Mafia Case Tests Supreme Court on Crime of Violence Limits (1)

US Supreme Court justices struggled to figure out whether a defendant can ever “use” physical force when they don’t actually do anything.

Arguments on Tuesday in a mob-related attempted murder case were part of an ongoing debate about what counts as a crime of violence for purposes of federal firearms charges. The charge carries a five-year mandatory-minimum prison sentence with the possibility of life, which must be served concurrently to any other sentence.

The Supreme Court in recent terms has narrowed what counts as a violent crime. It’s done so by invaliding catch-all clauses, meaning that federal prosecutors must now ...