Barrett v. United States
No. 24-5774 · October Term 2025 · Criminal Procedure · decided January 14, 2026
Decided: Barrett won 9-0. The model was right.
Expected vote 6–3 for Barrett. Chance of a unanimous ruling 44%. FantasySCOTUS crowd: 76% Barrett.
The case
Dwayne Barrett, convicted of multiple federal crimes including Hobbs Act robbery and firearms offenses, is challenging his sentence, arguing that the Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits two sentences for acts violating 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) and § 924(j). The Second Circuit affirmed most of his convictions but remanded for resentencing in light of a recent Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court will now decide whether two sentences are permissible under these statutes and whether Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as a crime of violence.
- Whether the Double Jeopardy Clause allows two sentences for a single act that violates both 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) and § 924(j), a question that has divided seven circuits.
- Whether Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as a 'crime of violence' under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A), a question left open by the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Taylor.
AI brief written by gemini-2.5-flash from the questions presented and the Oyez facts on 2026-10-02. Commentary only; it is not an input to the model.
Question presented, as filed
I. Whether the Double Jeopardy Clause permits two sentences for an act that violates 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) and§ 924(j), a question that divides seven circuits but about which the Solicitor General and Petitioner agree. II. Whether "Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as a crime of violence under §924(c) (3)(A), a question left open after" United States v. Taylor , 596 U.S. 845 (2022). United States v. Stoney , 62 F.4th 108, 113 (3d Cir. 2023).
Facts of the case (Oyez)
Between August 2011 and January 2012, Dwayne Barrett and several co-conspirators carried out a string of armed robberies in New York, often using guns, knives, and threats of violence. On December 12, 2011, Barrett and two associates followed a minivan carrying the proceeds from a sale of untaxed cigarettes. While Barrett waited in the car, his accomplices held two men at gunpoint and stole the vehicle, which also contained $10,000 and a third victim, Gamar Dafalla. As he tried to discard some of the money during the getaway, Dafalla was fatally shot by one of the robbers. Later that day, Barrett took part in another robbery, threatening a victim’s life. He also helped dispose of the murder weapon and clean their vehicle with latex gloves and cleaning fluid to eliminate evidence. Barrett was indicted on multiple counts, including conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, two substantive counts of Hobbs Act robbery (one involving Dafalla’s murder), and separate firearms offenses, including a murder charge under 18 U.S.C. § 924(j). He was convicted in 2014 and originally sentenced to 90 years in prison. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated one firearms conviction under the Supreme Court’s then-new decision in United States v. Davis. Barrett was resentenced to 50 years in 2021. After further appellate proceedings, the Second Circuit affirmed most of his convictions and sentence but vacated and remanded for resentencing in light of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Lora v. United States, which held that § 924(j) does not require consecutive sentencing under § 924(c).
The nine
Each justice's predicted vote and the record behind it: how often they have voted for the petitioner overall, in Criminal Procedure cases, and when the lower court ruled conservative; and, once argued, how many questions they put to each side (the side a justice questions more tends to lose their vote). The note under each row is the AI brief's reading, commentary rather than model input.
| Justice | Predicted | Overall | This issue | Lower court conservative | At argument | Voted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
John G. Roberts Republican appointee · since OT2005 Chief Justice Roberts often prioritizes judicial restraint and clear statutory interpretation, which could lead him to scrutinize the legislative intent behind the sentencing provisions in question. | 64% Barrett | 68% for the petitioner · 1,512 votes | 65% Criminal Procedure · 401 votes | 61% lower court conservative · 734 votes | 8 / 5 questions at Barrett / United | Barrett ✓ |
Clarence Thomas Republican appointee · since OT1991 Justice Thomas is a strong proponent of originalism and textualism, and his analysis would likely focus on the plain meaning of the Double Jeopardy Clause and the relevant statutes. | 56% Barrett | 59% for the petitioner · 2,801 votes | 55% Criminal Procedure · 724 votes | 43% lower court conservative · 1,365 votes | 3 / 2 questions at Barrett / United | Barrett ✓ |
Samuel A. Alito Republican appointee · since OT2005 Justice Alito typically takes a strict view of statutory language and has often sided with the government in criminal cases, but his commitment to textualism could lead him to question ambiguous sentencing schemes. | 56% Barrett | 62% for the petitioner · 1,469 votes | 51% Criminal Procedure · 388 votes | 48% lower court conservative · 722 votes | 12 / 1 questions at Barrett / United | Barrett ✓ |
Sonia Sotomayor Democratic appointee · since OT2009 Justice Sotomayor often considers the practical implications of legal interpretations, particularly for criminal defendants, and may be inclined to favor interpretations that avoid excessive sentencing. | 66% Barrett | 61% for the petitioner · 1,192 votes | 72% Criminal Procedure · 306 votes | 76% lower court conservative · 594 votes | 12 / 0 questions at Barrett / United | Barrett ✓ |
Elena Kagan Democratic appointee · since OT2010 Justice Kagan often emphasizes statutory context and legislative history in her interpretations, and she would likely examine how the different sections of § 924 interact. | 71% Barrett | 63% for the petitioner · 1,072 votes | 72% Criminal Procedure · 267 votes | 75% lower court conservative · 543 votes | 0 / 5 questions at Barrett / United | Barrett ✓ |
Neil M. Gorsuch Republican appointee · since OT2016 Justice Gorsuch is a textualist and has been a vocal critic of judicial overreach, particularly in defining 'crimes of violence,' which could influence his view on the Hobbs Act robbery question. | 71% Barrett | 65% for the petitioner · 592 votes | 63% Criminal Procedure · 126 votes | 59% lower court conservative · 286 votes | 14 / 22 questions at Barrett / United | Barrett ✓ |
Brett M. Kavanaugh Republican appointee · since OT2018 Justice Kavanaugh often seeks clear and predictable legal rules, and he may be swayed by the circuit split and the agreement between the Solicitor General and Petitioner on the Double Jeopardy issue. | 71% Barrett | 69% for the petitioner · 498 votes | 66% Criminal Procedure · 105 votes | 62% lower court conservative · 244 votes | 21 / 19 questions at Barrett / United | Barrett ✓ |
Amy Coney Barrett Republican appointee · since OT2020 Justice Barrett's jurisprudence often emphasizes textualism and originalism, and she would likely focus on the precise wording of the statutes and the Double Jeopardy Clause. | 66% Barrett | 66% for the petitioner · 360 votes | 60% Criminal Procedure · 80 votes | 60% lower court conservative · 178 votes | silent | Barrett ✓ |
Ketanji Brown Jackson Democratic appointee · since OT2022 Justice Jackson often brings a perspective informed by her experience as a public defender and a trial judge, and she would likely consider the fairness and clarity of sentencing laws. | 71% Barrett | 59% for the petitioner · 244 votes | 67% Criminal Procedure · 54 votes | 80% lower court conservative · 127 votes | 12 / 16 questions at Barrett / United | Barrett ✓ |
Rates are each justice's own participation record in the Supreme Court Database, the same history the model trains on; a rate on fewer than five votes is not shown. The predicted vote is VotePredictor SCOTUS' per-justice probability from the served model, which also reads the bench-wide transcript signal and how long each side held the podium.
Every call this term, justice by justice · how the model is built and its record. Data as of 2026-10-02.