1 (Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2021

Syllabus

NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

## SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Syllabus

UNITED STATES v . TAYLOR

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 20–1459. Argued December 7, 2021—Decided June 21, 2022
For his participation in an unsuccessful robbery during which his accom

plice shot a man, respondent Justin Taylor faced charges of violating the Hobbs Act, 18 U. S. C. §1951(a), and of committing a “crime of vio

lence” under §924(c). The Hobbs Act makes it a federal crime to com

mit, attempt to commit, or conspire to commit a robbery with an inter

state component. §1951(a). Section 924(c) authorizes enhanced punishments for those who use a fire arm in connection with a “crime of violence” as defined in either §924(c)(3)(A)—known as the elements clause—or §924(c)(3)(B)—known as th e residual clause. Before the District Court, the government argued that Taylor’s Hobbs Act offense qualified as a “crime of violence” under §924(c). Taylor ultimately pleaded guilty to one count each of violating the Hobbs Act and §924(c). The District Court sentenced Taylor to 30 years in federal prison—a decade more than the maximum sentence for his Hobbs Act conviction alone. Taylor later filed a federal habeas petition focused on his §924(c) conviction, which was predicated on his admission that he had committed both conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and at

tempted Hobbs Act robbery. Taylor argued neither Hobbes Act offense qualified as a “crime of violence ” for purposes of §924(c) after United States v. Davis , 588 U. S. ___. In Davis , this Court held that §924(c)(3)(B)’s residual clause was unconstitutionally vague. Id. , at ___–___. In his habeas proceeding, Taylor asked the court to apply Davis retroactively and vacate his §9 24(c) conviction and sentence. The government maintained that Taylor’s §924(c) conviction and sen

tence remained sound because his crime of attempted Hobbs Act rob

bery qualifies as a crime of violen ce under the elements clause. The Fourth Circuit held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery does not qualify as a crime of violence under §924(c)(3)(A). The Fourth Circuit vacated2 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

Syllabus
Taylor’s §924(c) conviction and remanded the case for resentencing. In reaching its judgment, the Fourth Circuit noted that other courts have held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery does qualify as a crime of vio

lence under the elements clause.
Held : Attempted Hobbs Act robbery does not qualify as a “crime of vio

lence” under §924(c)(3)(A) because no element of the offense requires proof that the defendant used, attemp ted to use, or threatened to use force. Pp. 3–13. (a) The Court applies a “categorical approach” to determine whether a federal felony may serve as a predicate for a conviction and sentence under the elements clause, which po ses the question whether the fed

eral felony in question “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force.” §924(c)(3)(A) (emphasis added). The relevant inquiry is not how any pa rticular defendant may commit the crime but whether the federal felony at issue always requires the gov

ernment to prove—beyond a reasonabl e doubt, as an element of its case—the use, attempted use, or th reatened use of force. This Court has long understood similarly worded statutes to demand similarly categorical inquiries. See, e.g. , Borden v. United States , 593 U. S. ___,

___.

An attempted Hobbs Act robbery does not satisfy the elements clause. To secure a conviction for attempted Hobbs Act robbery, the government must prove that the defendant intended to complete the offense and that the defendant comp leted a “substantial step” toward that end. See, e.g. , United States v. Resendiz-Ponce , 549 U. S. 102, 107. An intention is just that, no more . And whatever a substantial step requires, it does not require the go vernment to prove that the defend

ant used, attempted to use, or even threatened to use force against another person or his property—even if the facts would allow the gov

ernment to do so in many cases. As the Model Penal Code explains with respect to the Hobbs Act’s common-law robbery analogue, “there will be cases, appropriately reached by a charge of attempted robbery, where the actor does not actually harm anyone or even threaten harm.” ALI, Model Penal Code §222.1, p. 114. But no element of at

tempted Hobbs Act robbery requires proof that the defendant used, attempted to use, or threatened to use force. Pp. 3–6.

(b) The government’s counterva iling arguments fail. Pp. 6–13.

(1) The government first argues that the elements clause encom

passes not only any offense that qualifies as a “crime of violence” but also any attempt to commit such a crim e. But the elements clause only asks whether the defendant did commit a crime of violence as defined by the statute. Pp. 6–7. (2) The government next argues that the “substantial step” ele

ment of attempted Hobbs Act robbery categorically requires it to prove3 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

Syllabus

that a defendant used, attempted to use, or threatened to use physical force. But while many who commit the crime of attempted Hobbs Act robbery do use, attempt to use, or threaten to use force, the govern

ment’s problem is that no element of attempted Hobbs Act robbery re

quires the government to prove such facts beyond a reasonable doubt. The government maintains that anyo ne who takes a substantial step toward completing Hobbs Act robbery always or categorically poses a “threatened use” of force because the word “threat” can be used to speak of an abstract risk. The go vernment submits that the elements clause uses the term to require only an objective, if uncommunicated, threat to community peace and orde r. But when Congress uses the word “threat” in such an abstract and predictive (rather than commu

nicative) sense, it usually makes its point plain. The textual clues in the statute point in the opposite dire ction of the government’s reading. Moreover, the government’s view of the elements clause would have it effectively replicate the work form erly performed by the residual clause. Under usual rules of statut ory interpretation, the Court does not lightly assume Congress adopts two separate clauses in the same law to perform the same work. See, e.g. , Mackey v. Lanier Collection Agency & Service, Inc. , 486 U. S. 825, 839, n. 14. Pp. 7–10. (3) The government’s final theor y accepts that a conviction under the elements clause requires a communicated threat of force and con

tends that most attempted Hobbs Act robbery prosecutions involve ex

actly that. But whatever this argu ment proves, the theory cannot be squared with the statute’s terms. Congress in the elements clause did not mandate an empirical inquiry into how crimes are usually commit

ted, let alone impose a burden on the defendant to pr esent proof about the government’s own prosecutorial habits. Attempted Hobbs Act rob

bery does not categorically require proof of the elements § 924(c)(3)(A) demands. That ends the inquiry, and nothing in Gonzales v. DuenasAlvarez , 549 U. S. 183, suggests otherwise. Pp. 10–13. 979 F. 3d 203, affirmed.

G ORSUCH , J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which R OBERTS , C. J., and B REYER , S OTOMAYOR , K AGAN , K AVANAUGH , and B ARRETT , JJ., joined. T HOMAS , J., and A LITO , J., filed dissenting opinions._________________

_________________ 1 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

Opinion of the Court

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash

ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other form al errors, in order that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

## SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

No. 20–1459

UNITED STATES, PETITIONER v. JUSTIN EUGENE TAYLOR

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
[June 21, 2022]

J USTICE G ORSUCH delivered the opinion of the Court. Does attempted Hobbs Act robbery qualify as a “crime of violence” under 18 U. S. C. § 924(c)(3)(A)? The answer mat

ters because a person convicte d of attempted Hobbs Act rob

bery alone normally faces up to 20 years in prison. But if that offense qualifies as a “crime of violence” under § 924(c)(3)(A), the same individual may face a second felony conviction and years or decades of further imprisonment.

