Justices Side With Defense in Gun-Sentencing Law Dispute (2)

The Supreme Court curbed mandatory-minimum sentences in federal gun cases, siding with the defense in a dispute over what it means to commit crimes on different “occasions.”

Successive burglaries in a single criminal episode count as just one prior conviction under a three-strikes sentencing law, the high court said in Monday’s ruling authored by Justice Elena Kagan.

The decision could affect thousands of people subject to the Armed Career Criminal Act, which imposes 15-year minimums in federal gun cases if the defendant has three prior violent or serious drug convictions.

There’s been much litigation over the years about which prior ...