United States v. Ford
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Vacated
The Tenth Circuit held that kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. § 1201 is not categorically a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 16(a); therefore, 18 U.S.C. § 3559(f)(2) did not require the district court to impose mandatory 25-year sentences on two child-kidnapping counts. The court vacated Ford’s sentences and remanded for resentencing without the mandatory minimum.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. § 1201 categorically qualifies as a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 16(a) so that the mandatory-minimum sentencing provision in 18 U.S.C. § 3559(f)(2) applies.
Circuit Positions
Kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. § 1201 is categorically a crime of violence; § 3559(f)(2) imposes a mandatory 25-year minimum.
Kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. § 1201 is NOT categorically a crime of violence because it can be committed without physical force; § 3559(f)(2) therefore does not mandate the 25-year minimum.
Conflict Summary
The Seventh Circuit treats every § 1201 kidnapping conviction involving a child as a per se "crime of violence," triggering § 3559(f)(2)’s 25-year mandatory minimum, whereas the Tenth, Eleventh, First, and Fourth Circuits hold that kidnapping can be accomplished by non-forcible means such as inveigling or decoying and therefore is not categorically a crime of violence under § 16(a), so § 3559(f)(2) does not automatically apply.