Opinion ID: 516058
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: S. 2312 and H.R. 4639

Text: 27 The Career Criminals Amendment Act of 1986 evolved from two different bills that sought to expand the list of predicate offenses of section 924(e) to include serious drug offenses and certain crimes of violence. One proposal, S. 2312 and its companion bill in the House of Representatives, H.R. 4639, defined a crime of violence as 28 (A) an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another; or 29 (B) any other offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense. 30 Armed Career Criminal Act Amendments, Hearing on S.2312 Before the Subcomm. on Criminal Law of the Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. 3 (1986) (reporting text of S.2312) [hereinafter Senate Hearing]; Armed Career Criminal Legislation, Hearing on H.R. 4639 and H.R. 4768 Before the Subcomm. on Crime of the House of Representatives Comm. on the Judiciary, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. 4 (1986) (reporting text of H.R. 4639) [hereinafter House Hearing]. 31 When he introduced S. 2312, Senator Specter of Pennsylvania also entered into the Congressional Record a letter from Assistant Attorney General John R. Bolton expressing the administration's views on the need for the proposed amendment. 2 A careful review of Senator Specter's comments introducing the bill and the Senate and House Hearings reveals that the goal of S.2312 and H.R. 4639 was to expand the coverage of section 924(e). Building on the success of the Armed Career Criminal Act, S. 2312 sought to provide a new definition for predicate offenses, a definition that would encompass all the offenses under the old Act, as well as certain drug offenses and other violent crimes. 32 From the floor of the Senate, Senator Specter introduced what he considered a bill to broaden the scope of the Armed Career Criminal Act in order to broaden the so-called predicate crimes to include drug violations and certain other serious violent acts. This amendment would change the law by broadening the prior convictions which lead to the classifications of being a career criminal. 132 Cong.Rec. S4325 (daily ed. April 16, 1986). The rest of Senator Specter's remarks are much the same. 33 The Senate Hearing also reveals a shared understanding that the proposed amendment would expand the scope of the Armed Career Criminal Act. There is no hint of narrowing its scope, nor is there any mention of the old common law definition of burglary. Congressman Wyden, the sponsor of H.R. 4639, summed up the rationale behind the proposed expansion of predicate offenses: 34 First, I think it is just a matter of simple logic to include crimes of violence as potential predicate offenses. It does not make any sense to say that a referral under the act is possible for a three-time bank robber, but not an habitual offender with prior convictions for rape and murder. 35 Senate Hearing at 5. Particularly instructive for the question we face in this appeal is the observation of James I.K. Knapp, the Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division of the Justice Department, who stated that [t]he term 'crime of violence' would include robberies and burglaries, since both are felonies that by their nature involve a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing them. Senate Hearing at 9.