I After a robbery went awry and his accomplice shot a man, the federal government charge d Justin Taylor with violat

ing the Hobbs Act and § 924(c). The Hobbs Act makes it a federal crime to commit, attemp t to commit, or conspire to commit a robbery with an interstate component. 18 U. S. C. § 1951(a). Meanwhile, § 924(c) authorizes further punish

ments for those who use a firearm in connection with a “crime of violence.” For purposes of § 924(c), a federal felony qualifies as a “crime of violence” if it meets ei ther of two definitions. The first definition is found in § 924(c)(3)(A), a provision some

-2 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

Opinion of the Court

times called the elements claus e. That clause covers of

fenses that “ha[ve] as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or prop

erty of another.” The second de finition, located next door in § 924(c)(3)(B) and often referred to as the residual clause, encompasses offenses that “by [their] nature, involv[e ] a substantial risk that physical force . . . may be used.” Before the District Court, the government argued that Mr. Taylor’s Hobbs Act offense qualified as a “crime of vio

lence” under these definitions. And at that point, Mr. Tay

lor did not disagree, choosing in stead to plead guilty to one count each of violating the Hobbs Act and § 924(c). For his crimes, the District Court sentenced Mr. Taylor to 30 years in federal prison—a decade more than he could have re

ceived for his Hobbs Act conviction alone. Later, Mr. Taylor filed a federa l habeas petition. In it, he did not challenge his Hobbs Act conviction. Instead, he fo

cused on § 924(c). Mr. Taylor submitted that his § 924(c) conviction was predicated on his admission that he had committed both conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and attempted Hobbs Act robbery. And, Mr. Taylor argued, neither of those offenses continued to qualify as a “crime of violence” after United States v. Davis , 588 U. S. ___ (2019). In Davis , this Court held § 924(c)(3)(B)’s residual clause un

constitutionally vague, and we refused to enforce a convic

tion and sentence premised on its terms. Id. , at ___–___ (slip op., at 24–25). In his habeas proceeding, Mr. Taylor asked the court to apply Davis retroactively and vacate his own § 924(c) conviction and sentence. The government opposed Mr. Taylor’s petition. In doing so, it did not seek to revisit Davis or oppose its retroactive application to Mr. Taylor’s case. Instead, the government observed that Davis declared only the residual clause un

constitutional; even today th e elements clause remains in force. And, the government argued, the crime of attempted Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as a crime of violence under the3 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

Opinion of the Court elements clause even if conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act rob

bery may not. By this chain of logic, the government rea

soned, Mr. Taylor’s § 924(c) conviction and sentence re

mained sound. Ultimately, the Fourth Circuit agreed to hear the dispute and sided with Mr. Taylor. It held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery does not qualify as a crime of violence under § 924(c)(3)(A) because no element of the offense requires the government to prove that the defendant used, attempted to use, or threatened to use force. By way of remedy, the Court of Appeals vacated Mr. Taylor’s § 924(c) conviction and re

manded the case for resentencing in light of his sole remain

ing Hobbs Act conviction. In reaching its judgment, the Fourth Circuit acknowledged that other circuits have taken a different view, holding that attempted Hobbs Act robbery does qualify as a crime of violence under the elements clause. 979 F. 3d 203, 208 (2020). We agreed to take up this case to resolve that question. 594 U. S. ___ (2021).

II The parties may not see eye to eye on the outcome of this case, but they at least agree on how we should go about de

ciding it. To determine whet her a federal felony may serve as a predicate for a conviction and sentence under the ele

ments clause, they say, we must apply a “categorical ap

proach.” We must because the clause poses the question whether the federal felony at issue “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force.” § 924(c)(3)(A) (emphasis added). And answering that ques

tion does not require—in fact, it precludes—an inquiry into how any particular defendant may commit the crime. The only relevant question is whether the federal felony at issue always requires the government to prove—beyond a reason

able doubt, as an element of its case—the use, attempted use, or threatened use of force. This Court has long under

-4 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

Opinion of the Court
stood similarly worded statutes to demand similarly cate

gorical inquiries. See, e.g. , Borden v. United States , 593 U. S. ___, ___ (2021) (slip op., at 2); Davis , 588 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 10); Leocalv. Ashcroft , 543 U. S. 1, 7 (2004). What are the elements the go vernment must prove to se

cure a conviction for attemp ted Hobbs Act robbery? Here again the parties share common ground. Under the portion of the Hobbs Act relevant here , to win a conviction for a completed robbery the government must show that the de

fendant engaged in the “unlawful taking or obtaining of personal property from the person . . . of another, against his will, by means of actual or threatened force.” § 1951(b). From this, it follows that to win a case for attempted Hobbs Act robbery the government must prove two things: (1) The defendant intended to unlawfully take or obtain personal property by means of actual or threatened force, and (2) he completed a “substantial step” toward that end. See,
e.g. , United States v. Resendiz-Ponce , 549 U. S. 102, 107 (2007). What exactly constitutes a substantial step is be

yond the scope of today’s case. For present purposes, it is sufficient to observe that the parties again agree. They ac

cept that a substantial step demands something more than “mere preparation.” Swift & Co. v. United States , 196 U. S. 375, 402 (1905). The step, they say, must be “unequivocal,” Reply Brief 3, and “significant,” though it “need not be vio

lent,” Brief for United States 22. To know that much is enough to resolve this case. What

ever one might say about completed Hobbs Act robbery, at

tempted Hobbs Act robbery does not satisfy the elements clause. Yes, to secure a conviction the government must show an intention to take property by force or threat, along with a substantial step toward achieving that object. But an intention is just that, no more. And whatever a substan

tial step requires, it does not require the government to prove that the defendant used, attempted to use, or even5 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

Opinion of the Court threatened to use force agains t another person or his prop

erty. As the Model Penal Code explains with respect to the Hobbs Act’s common-law robbery analogue, “there will be cases, appropriately reached by a charge of attempted rob

bery, where the actor does not actually harm anyone or even threaten harm.” ALI, Model Penal Code § 222.1,

p. 114 (1980). “If, for example, the defendant is appre

hended before he reaches his robbery victim and thus before he has actually engaged in threatening conduct, proof of his purpose to engage in such cond uct” can “justify a conviction of attempted robbery” so long as his intention and some other substantial step are present. Id ., at 115. A hypothetical helps illustrate the point. Suppose Adam tells a friend that he is planning to rob a particular store on a particular date. He then se ts about researching the busi

ness’s security measures, layout, and the time of day when its cash registers are at their fullest. He buys a ski mask, plots his escape route, and recruits his brother to drive the getaway car. Finally, he dr afts a note—“Your money or your life”—that he plans to pass to the cashier. The note is a bluff, but Adam hopes its implication that he is armed and dangerous will elicit a compliant response. When the day finally comes and Adam crosses the threshold into the store, the police immediately arrest him. It turns out Adam’s friend tipped them off. There is little question the government could win a lawful conviction against Adam for attempted Hobbs Act robbery. After all, he intended to take property against the cashier’s will by threat of force, and his actions constituted a sub

stantial step toward that goal. At the same time, this ex

ample helps show why attempted Hobbs Act robbery does not qualify as a crime of violence under the elements clause. Adam did not “use” physical fo rce. He did not “attempt” to use such force—his note was a bluff and never delivered. And he never even got to the point of threatening the use of force against anyone or anything. He may have intended6 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

Opinion of the Court
and attempted to do just that, but he failed. Simply put, no element of attempted Hobbs Act robbery requires proof that the defendant used, attempted to use, or threatened to use force. The upshot of all this for our case is clear. Mr. Taylor may be lawfully subject to up to 20 years in federal prison for his Hobbs Act conviction. But as the Fourth Circuit rec

ognized, Congress has not autho rized courts to convict and sentence him to a decade of further imprisonment under § 924(c)(3)(A). 1

III A Resisting this conclusion, the government offers three principal replies. We take up first the argument the gov

ernment presented before the Fourth Circuit and on which it prevailed in other circuits. See, e.g. , United States v. St. Hubert , 909 F. 3d 335, 352–353 (CA11 2018). This theory proceeds in the form of a syllogism. The government sub

mits that the elements clause encompasses not only any of

fense that qualifies as a “crime of violence” but also any at

tempt to commit such a crime. And, the government reasons, because completed Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as a crime of violence, it follow s that attempted Hobbs Act rob

bery does too. While the government pressed this argument in the courts of appeals, it affords it only a passing nod here. And the reason why quickly becomes clear: The government’s

——————

1 J USTICE T HOMAS concedes that the foregoing analysis is correct under our categorical approa ch precedents. See post , at 3 (T HOMAS , J., dissent

ing). He contends only that we sh ould overrule 30 years’ worth of our categorical approach precedents in order to relieve the “ ‘bind’ ” they place on prosecutors. Post , at 8, 11. But not even the prosecutors for whom J USTICE T HOMAS professes concern seek anythi ng like that. Nor does he articulate any plausible way to und erstand the terms of the elements clause without reference to the categorical approach. See post , at 14 (merely “welcom[ing] briefing” on the topic).7 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

Opinion of the Court syllogism rests on a false premise. The elements clause does not ask whether the defendant committed a crime of violence or attempted to commit one. It asks whether the defendant did commit a crime of violence—and it proceeds to define a crime of violence as a felony that includes as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of force. If Congress had wanted the elements clause to do the kind of work the government supposes, it could have easily said so. For example, it might have swept in those federal crimes that require as an element “the use or threatened use of force” and those “that constitute an attempt to com

mit an offense that has such an element.” But that simply is not the law we have.

