In Borden v. United States, 593 U.S. ____ (2021), the Court considered whether, under ACCA, a criminal offense can count as a “violent felony” if it requires only a mens rea of recklessness—a less culpable mental state than purpose or knowledge. The Court held that a reckless offense cannot so qualify.
This was a 4-4 decision, with Justice Thomas concurring with the majority of Justices Kagan, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Gorsuch.
The Court began "by setting out four states of mind, as described in modern statutes and cases, that may give rise to criminal liability. Those mental states are, in descending order of culpability: purpose, knowledge, recklessness, and negligence."
It then turned to the issue:
We must decide whether the elements clause’s definition of 'violent felony'—an offense requiring the “use of physical force against the person of another”—includes offenses criminalizing reckless conduct. We hold that it does not. The phrase “against another,” when modifying the “use of force,” demands that the perpetrator direct his action at, or target, another individual. Reckless conduct is not aimed in that prescribed manner. Our reading of the relevant text finds support in its context and purpose. The treatment of reckless offenses as “violent felonies” would impose large sentencing enhancements on individuals (for example, reckless drivers) far afield from the “armed career criminals” ACCA addresses—the kind of offenders who, when armed, could well “use [the] gun deliberately to harm a victim.
