Career Criminal Accountability Act

Summary#

This bill would add a new federal rule (section 3559A) about "three-strikes" sentencing. Judges would be required to count a defendant's past convictions as "strikes" when deciding a sentence. The bill sets how much each prior conviction counts toward the strike total: a strike-eligible misdemeanor counts as one-quarter (1/4) of a strike; a strike-eligible nonviolent felony counts as one-half (1/2) of a strike; and strike-eligible firearm-related felonies and violent felonies each count as one (1) full strike.

The bill gives special rules for convictions that happened when the person was a juvenile. Misdemeanors committed as a juvenile do not count at all. Nonviolent or firearm-related felonies committed as a juvenile count as one-quarter (1/4) of a strike. Violent felonies committed as a juvenile count as one-half (1/2) of a strike.

When a defendant reaches the three-strikes threshold under these rules, the bill requires extra prison time to be added to the sentence for the current offense. The bill calls for:

• an added consecutive 10 years if the most serious current offense is a listed nonviolent felony;
• an added consecutive 15 years if the most serious current offense is a listed firearm-related felony; and
• an added consecutive life sentence in specified cases where the most serious current offense is a listed violent felony and the defendant has prior convictions and enough felony-based strikes. In some violent-felony cases with fewer felony-based prior strikes, the bill calls for a 20-year consecutive sentence instead.

The bill also says a defendant cannot get an enhancement based only on a current misdemeanor that makes them reach or pass the three-strikes threshold until they are later convicted of a felony. The bill lists many federal statutes and certain state offenses that count as "strike-eligible." It also changes an existing sentencing rule (18 U.S.C. 3553(a)) to except this new three-strikes section.

What it means for you#

• If you are convicted in federal court, the judge must count prior convictions as strikes using the bill's rules and may add the required consecutive prison time when the three-strikes threshold is met.
• Convictions from when a person was a juvenile are treated differently and often count for less or not at all.
• A current misdemeanor that alone pushes someone past three strikes cannot trigger the extra sentence until the person later is convicted of a felony.
• The bill names many specific federal crimes and some state-level offenses that can count as strikes.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information on proponents' stated reasons in the bill text. Sponsors listed in the bill metadata: Chip Roy, Keith Self, Wesley Hunt, and Brandon Gill.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.