B Recognizing the weakness of the argument it pressed be

low, the government spends much of its time before us elab

orating two new theories. In the first, the government asks us to focus on the “substantial step” element of attempted Hobbs Act robbery. That element, the government submits, categorically requires it to prove that a defendant used, at

tempted to use, or threatened to use physical force. This theory fails too, and for reasons we have already seen. Without question, many who commit the crime of at

tempted Hobbs Act robbery do use, attempt to use, or threaten to use force. Suppose, for example, that the police had arrested Adam after he handed over his threatening note to the cashier but before he received any money. In a case like that, the defendant would have threatened the use of force while committing an a ttempted Hobbs Act robbery. But some cases are not all cases, and the government’s problem is that no element of attempted Hobbs Act robbery requires the government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant used, attempted to use, or even threatened to use force. Individuals like our foiled robber who are arrested before they can threaten anyone may be8 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

Opinion of the Court

convicted too. See supra , at 4–6; cf. Model Penal Code, at 114–115. Seeking a way around this problem, the government re

sponds that we (and presumably the drafters of the Model Penal Code) misconstrue what qualifies as the “threatened use” of force. On its view, anyone who takes a substantial step toward completing Hobbs Act robbery (say, by buying a weapon, plotting his heist and getaway, writing an extor

tive note before he leaves home, and entering a store) objec

tively poses a “threatened use” of force even if he never com

municates his threat to anyone. This reply bears its own problems. To start, in the crim

inal law the word “threat” and its cognates usually denote “[a] communicated intent to inflict physical or other harm on any person or on property.” 2 Of course, threats can be communicated verbally or nonverbally—pointing a gun at a cashier conveys a threat no less effectively than passing a note reading “your money or yo ur life.” But one way or an

other, some form of communication is usually required. Even the government concedes that the words “threatened force” in the Hobbs Act require proof that the defendant communicated a threat to a se cond person, whether or not that individual is the target of the threat. See Reply Brief 15. That leaves the government to suggest that § 924(c)(3)(A) differs from the Hobbs Act and represents an exception to

——————

2 Black’s Law Dictionary 1327 (5th ed. 1979) (defining “threat”); Stroud’s Judicial Dictionary 2633 (5th ed. 1986) (defining “threat” and “threaten”); see also, e.g. , Oxford English Dictionary 998 (2d ed. 1989) (threaten: “To try to influence (a pers on) by menaces; to utter or hold out a threat against; to declare (usually conditionally) one’s intention of in

flicting injury upon”); Webster’s Th ird New International Dictionary 2382 (3d ed. 1986) (threaten: “to utter threats against”; to “promise pun

ishment, reprisal, or other distress to”); American Heritage Dictionary 1265 (2d ed. 1985) (threat: “An expression of an intention to inflict pain, injury, evil, or punishment”); ibid. (threaten: “[t]o express a threat against”).9 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

Opinion of the Court the usual rule. Seeking to ma ke that case, the government observes that, in some contexts, the word “threat” can be used to speak of a more objective or abstract risk. So, for example, a critic might say that a prison board’s decision to parole a particular felon “threatens” community safety. Or a conservationist might argue that a government decision allowing commercial activity near a national park “threat

ens” wildlife habitat. Before us, the government submits that the elements clause uses the term in a similar way, requiring only an objective, if uncommunicated, threat to community peace and order. And, the government argues, anyone who takes a substantial step toward completing a Hobbs Act robbery always or categorically poses such a threat. The trouble is, when Congress uses the word “threat” in this abstract and predictive (rather than communicative) sense, it usually makes its point plain. It may ask, for ex

ample, whether an individual or circumstance “poses” or “represents” a threat. See, e.g. , 6 U. S. C. § 1170(a)(1) (dis

cussing “individuals who may pose a threat to transporta

tion security”); 8 U. S. C. § 1735(a) (immigration officials must determine that an “alien does not pose a threat to the safety or national security of the United States”). Here we have nothing like that. In fact, what textual clues we do have point in the opposite direction. Take this one. The statute speaks of the “use” or “attempted use” of “physical force against the person or property of another.” Plainly, this language requires the government to prove that the defendant took specific ac

tions against specific persons or their property. Reading the statute’s remaining reference to the “threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another” as requiring a communicated threat fits with this design. By contrast, the government’s competing interpretation would vastly expand the statute’s reach by sweeping in conduct that poses an abstract risk to community peace and order,10 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

Opinion of the Court whether known or unknown to anyone at the time. It’s a reading that would defy our usual rule of statutory inter

pretation that a law’s terms are best understood by “the company [they] kee[p ].” Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. , 513 U. S. 561, 575 (1995). Beyond that clue lies another. Next door to the elements clause Congress included the residual clause. Under its terms, “crimes of violence” were defined to embrace offenses that, “by [their] nature, involv[e] a substantial risk that physical force . . . may be used” against a person or prop

erty. § 924(c)(3)(B). Pretty plainly, that language called for an abstract inquiry into whethe r a particular crime, by its nature, poses or presents a substantial risk (or “threat”) of force being used. See Davis , 588 U. S., at ___–___ (slip op., at 5–7). Of course, this Court eventually held the residual clause to be unconstitutionally vague. Id. , at ___ (slip op., at 24). But if the government’s view of the elements clause caught on, it would only wind up effectively replicating the work formerly performed by the residual clause, collapsing the distinction between them, and perhaps inviting similar constitutional questions alon g the way. It’s an outcome that would (again) defy our usual rules of statutory inter

pretation—this time because we do not lightly assume Con

gress adopts two separate clauses in the same law to per

form the same work. See, e.g. , Mackey v. Lanier Collection Agency & Service, Inc. , 486 U. S. 825, 839, n. 14 (1988).

C Heaping alternative upon alternative, the government’s final theory accepts that a conviction under the elements clause requires a communicated threat of force. But, the argument goes, most attempted Hobbs Act robbery prose

cutions involve exactly that. Indeed, the government faults Mr. Taylor for failing to identify a single case in which it has prosecuted someone for attempted Hobbs Act robbery without proving a communicated threat.11 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

Opinion of the Court But what does that prove? Put aside the fact that Mr. Taylor has identified cases in which the government has apparently convicted individ uals for attempted Hobbs Act robbery without proving a communicated threat. See, e.g. , United States v. Williams , 531 Fed. Appx. 270, 271–272 (CA3 2013). Put aside the oddity of placing a burden on the defendant to present empirical evidence about the govern

ment’s own prosecutorial habits. Put aside, too, the practi

cal challenges such a burden would present in a world where most cases end in plea agreements, and not all of those cases make their way into easily accessible commer

cial databases. See J. Turner, Transparency in Plea Bar

gaining, 96 Notre Dame L. Rev. 973, 974, 978–981 (2021). An even more fundamental and by now familiar problem lurks here. The government ’s theory cannot be squared with the statute’s terms. To determine whether a federal felony qualifies as a crime of violence, § 924(c)(3)(A) doesn’t ask whether the crime is sometimes or even usually associ

ated with communicated threats of force (or, for that mat

ter, with the actual or attempted use of force). It asks whether the government must prove, as an element of its case, the use, attempted use, or threatened use of force. Maybe that is the test the statute presupposes, the gov

ernment answers, but this Court’s case law requires its pro

posed empirical study all the same. Notice, though, the move implicit here. After previously admitting that we must employ a categorical approach when interpreting the reach of § 924(c)(3)(A), the government effectively back

tracks. Instead of looking to the elements of attempted Hobbs Act robbery, the governme nt now says that a defend

ant must present evidence about how his crime of conviction is normally committed or usually prosecuted. If this admit

tedly atextual theory seems doubtful on its face, a close look at the case the government invokes does not improve the picture. The government points to Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez

