Statutory Interpretation – Prisoner – Sentencing Guidelines

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Patrick Hrobowski v. United States of America

Case No.: 16-3549

Officials: RIPPLE, KANNE, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges

Focus: Statutory Interpretation – Prisoner – Sentencing Guidelines

In Johnson v. United States, the Supreme Court held that the so‐called residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act is unconstitutional. 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015). In Welch v. United States, the Court determined that its decision in Johnson should apply retroactively. 136 S. Ct. 1257 (2016). So a prisoner who was sentenced under the unconstitutional residual clause can move to vacate his sentence, as long as the error affected his sentence. Van Cannon v. United States, 890 F.3d 656, 661 (7th Cir. 2018).

At issue in this case is whether demonstrating that a Johnson error occurred allows a petitioner to collaterally attack his sentence on other grounds in a successive § 2255 petition. In this case, the petitioner cannot. His other basis for challenging his sentence is procedurally barred and Johnson does not serve as a way around that bar. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s denial of the petition.

Affirmed

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