1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Loan Sharking Isnt a Violent Crime? August 22, 2018 The term “loan shark” conjures up images of usurious loans and violent collection methods. Nevertheless, the federal crime of loan sharking does not qua
2、lify as a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) according to a recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Sixth Circuit). The Sixth Circuits decision in Raines v. United States is in part the result of fallout from the Supreme Courts decision in
3、Johnson v. United States, which held the ACCAs residual clause unconstitutionally vague. (For further information concerning judicial construction of the term “violent felony” and similar terms, see CRS Report R45220). The ACCA requires a court to impose a sentence of imprisonment for not less than
4、15 years imprisonment for a defendant convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm who has three or more prior violent felony or serious drug offense convictions. The ACCA defines a violent felony in three alternative clauses as a felony that “(i) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threat