,12 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

Opinion of the Court 549 U. S. 183 (2007). There, this Court sought to apply pro

visions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Id. , at 185. Under the INA, an individual with a prior state-court con

viction that meets certain “generic” offense definitions un

der federal law may face deportation. Id. , at 186, 189; see also 8 U. S. C. §§ 1101(a)(43)(G), 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). In Duenas-Alvarez , there was no doubt that the relevant state offense overlapped significantly with the federal definitionof generic “theft.” 549 U. S., at 190. But, Mr. DuenasAlvarez argued, state courts had interpreted the offense broadly to reach aiding and abetting conduct that fell “be

yond generic theft.” Id. , at 190–191. To test this assertion, the Court looked to state decisional law and asked whether a “realistic probability” existed that the State “would apply its statute to conduct that falls outside” the federal generic definition. Id. , at 193. None of this begins to help the government for at least two reasons. First, the immigration statute at issue in Duenas-Alvarez required a federal court to make a judg

ment about the meaning of a state statute. Appreciating the respect due state courts as the final arbiters of state law in our federal system, this Co urt reasoned that it made sense to consult how a state court would interpret its own State’s laws. Cf. Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc. , 472 U. S. 703, 709, n. 8 (1985). Meanwhile, no such federalism concern is in play here. The statute before us asks only whether the elements of one federal law align with those prescribed in another. Second, in DuenasAlvarez the elements of the relevant state and federal of

fenses clearly overlapped and the only question the Court faced was whether state courts also “appl[ied] the statute in [a] special (nongeneric) manner.” 549 U. S., at 193. Here, we do not reach that question because there is no overlap to begin with. Attempted Hobbs Act robbery does not require proof of any of the elements § 924(c)(3)(A) de

mands. That ends the inquiry, and nothing in Duenas

-13 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

Opinion of the Court

Alvarez suggests otherwise. 3

* The government quickly abandons the legal theory it ad

vanced in the courts of appeals—and neither of the two new options it auditions before us begins to fill the void. In § 924(c)(3)(A), Congress did not condition long prison terms on an abstract judicial inquiry into whether and to what degree this or that crime poses a risk to community peace and safety. Nor did it mandate an empirical inquiry into how crimes are usually committed, let alone impose a bur

den on the defendant to present proof about the govern

ment’s own prosecutorial habits. Congress tasked the courts with a much more straight

forward job: Look at the elements of the underlying crime and ask whether they require the government to prove the use, attempted use, or threatened use of force. Following

——————

3 J USTICE A LITO offers still another argument on the government’s be

half. According to our colleague, the crime of completed Hobbs Act rob

bery requires the government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and a unanimous jury must agree on, the pa rticular “means” by which the de

fendant committed his offense—by “actual” force, “threatened force,” “vi

olence,” or “fear of injury.” § 1951(b)(1); post , at 3–6 (dissenting opinion). And because attempts to commit robbery by some of these means could qualify as crimes of violence under § 924(c)(3)(A), J USTICE A LITO would classify the entire offense of attempted Hobbs Act robbery a “crime of violence.” Post , at 6. But the parties have not whispered a word about any of this. Perhaps for good reason too. For one thing, it is unclear whether the Act’s “means” clause sets forth elements or merely lists al

ternative ways a defendant may take or obtain property against the vic

tim’s will. If the latter is true, as some courts have held, a jury need unanimously conclude only that the defendant used one of the listed means; it need not agre e on which one. See, e.g. , United States v. St. Hubert , 909 F. 3d 335, 348–349 (CA11 2018); United States v. Hancock

, 168 F. Supp. 3d 817, 821 (D MD 2016). For another, even assuming the Act is divisible in the sense he suggests, J USTICE A LITO acknowledges that his some-is-good-enough approach defies this Court’s precedents. Post , at 6; Descamps v. United States , 570 U. S. 254, 260–264 (2013).14 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

Opinion of the Court
that direction in this case, the Fourth Circuit correctly rec

ognized that, to convict a defe ndant of attempted Hobbs Act robbery, the government does no t have to prove any of those things. Accordingly, Mr. Taylor may face up to 20 years in prison for violating the Hobbs Act. But he may not be law

fully convicted and sentenced under § 924(c) to still another decade in federal prison. The judgment of the Court of Ap

peals is Affirmed._________________

_________________ 1 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

T HOMAS , J., dissenting 

## SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

No. 20–1459

UNITED STATES, PETITIONER v. JUSTIN EUGENE TAYLOR

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
[June 21, 2022]

J USTICE T HOMAS , dissenting. Justin Eugene Taylor and an accomplice pulled a gun on a fellow drug dealer as they tri ed to rob him. During the attempted robbery, the victim was shot and killed. Taylor pleaded guilty to using a firearm during an attempted Hobbs Act robbery, which he conceded was a “crime of vio

lence” under 18 U. S. C. §924(c)(3). Taylor made that con

cession because threatening to shoot someone during a rob

bery is undoubtedly a violent act. Yet, the Court holds that Taylor did not actually commit a “crime of violence” because a hypothetical defendant—the Court calls him “Adam”— could have been convicted of attempting to commit Hobbs Act robbery without using, atte mpting to use, or threaten

ing to use physical force. Ante, at 5; see §924(c)(3)(A). This holding exemplifies just how this Court’s “categori

cal approach” has led the Federal Judiciary on a “journey Through the Looking Glass,” during which we have found many “strange things.” L. Carroll, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass 227 (J. Messner ed. 1982). Ra

ther than continue this 30-year excursion into the absurd, I would hold Taylor accountable for what he actually did and uphold his conviction. Accordingly, I respectfully dis

sent.2 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

T HOMAS , J., dissenting

I In 2002 and 2003, Justin Eugene Taylor was a middle

man in the Richmond, Virginia, marijuana trade. He bought the drug wholesale and sold it to retail distributors. On August 14, 2003, he offered to obtain marijuana for re

tail distributor Martin Sylvester. Taylor ultimately failed to procure the drug but still aimed to purloin Sylvester’s cash. To that end, Taylor contacted a co-conspirator who had a handgun. The two met Sylvester in an alley, ostensi

bly for the sale. They brandished the handgun and de

manded the money. Sylvester resisted and was shot. The robbers fled, leaving Sylvester to die. 979 F. 3d 203, 205 (CA4 2020). Prosecutors in the Eastern Di strict of Virginia charged Taylor with various drug and firearms offenses. Most rele

vant here, they charged him with violating 18 U. S. C. §924(c), which punishes anyone who “uses or carries a fire

arm” “during and in relation to any crime of violence,” or who possesses a firearm “in furtherance of any such crime.” Congress defined a “crime of vi olence” in one of two ways: as an offense that has “as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another” (c ommonly called the “elements clause”), or as an offense that, “by its nature, involves a sub

stantial risk that physical force against the person or prop

erty of another may be used in the course of committing the offense” (commonly called the “residual clause”). §§924(c)(3)(A), (B). Prosecutors predicated Tayl or’s §924(c) charge on his commission of attempted Hobbs Act robbery. Ante, at 1 (de

scribing Hobbs Act robbery). In 2009, in exchange for the Government dropping most of the charges, Taylor pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and the §924(c) charge—that is, using a firearm during and in rela

tion to a crime of violence. In doing so, he admitted to the attempted robbery and the shooting. He also admitted that3 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

T HOMAS , J., dissenting attempted Hobbs Act robbery is a “crime of violence” under §924(c). The District Court sentenced Taylor to 360 months’ im

prisonment—a 240-month sentence for the conspiracy and a 120-month consecutive sentence for the §924(c) convic

tion. Taylor appealed, but in 2011 the Court of Appeals dis

missed the appeal because Taylor had waived his appellate rights in his plea agreement. Order in United States v. Tay

lor , No. 09–4468, ECF Doc. 54 (CA4, Jan. 7, 2011). In 2015, he then unsuccessfully sought postconviction relief under 28 U. S. C. §2255. United States v. Taylor , 2015 WL 4095845, *1 (ED Va., July 7, 2015)

. Decided around the time of his failed §2255 motion, one of this Court’s cases appeared to give Taylor another chance to challenge his conviction. In Johnson v. United States

, 576 U. S. 591 (2015), the Court struck down the similarly worded residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), as unconstitutionally vague. The following year, in Welch v. United States , 578 U. S. 120 (2016), the Court held that Johnson applies retroactively on collateral re

view. Citing those two decisions, Taylor moved for permis

sion to file a second-or-succe ssive §2255 petition. He ar

gued that §924(c)’s residual clause paralleled ACCA’s residual clause and therefore was unconstitutionally vague. 979 F. 3d, at 206. He further argued that attempted Hobbs Act robbery was not a “crime of violence” under §924(c)’s elements clause because it lacked “as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force.” §924(c)(3)(A). The Court of Appeals granted the motion to file a succes

sive habeas petition and, in 2020, vacated Taylor’s §924(c) conviction. It did so because, as the Court explains, our precedents require that courts apply a “categorical ap

proach” when interpreting the elements clause. Ante, at 11. Under that approach, a criminal defendant who commits a4 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

T HOMAS , J., dissenting

violent crime nonetheless does not commit a “crime of vio

lence” if a hypothetical criminal could commit the same of

fense without satisfying §924(c)’s physical-force require

ment. See ibid. Because someone else—“Adam”—could have committed attempted Hobbs Act robbery without physical force, the Court holds, Taylor’s armed robbery that resulted in the victim’s death is not a “crime of violence” under §924(c).

