Mario Delaine v. United States

Under the elements clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i), a crime is a “violent felony” if it “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.” In Borden v. United States, 593 U.S. 420 (2021), this Court held that the elements clause excludes crimes that can be committed with a mens rea of recklessness. Id. at 423 (plurality opinion); see id. at 446 (Thomas, J., concurring in the judgment). Since Borden, however, courts of appeals have split on whether the ACCA’s mens rea requirement is satisfied by crimes that merely require a knowing or intentional act, without any requirement of knowledge or intent regarding injury to “the person of another.” The Ninth and Tenth Circuits hold that an offense does not meet the elements clause unless it requires a defendant to cause physical pain or injury to another person with a mens rea more culpable than recklessness. The Seventh and Eleventh Circuits, by contrast, hold that the elements clause is satisfied by any act committed with a mens rea more culpable than recklessness—regardless of whether the defendant intended to cause physical pain or injury to another person or knew that such harm would result. The Sixth Circuit adopted the same position in the decision below. The question presented is: Whether an offense that requires an intentional act, but no mens rea as to the resulting physical pain or injury, qualifies as a “violent felony” under ACCA’s elements clause.