The Facts

Defendant pleads guilty to criminal offence

In a case decided in 2016 by the United States Supreme Court, a defendant had pleaded guilty to the offence of possessing child pornography. The defendant had a prior conviction for the sexual abuse of his 53-year-old girlfriend, but no prior convictions for sexual abuse involving a minor.

As he had pleaded guilty, the only issue before the court was the sentence to be applied. The applicable sentencing guidelines suggested a term of imprisonment of between six and a little over eight years.

Should the previous conviction give rise to a mandatory ten-year sentence?

However, the relevant statute also prescribed that a ten-year mandatory sentence must be imposed where the offender had a prior conviction "relating to aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, or abusive sexual conduct involving a minor..."

It was up to the court to interpret those words and decide how they applied in this case. That is, did the defendant's prior conviction (which had not involved a minor) mean that a mandatory ten-year sentence had to be imposed?

case a - The case for the prosecution case b - The case for the defence
  • When drafting the words, the legislature deliberately used three phrases, separated by commas, to describe three separate concepts: first, aggravated sexual abuse; second, sexual abuse; and third, abusive sexual conduct involving a minor.
  • This means that ANY prior conviction in respect of the first two concepts (aggravated sexual abuse or sexual abuse) – not just convictions involving minors – must result in the mandatory ten-year sentence.
  • The defendant has a prior conviction for sexual abuse.
  • Therefore, the court must impose the mandatory ten-year sentence.
  • The words "involving a minor" were intended to apply to all three concepts in the list, not just the final one. This is how the English language works, in speech and writing alike.
  • The legislature intended that a mandatory sentence should apply ONLY where a defendant's prior conviction involved the abuse of a minor.
  • The defendant's previous conviction for sexual abuse had nothing to do with a minor.
  • As the statute is ambiguous and this is a criminal case, the court should rule in the defendant's favour and not impose the longer ten-year sentence.

So, which case won?
Cast your judgment below to find out

Vote case A – The case for the prosecution
 Vote case B – The case for the defence

Geoff Baldwin
Criminal law
Stacks Champion

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