II We have reached this point of absurdity only because this Court applies a narrow categorica l approach to §924(c)’s el

ements clause and has nullified the residual clause that would have captured crimes like Taylor’s. It is hard to fathom why this makes sense or why any rational Congress would countenance such an outcome so divorced from real

ity.

A Our odyssey began in 1990, as the Court wrestled with a different clause found in a different part of §924: ACCA’s sentencing enhancement in §924(e). Unlike §924(c), which defines a substantive crime, ACCA imposes a sentencing enhancement that applies to any defendant with three or more prior “violent felon[ie s]” whom the Federal Govern

ment convicts of illegally possessing a firearm. §§922(g), 924(e)(2). Like §924(c), ACCA de fines “violent felony” with an elements clause and a residual clause. The Act also in

cludes an “enumerated-offenses” clause defining “violent felony” to include any crime that “is burglary, arson, or ex

tortion, [or] involves use of explosives.” §924(e)(2). In Taylor v. United States , 495 U. S. 575 (1990), the Court first adopted a categorical approach when interpreting “burglary” under ACCA’s enumerated-offenses clause. Id.

, at 598. The Court construed “burglary” in the abstract, as a “generic burglary” with elements derived from a treatise5 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

T HOMAS , J., dissenting

and the Model Penal Code. Id. , at 593–598, and n. 8. The Court then held that the enumerated-offenses clause pro

hibits courts from looking to the “particular facts” of a de

fendant’s burglary to see if the conduct satisfies the ele

ments of generic burglary. Id., at 600. It does not matter how violent the defendant’s actual conduct was. Instead, courts must determine whether the elements of the bur

glary statute under which a defendant was convicted “sub

stantially correspon[d]” to generic burglary. Id. , at 600, 602. Though Taylor gave “few reasons why” this so-called categorical approach “was th e correct reading of ACCA,” at the “ ‘heart of the decision’ ” were “worrie[s]” that a conductbased approach to a sentencing enhancement might violate the Sixth Amendment by leading to “full-blown mini

trial[s], with factfinding by the judge instead of the jury.” Sessions v. Dimaya , 584 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2018) (T HOMAS , J., dissenting) (slip op., at 21–22). While Taylor applied the categorical approach only to ACCA’s enumerated-offenses clause, the approach soon mi

grated to the elements clauses in ACCA and elsewhere. See, e.g., Borden v. United States , 593 U. S. ___, ___ (2021) (plurality opinion) (slip op., at 2). In that context, the cate

gorical approach demands that a court divine what consti

tutes the “ least serious conduct [the prior conviction or predicate offense] covers” and decide whether that conduct “falls within the elements clause.” Id ., at ___ (slip op., at 20). To do that, a judge must “mull through any number of hypothetical ways to commit a crime that have nothing to do with the facts of the prior conviction” or the facts under

lying a predicate §924(c) offense. United States v. Burris

, 912 F. 3d 386, 409 (CA6 2019) (Thapar, J., concurring). If a court identifies a way to co mmit the crime without using, attempting to use, or threatening to use force, then the crime is not a “violent felony” or “crime of violence” under ACCA’s or §924(c)’s elements clauses. See Borden , 593 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 20).6 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

T HOMAS , J., dissenting This Court eventually extended the categorical approach to ACCA’s residual clause as well. In James v. United States , 550 U. S. 192 (2007), the Court, at the urging of both parties, “employ[ed] the ‘categorical approach’ ” to analyze ACCA’s residual clause. Id., at 202 (quoting Shepard v. United States , 544 U. S. 13, 17 (2005)). That clause defines a “violent felony” as one that “otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” §924(e)(2)(B)(ii). James explained that ACCA’s residual-clause categorical ap proach boiled down to two steps. First, a court looked to the elements of the crime for which the defendant was convicted and asked what conduct the “ordinary case” of that crime entailed. 550 U. S.

, at 208. Second, the court asked whethe r that “ordinary case” “pre

sent[ed] a serious potential risk of injury to another” com

parable to that posed by the specific crimes listed in the enumerated-offenses clause. Id., at 204, 208–209

. If it did, then the predicate crime was a “violent felony.” That test proved difficult to apply. In particular, the Court struggled with how to de fine the “ordinary case” of a given predicate crime. See Johnson , 576 U. S., at 597 (“How does one go about deciding what kind of conduct the ordi

nary case of a crime involves? A statistical analysis of the state reporter? A survey? Expert evidence? Google? Gut instinct?” (internal quotation marks omitted)). The Court likewise struggled in assessing what level of risk the ordi

nary case presented. Id ., at 598. After trying to apply this approach several times, see, e.g., Begay v. United States

, 553 U. S. 137 (2008), the Court in Johnson ultimately aban

doned the project. But rather than reassess whether it had adopted the right analytical framework in light of ACCA’s text and statutory context, the Court in Johnson nullified ACCA’s residual clause altogether. See 576 U. S., at 624 (T HOMAS , J., concurring in judgment). According to the Court, the “[t]wo features” of the residual-clause analysis that the Court set out in James —identifying “ordinary7 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

T HOMAS , J., dissenting case” conduct and judging whether that abstracted conduct “presents a serious risk of ph ysical injury”—“conspire[d] to make [the residual clause] unconstitutionally vague.” 576 U. S., at 597–598 (majority opinion). That conclusion was not inevitable. The Johnson Court did “not doubt the constitutionality of laws that call for the application of a qualitative st andard such as ‘substantial risk’ to real-world conduct.” Id ., at 603–604. Thus, the Court “all but concede[d] that the residual clause would be constitutional if,” rather than incorporating James ’ categor

ical approach, it looked to whether the “ ‘real-world con

duct’ ” of the underlying conviction presented a serious risk of physical injury to another. 576 U. S., at 632 (A LITO , J., dissenting). Despite recognizing that a conduct-based approach was constitutionally sound, the Court later extended Johnson to the residual clause in §924(c). See United States v. Davis

, 588 U. S. ___, ___ (2019). The Davis Court decided that the §924(c) residual clause’s language was so similar to the ACCA residual clause that it, too, must be void for vague

ness. Id., at ___–___, ___–___ (slip op., at 6–7, 24–25). Four of us, however, advanced a more sensible approach: Rather than extend Johnson to nullify §924(c)’s residual clause, we should simply not use the categorical approach when inter

preting residual clauses and adopt a framework focused on the defendant’s actual conduct that Johnson conceded was constitutional. See 588 U. S., at ___–___ (slip op., at 16–17) (K AVANAUGH , J., dissenting). As the Davis dissent explained, §924(c)’s residual clause is best interpreted to call for a conduct-based approach. Id

., at ___–___ (slip op., at 17–24). To begin with, the plain text of the residual clause strongly supports a conduct-based ap

proach. See ibid . Further, none of the perceived Sixth Amendment concerns that attend to ACCA’s sentencing en

hancement are present in the §924(c) context, because a “jury will find the facts or, if the case ends in a guilty plea,8 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

T HOMAS , J., dissenting the defendant will accept the facts in the plea agreement.” Id., at ___ (slip op., at 16). Finally, if any ambiguity re

mains, a conduct-based approach to §924(c)’s residual clause best accords with the canon counseling courts to con

strue statutes not to violate the Constitution whenever pos

sible. See id ., at ___–___ (slip op., at 26–27) (“To be clear, the case before us is not a case of avoiding possible uncon

stitutionality. This is a case of avoiding actual unconstitu

tionality”); see also Dimaya , 584 U. S., at ___ (T HOMAS , J., dissenting) (slip op., at 20). Thus, read properly, the resid

ual clause is as constitutionally sound as any other criminal law applying “ ‘a qualitative standard . . . to real-world con

duct.’ ” Davis , 588 U. S., at ___ (K AVANAUGH , J., dissenting) (slip op., at 6) (quoting Johnson , 576 U. S., at 604). Nothing in the three years since Davis has changed that.

