug offenses' with a single category: 'serious felonies,' defined as all crimes punishable by 10 years or more.
No votes recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Restoring the Armed Career Criminal Act
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