Tennessee, Violent Crime, 1938

Violent Felons Set Free, Hundreds Victimized

Tennessee’s violent crime rates are spiking after a Supreme Court ruling struck down a key part of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), allowing hundreds of violent felons to be released from prison early.

According to the federal government, at least 37 defendants in the Eastern District of Tennessee were granted relief in light of the Johnson ruling, with 27 having already been released from prison. Of those, at least 14 – more than half – have already had their terms of supervised release revoked or modified due to noncompliance.

These career violent criminals have been let out of jail since the Court ruling, with more than 600 having been arrested again. On average, these criminals have been arrested, rearrested, or reoffended three times since 2015. A majority of those who have been out of prison for two years have already been arrested again.

Thanks to the ACCA, violent crime had begun a historic decline by 1992, with violent crime and murder falling by half, aggravated assault falling by 47 percent, and robbery falling by nearly two thirds. But the Johnson decision nullified many violent offenders’ sentences, causing their release to be earlier than intended, and resulting in a direct increase in crime.

The defendants released as a result of this ruling have already victimized hundreds of persons: 10 defendants were arrested for murder, 14 for kidnapping, 11 for sexual assault, 37 for robbery, 218 for assault, 56 for burglary, 156 for larceny, and 13 for stolen cars. In addition, 53 defendants were re-arrested for drunk driving, 81 defendants went back to drug trafficking, and 166 were re-arrested for other drug charges. Ironically, 100 defendants were also re-arrested for weapons offenses.

Placing career violent criminals back on the street before their time is served should be unacceptable to everyone. Thankfully, the problem is solvable. Congress can fix the problem created by the Johnson decision and restore a valuable tool to prosecutors by fixing the ACCA.

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