B To the contrary, the last three years have instead shown how our §924(c) precedents have “left prosecutors and courts in a bind.” Borden , 593 U. S., at ___ (T HOMAS , J., concurring in judgment) (slip op., at 2). Section 924(c)’s re

sidual clause—which squarely applies to the mine run of violent crimes—is no longer available. The categorical ap

proach, meanwhile, forecloses §924(c)’s elements clause un

less, in every hypothetical pros ecution, the crime of convic

tion requires the Government to prove that physical force against another was used, attempted, or threatened. In case after case, our precedents have compelled courts to hold that heinous crimes are not “crimes of violence” just because someone, somewhere, might commit that crime without using force. A few examples from the Courts of Appeals demonstrate how our precedents have emasculated §924(c). First, in United States v. Walker , 934 F. 3d 375 (2019), the Fourth Circuit considered whether a conviction for federal kidnap

-9 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

T HOMAS , J., dissenting ing could predicate a §924(c) conviction. See id., at 376 (cit

ing §1201(a)). Walker and an accomplice had kicked in the door of a family’s home, held the victims at gunpoint, beat some of them, demanded money, and threatened to kill the family’s 4-year-old daughter, all before locking the family in a closet and ransacking the house. Factual Basis for Guilty Plea in United States v. Walker , No. 14–cr–00271, ECF Doc. 13 (MDNC, Nov. 3, 2014). No one could dispute that Walker’s conduct presen ted a “substantial risk that physical force” would be used “in the course of committing the offense.” §924(c)(3)(B). Yet, because of Davis

, the Fourth Circuit could not invoke the residual clause. See Walker , 934 F. 3d, at 378. That left only §924(c)(3)’s ele

ments clause, interpreted according to the inflexible cate

gorical approach. Compelled to imagine whether federal kidnaping could hypothetically be committed without the use of physical force, the Fou rth Circuit ultimately vacated Walker’s §924(c) conviction because a criminal could com

mit the offense by “inveigl[ing]” a victim and then holding him in captivity with a “mental restraint.” Id. , at 378–379 (emphasis deleted). 1 Second, in United States v. Tsarnaev , 968 F. 3d 24 (CA1 2020), reversed on other grounds, 595 U. S. ___ (2022), the First Circuit considered whethe r a terrorist’s conviction for federal arson—which he committed in the course of carry

ing out the Boston Marathon bombings—counted as a crime

——————

1 See also, e.g. , United States v. Brazier , 933 F. 3d 796, 798–801 (CA7 2019) (federal kidnaping not a crime of violence under §924(c) despite victim being bound, gagged, tortured, and shot); Bufkin v. United States

, 800 Fed. Appx. 436, 437, 439 (CA7 202 0) (Government conceding that federal kidnaping is not a crime of violence even when “the two defend

ants threatened the victim at gunp oint, robbed, bound, and gagged him, and drove him around in the trunk of the car for four hours before releas

ing him”); United States v. Sanford , 779 Fed. Appx. 568, 570 (CA10 2019) (vacating §924(c) convictions even wh en the underlying conduct involved kidnaping, threatening, and robbing a family, all at gunpoint).10 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

T HOMAS , J., dissenting of violence under §924(c). Tsarnaev and his brother inten

tionally detonated bombs that killed three people, including an 8-year-old, and injured hundreds more. See id., at ___– ___ (slip op., at 2–3). Yet, the categorical-approach prece

dents led the First Circuit to the admittedly “counterintui

tive” conclusion that federal arson resulting in death aris

ing from a terrorist bombing wa s not a crime of violence. Tsarnaev , 968 F. 3d, at 102. The residual clause had been nullified, id., at 99, and the First Circuit held that federal arson did not satisfy the elements clause because it theoret

ically could have been committed recklessly, id., at 102, 2 which, we have held in the ACCA context, renders a crime outside the elements clause, see Borden , 593 U. S., at ___– ___ (plurality opinion) (slip op., at 7–8). Finally, in United States v. Ledbetter , 929 F. 3d 338 (CA6 2019), the Sixth Circuit vacated two convictions under 18 U. S. C. §924(j), which criminalizes “caus[ing] the death of a person through the use of a firearm” “in the course of a violation of ” §924(c). 929 F. 3d

, at 360–361

. The two de

fendants were associated with a gang called the “Short North Posse.” Id., at 359. One belonged to a subunit of the gang, appropriately named the “ ‘Homicide Squad,’ ” which “specializ[ed] in murders and robberies.” Id., at 345. In August 2007, they joined a team of gang members who broke into a home and shot a victim to death. Id., at 359. Section 924(c)’s residual claus e would have covered the de

fendants’ conduct, given that there is obviously a “substan

tial risk that physical force” would be “used in the course of ” a gangland home-invasion mu rder. §924(c)(3)(B). But Davis had nullified that clause, and the Government con

ceded that conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery—the

——————

2 See United States v. Moore , 802 Fed. Appx. 338, 340–342 (CA10 2020) (federal arson not a crime of violence even when the defendant ignited a homemade bomb during an attempt to blow up a shopping mall).Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 11

T HOMAS , J., dissenting predicate crime for the defendants’ §924(j) convictions—was not a crime of violence under this Court’s elementsclause precedents. 929 F. 3d, at 360–361. These are not the only homicide-related §924 convictions that Davis has undermined. 3 These examples show how our precedents have led the Federal Judiciary to “a pretend place.” United States v. Davis , 875 F. 3d 592, 595 (CA11 2017). With the residual clause nullified, courts cannot look to it to capture violentcrimes. And, because of the categorical approach, the elements clause often does not apply because “other defendants at other times may have been convicted, or future defendants could be convicted, of violating the same statute without violence.” Ibid. Like Alice, we have strayed far “down the rabbit hole,” and “[c]uriouser and curiouser it has all become.” Ibid.

III There is a straightforward solution to this problem— overrule Davis . Cf. Borden , 593 U. S., at ___ (opinion of T HOMAS , J.) (slip op., at 3) (“There is a straightforward solution to this dilemma—overrule Johnson ”). It is a demonstrably erroneous precedent that veered from the best interpretation of §924(c)’s residual clause. See supra, at 7–8 (citing Davis , 588 U. S., at ___–___ (K AVANAUGH , J., dissenting) (slip op., at 16–17)); cf. Johnson , 576 U. S., at 613 (T HOMAS , J., concurring in judgment) (noting this Court’s habit of wielding due process doctrines like vagueness “to achieve its own policy goals”). Accordingly, I would overrule

——————

3 See, e.g., United States v. Capers , 20 F. 4th 105, 111–112 (CA2 2021) (applying United States v. Davis , 588 U. S. ___ (2019), and finding thata federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act conspiracy resulting in a gangland killing co uld not predicate a §924(j) conviction); see also, e.g., Brief for United States in Grzegorczyk v. United States , O. T. 2021, No. 21–5967 (Government conceding that, after Davis

, a federal murder-for-hire conviction was not a crime of violence under §924(c)).12 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

T HOMAS , J., dissenting

Davis and adopt in its place the conduct-based approach that the Davis dissent described. Overruling Davis would revive §924(c)’s residual claus e, once again allowing the statute to capture the vast majority of §924(c) convictions that elude an elements clause straightjacketed by the cate

gorical approach. With a revived residual clause, resolving this case is easy. Taylor’s counsel acknowledged that Congress “enacted the residual clause to capture cases just like” Taylor’s. Tr. of Oral Arg. 48–49. His confessed conduct—an attempted armed robbery during which the victim was shot and killed—“by its nature, involve[ d] a substantial risk that physical force” would be used. §924(c)(3)(B). Thus, Taylor committed a predicate offense that supported his §924(c) conviction. Taylor’s appeal should therefore fail, and he should serve the 10 years in prison he received for the §924(c) conviction. This same logic would have saved the other convictions described above. Equipped with a revived residual clause focused on the defendant’s actual conduct, those federal courts would not have had to va cate the §924(c) convictions of kidnapers who threatened families, terrorists who bombed sporting events, or murderers who shot their vic

tims. In other words, those courts could have applied the statute that Congress enacted rather than the one this Court effectively rewrote and then nullified.

