Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-1459_n7ip.pdf
Page Number: 10.0

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

7 

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 attempted 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 be