Firearms — felon in possession — Armed Career Criminal Act

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Firearms — felon in possession — Armed Career Criminal Act

The 15-year mandatory minimum sentence for armed career criminals convicted of felon in possession of a firearm is not unconstitutional, even though the underlying felonies were committed more than 30 years ago.

“Reasonable minds can and do disagree on the propriety of mandatory minimum sentences. And, here, we have some sympathy for Mr. Nigg, whose dangerous past caught up with him decades after he had seemingly done some work to rehabilitate himself. Nonetheless, the ACCA is the law of the land, and ‘[p]unishment for federal crimes is a matter for Congress, subject to judicial veto only when the legislative judgment oversteps constitutional bounds.’ Warden, Lewisberg Penitentiary v. Marreto, 417 U.S. 653, 664 (1974). In other words, Nigg’s arguments are largely directed to the wrong branch of government; relief from any unfairness flowing from mandatory minimum sentences must come from the legislature, not the judiciary. MacEwan, 445 F.3d at 252.”

Affirmed.

11-2340 U.S. v. Nigg

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Griesbach, J., Pratt, J.