IV The costs of our decisions imposing the categorical ap

proach on §924(c) and other statutes have been immense. Apart from the unnatural results it produces in §924(c) cases, the categorical approach has led to equally baffling ones in the ACCA context and elsewhere. See, e.g. , Burris

, 912 F. 3d, at 407 (Thapar, J., concurring) (“A casual reader . . . might struggle to understand why we are even debating13 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

T HOMAS , J., dissenting if ramming a vehicle into a po lice officer is a crime of vio

lence”); Davis , 875 F. 3d, at 604 (holding that a man charged with first-degree rape who pleaded to first-degree sexual abuse by forcible compulsion had not committed an ACCA “violent felony” because the force required was insuf

ficiently violent). Moreover, co urts attempting to apply the categorical approach waste time thinking up improbable hypotheticals, making the approach “very difficult to ad

minister.” Burris , 912 F. 3d, at 407 (Thapar, J., concur

ring); see also, e.g., Cradler v. United States , 891 F. 3d 659, 672 (CA6 2018) (Kethledge, J., concurring) (“Whatever the merits of this approach, accuracy and judicial efficiency are not among them”). Finally, Congress, through legislation, created crimes like §924(c) and enhancements like ACCA to reduce gun crime rates by imposing long sentences on vio

lent criminals who use firearms. See Davis , 588 U. S., at ___–___ (K AVANAUGH , J., dissenting) (slip op., at 1–2). Yet, as a growing chorus of Court of Appeals judges has ex

plained, the categorical approach stymies that effort. See,
e.g., United States v. Ovalles , 905 F. 3d 1231, 1253–1257 (CA11 2018) (W. Pryor, J., concurring). No rational legisla

ture would have implicitly imposed this byzantine and resource-depleting legal doctrine that so encumbers federal courts and threatens public safety. Worse still, this Court has imposed these costs on the fed

eral courts and the public even though the text of these pro

visions does not demand them. I have already pointed out the “absurdity of applying the categorical approach to the enumerated-offenses clause” of ACCA and have suggested that a conduct-based approach better fits the text. Quarles

v. United States , 587 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2019) (T HOMAS , J., concurring) (slip op., at 1–2). And although the categorical approach might be a “linguistically possible” interpretation of the residual clauses, “the underlying-conduct approach is the better one.” Dimaya , 584 U. S., at ___ (T HOMAS , J., dis

senting) (slip op., at 25). And finally, while I have suggested14 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

T HOMAS , J., dissenting
that the categorical approach applies most plausibly in the elements-clause context, see id., at ___ (slip op., at 26), the Government has suggested that even that clause might bet

ter accord with a conduct-based approach. Tr. of Oral Arg. 5–6; see also Burris , 912 F. 3d, at 409–410 (Thapar, J., con

curring). In light of the mischief that the categorical approach hascaused, we should welcome briefing on whether a conductbased approach tacks closer to statutory text and common sense—especially in the elements-clause context. If it does, we should adopt it. 4

* * * Even Alice, having slaked her curiosity, eventually re

turned from the land beyond the looking glass. It is high time that this Court do the same . In this case, I would begin the trek back by adopting the Davis dissent’s conduct-based approach, reviving §924(c)’s re sidual clause, and reversing the judgment below. And in future cases, when it comes to interpreting §924(c)’s elements clause, I will carefully con

sider alternatives to this Co urt’s atextual and ever-more

absurd categorical approach. For these reasons, I respect

fully dissent.

——————

4 Meanwhile, J USTICE A LITO ’s dissent offers an intriguing alternative interpretation of §924(c)(3)(A)’s elements clause. See post , at 1–4. While no party advocates for the interpretati on in this case, we should welcome further briefing on it as well._________________

_________________ 1 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

A LITO , J., dissenting 

## SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

No. 20–1459

UNITED STATES, PETITIONER v. JUSTIN EUGENE TAYLOR

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
[June 21, 2022]

J USTICE A LITO , dissenting.
As J USTICE T HOMAS clearly shows, the offense for which respondent Justin Taylor was convicted constituted a “vio

lent felony” in the ordinary sense of the term. Taylor and an accomplice met with Martin Si lvester for the ostensible purpose of selling him marijuana, but unbeknownst to Sil

vester, Taylor and his accomplice did not intend to complete the sale. Instead, they had agreed to threaten Silvester with a 9-millimeter pistol and demand that he hand over his money. When Silvester refu sed to comply with their de

mand, Taylor’s accomplice shot Silvester, and he died the next day. Taylor was convicted of using and carrying a fire

arm during, and in relation to, a crime of violence, 18 U. S. C. §924(c)(3)(A). That conviction was based on a pred

icate act of attempted robbery in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U. S. C. §1951(a). The Court holds that this violent (and, indeed, deadly) of

fense did not constitute a “crime of violence” under the tech

nical definition of that term in §924(c)(3)(A). I agree with J USTICE T HOMAS that our cases involving §924(c)(3)(A) have veered off into fantasy land. 1 But if the Court is going

——————

1 The major reason for this excursio n was the adoption and spread of the so-called categorical approach. Although the Co urt originally adopted the “categor ical approach” in Taylor v. United States , 495 U. S. 575 (1990), for other reasons, the major impetus for the expansion of that2 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

A LITO , J., dissenting
to disregard the real world and base its decisions in this area on a strict reading of the text, the “offense” for which Taylor was convicted—atte mpted Hobbs Act robbery— meets the definition in §924(c)(3)(A). That definition pro

vides that an “offense” qualifies as a “ ‘crime of violence’ ” if it is a felony and “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person . . . of another.” (Emphasis added.) The key point is the meaning of “an element” of an of

fense. This is a fundamental criminal law concept, and we must therefore presume that §924(c)(3)(A) employs the term in its usual and established sense. See A. Scalia & B. Garner, Reading Law 320–321 (2012). And the usual and

—————— approach was concern that allowing the enhancement of a sentence based on facts found by a judge woul d violate the Sixth Amendment jurytrial right as interpreted in Apprendi v . New Jersey , 530 U. S. 466 (2000), and later related cases. It is qu estionable whether those cases are con

sistent with the original meanin g of the Sixth Amendment. See Alleyne

v. United States , 570 U. S. 99, 132–134 (2013) (A LITO , J., dissenting); Cunningham v. California , 549 U. S. 270, 298, n. 1 (2007) (A LITO , J., dis

senting); see also M. McConnell, The Booker Mess, 83 Denver U. L. Rev. 665, 679 (2006) (explaining that “fully discretionary sentencing” was the norm “when the Sixth Amendment was ad opted”); J. Mitchell, Apprendi’s Domain, 2006 S. Ct. Rev. 297, 298–299 (“ Apprendi ’s historical claim that sentencing enhancements were treated as ‘elements’ . . . whenever they increased a defendant’s maximum punishment is demonstrably mis

taken”); R. Little & T. Chen, The Lost History of Apprendi and the Blakely Petition for Rehearing, 17 Fed. Sentencing Rep. 69, 69–70 (2004) (arguing that Apprendi was “undoubtedly founded on an erroneous his

torical understanding”); S. Bibas, Judicial Fact-Finding and Sentence Enhancements in a World of Guilty Pleas, 110 Yale L. J. 1097, 1123– 1132 (2001) (arguing that discretionary sentencing was characteristic of 18th-century misdemeanor sentencing an d no fixed rule emerged even in the 19th century). But even if the a pproach were necessary when a court is determining a defendant’s sentence, no Sixth Amendment concern is implicated under §924(c), and the Court thus erred in holding that the categorical approach applied to the residual clause of that statute in United States v. Davis , 588 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2019) (slip op., 16–17) (K

