Supreme Court to hear Navajo man's appeal

Tuesday, January 15, 2008  

The U.S. Supreme Court today will hear oral arguments today in the case of a Navajo man whose sentence was more than tripled under a violent crime law.

Larry Begay of New Mexico pleaded guilty to threatening two female family members with a gun. He would have received about four years in prison for his crime.

But under the Armed Career Criminal Act, his sentence was boosted to a minimum of 15 years due to his prior drunken driving convictions. He was considered a violent felon.

Begay argues that drunk driving doesn't meet the definition of a "violent felony" under the law. The Department of Justice says Begay is reading the law too narrowly [SCOTUS Blog: Case Preview].

The Supreme Court will post a transcript of the hearing after today's proceedings.

Relevant Links:
Supreme Court - http://www.supremecourtus.gov
NARF-NCAI Tribal Supreme Court Project - http://doc.narf.org/sc/index.html
SCOTUS Blog - http://www.scotusblog.com

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High court rejects three tribal cases (10/2)
Supreme Court set for new term in October (9/26)