Borden v. United States

Summary

The Court reversed the Sixth Circuit and remanded, concluding that an offense requiring only ordinary recklessness does not qualify as a violent felony under ACCA’s elements clause. Justice Kagan’s plurality opinion, joined by Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Gorsuch, reasoned that using force “against the person of another” requires purposeful or knowing targeting, and that ACCA’s context and purpose support excluding reckless offenses. The plurality distinguished Voisine’s interpretation of a differently worded domestic-violence provision and reserved the treatment of extreme recklessness. Justice Thomas concurred in the judgment without joining the plurality, reasoning that “use of physical force” itself excludes merely reckless conduct. Although he advocated overruling Johnson’s invalidation of ACCA’s residual clause, he accepted that precedent for this case. Justice Kavanaugh, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito and Barrett, dissented, arguing that the statutory text, criminal-law terminology, and Voisine encompass reckless offenses and would support affirming Borden’s enhanced sentence.