AVANAUGH , J., dissenting).3 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

A LITO , J., dissenting established meaning of an “element” is clear: It is a “ ‘con

stituent par[t]’ of a crime’s legal definition—[a] thin[g] the ‘prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt to sus

tain a conviction.’ ” Mathis v. United States , 579 U. S. 500, 504 (2016) (quoting Black’s Law Dictionary 634 (10th ed. 2014)). See also, e.g ., Apprendi v . New Jersey , 530 U. S. 466, 477 (2000); United States v . Gaudin , 515 U. S. 506, 510 (1995). It is also established that there are two different types of elements. Some are invariant; that is, they must be proved in every case. But it is not uncommon for statutes to in

clude a set of alternative elemen ts and to provide that one, but not all, of these alternative elements must be proved to secure a conviction. As the Court said in Descamps v

. United States, 570 U. S. 254 (2013), a statute may “se[t] out one or more elements of the offense in the alternative—for example, [by] stating that burglary involves entry into a building or an automobile.” Id., at 257 (emphasis in origi

nal). The Hobbs Act includes both types of elements. It crimi

nalizes a robbery that “obstru cts, delays, or affects” inter

state commerce, 18 U. S. C. §1951(a), and it defines “rob

bery” to mean “the unlawful taking or obtaining of personal property from the person . . . of another, against his will, by means of actual or threatened force, or violence, or fear of injury, immediate or future,” §1951(b)(1). Accordingly, the elements of Hobbs Act robbery are (1) the unlawful taking or obtaining (2) of personal property (3) from the person of another (4) against his or her w ill (5) by means of actual or (6) by means of threatened force , or (7) by means of violence, or (8) by means of fear of injury. The first four elements must be proved in every case, while the last four are alter

native elements any one of which is sufficient for convic

tion. 2 A completed Hobbs Act robbery satisfies §924(c)(3)(A)

——————

2 There is no plausible argument that actual force, threatened force,4 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

A LITO , J., dissenting because multiple elements involve “the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another.” Elements (5) thorough (8) obviously qualify, and it is possible that element (4) does as well. The offense of attempted Hobbs Act robbery also quali

fies. A person commits a criminal attempt if he or she takes a “ ‘substantial step’ toward completing” an intended of

fense. United States v. Resendiz-Ponce , 549 U. S. 102, 106– 107 (2007) (quoting 2 W. LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law §11.4) (2d ed. 2003)). In other words, a defendant must intend to commit some combination of elements that is suf

ficient to constitute Hobbs A ct robbery and must take a sub

stantial step toward the commission of such a combination of elements. If we label these combinations as A, B, C . . . , then the elements of attempted Hobbs Act robbery are (1) intending to commit at least one qualifying combination, i.e ., A, B, C . . . , and (2) taking a substantial step toward the commission of A, B, C . . . . Each such combination con

stitutes an “offense” within the meaning of §924(c)(3), and several combinations satisfy the definition of a “crime of vi

olence.” Here is a straightforward example: A hypothetical de

fendant (let’s call her “Eve”) intends to take or obtain per

sonal property from the person of another unlawfully and

—————— violence, and fear of injury are on ly “means” of committing Hobbs Act robbery and not elements of the offe nse under the logi c of the Court’s decision in Mathis v. United States , 579 U. S. 500. Distinct “means” of carrying out an offense are “alternative means of satisfying one (or more) of its elements.” Id., at 503. In other words, the “means” of carrying out an offense are ways of carrying out an element of that offense. But there is no overarching element of Hobbs Ac t robbery of which actual or threat

ened force, violence, or fear of inju ry could be subordinate means of per

forming. And in any case, a jury mu st find that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the de fendant took or obtained property from the person of another by way of force, threatened force, violence, or fear of injury, wh ich entails that these ways of effectuating robbery con

stitute elements of the offense. See id ., at 504–506.5 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

A LITO , J., dissenting
against his or her will by me ans of actual force. Eve is guilty of the “offense” of attempted Hobbs Act robbery, and her offense “has as an element the use . . . of physical force against the person . . . of another.” That is where the Court must end up if it looks at on ly the text of §924(c)(3)(A) and the Hobbs Act. It is no answer to this argument that Taylor is not Eve. He is also not Adam. The whole point of the categorical ap

proach that the Court dutifully follows is that the real world must be scrupulously disregarded. The Court reaches the opposite conclusion only because it accepts the proposition—which the Government did not contest—that a felony “has as an element the use, at

tempted use, or threatened use of physical force” only if the felony “ always requires the government to prove” the use, attempted use, or threatened use of force “beyond a reason

able doubt, as an element of its case.” Ante , at 3 (emphasis added); see Brief for Respondent 13–18. In other words, the Court assumes that an offense X has an element A if and only if convicting a defendant of X requires the Government to prove A in every prosecution for offense X . Based on this assumption, the Court infers that attempted Hobbs Act rob

bery is not a “crime of violence” under §924(c)(3)(A) because it is possible to commit that offense without attempting to use force. There is no textual basis for this reading, and I would not adopt an erroneous interpretation that will govern a multi

tude of cases just because the Government has made an im

provident concession in this case. If the Court wants to hold the Government to the position it has taken here, it can dis

miss the case and give Taylor the benefit of the judgment in his favor below. But a party ’s mistaken argument should not be permitted to alter the meaning of the law Congress enacted. Nothing in our precedent suggests that we should deviate from §924(c)(3)(A)’s plain text. We have never interpreted6 UNITED STATES v. TAYLOR

A LITO , J., dissenting §924(c)(3)(A) to require a version of the categorical ap

proach that would exclude from the elements that an of

fense “has” those elements that may be proved as alterna

tives to one another. The most we have said is that, in applying the categorical approach to other statutory provi

sions, statutes setting forth disjunctive or alternative ele

ments should be analyzed through what we have called the “modified categorical approach.” See Descamps , 570 U. S., at 260–264 (“burglary” under Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U. S. C. § 924(e)); Shepard v. United States , 544 U. S. 13, 24–26 (2005) (same). Under this approach, courts must ex

amine “a limited class of documents (for example, the in

dictment, jury instructions, or plea agreement and collo

quy)” to determine which alternative element of an offense figured in the crime for which the defendant was convicted. Mathis , 579 U. S., at 505. As I have previously explained, the modified categorical approach is difficult to apply, and I would not apply it here. See id., at 536–544 (dissenting opinion); Descamps , 570 U. S., at 281–296 (A LITO , J., dissenting). Instead, I would simply hold that because one of the elements of the at

tempted Hobbs Act robbery is the attempted use of force, that offense falls within §924(c)(3)(A)’s definition of “crime of violence.” But if we were to apply the modified categorical approach in this case, the result would be the same. In his plea agree

ment and associated statement of facts, Taylor admitted that he and his accomplice inte nded to lure Silvester into an alleyway, hold him at gunpoint, and take his money “by force” in the event that he resisted. And Taylor and his ac

complice took more than a substantial step toward realizing this plan. After all, they ultimately shot and killed Sil

vester. So in accepting Taylor’s plea, it is plain that the sentencing judge determined that Taylor had intended to commit Hobbs Act robbery by using force and had taken a substantial step toward the accomplishment of that end.7 Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022)

A LITO , J., dissenting That is more than sufficient to show that Taylor’s actual crime “ha[d] as an element the . . . use of physical force against the person . . . of another.” §924(c)(3)(A). For these reasons, I believe that the Court’s approach and ultimate holding in this case are misguided. I would hold that Taylor committed a “crime of violence” within the meaning of §924(c)(3)(A) and reverse the judgment of the Fourth Circuit below. But there is a silver lining in the ma

jority opinion. Because the Court assumes—and does not hold—that alternative elements do not qualify as independ

ent elements of a crime for purposes of applying §924(c)(3)(A), the Government remains free to advance the correct interpretation of that pr ovision in a future case. For my purposes, however, the text of the statute is clear enough to support reversal here and now. As a result, I respectfully dissent.