Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/13-7120_p86b.pdf
Page Number: 54

Cite as:  576 U. S. ____ (2015) 

17 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

facts.”  United  States  v.  Powell,  423  U. S.  87,  92  (1975).
Thus,  our  holdings  and  our  dicta  prohibit  the  Court’s
expansion  of  the  vagueness  doctrine.    The  Constitution 
does  not  allow  us  to  hold  a  statute  void  for  vagueness
unless it is vague in all its applications. 

IV 
Because  I  would  not  strike  down  ACCA’s  residual 
clause, it is necessary for me to address whether Johnson’s 
conviction  for  possessing  a  sawed-off  shotgun  qualifies  as
a violent felony.  Under either the categorical approach or
a conduct-specific inquiry, it does. 

A 
The  categorical  approach  requires  us  to  determine 
whether “the conduct encompassed by the elements of the 
offense,  in  the  ordinary  case,  presents  a  serious  potential 
risk of injury to another.”  James, 550 U. S., at 208.  This 
is an “inherently probabilistic” determination that consid­
ers  the  circumstances  and  conduct  that  ordinarily  attend 
the offense.  Id., at 207.  The mere fact that a crime could 
be  committed  without  a  risk  of  physical  harm  does  not
exclude  it  from  the  statute’s  reach.    See  id.,  at  207–208. 
Instead,  the  residual  clause  speaks  of  “potential  risk[s],” 
§924(e)(2)(B)(ii),  a  term  suggesting  “that  Congress  in- 
tended to encompass possibilities even more contingent or
remote than a simple ‘risk,’ much less a certainty.”  James, 
supra, at 207–208. 

Under these principles, unlawful possession of a sawed-
off shotgun qualifies as a violent felony.  As we recognized
in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. 570, 625 (2008),
sawed-off  shotguns  are  “not  typically  possessed  by  law-
abiding  citizens  for  lawful  purposes.”    Instead,  they  are
uniquely  attractive  to  violent  criminals.    Much  easier  to 
conceal than long-barreled shotguns used for hunting and 
other  lawful  purposes,  short-barreled  shotguns  can  be