Whether federal courts should consult the most recent state court decisions or pre-conviction state court decisions when determining the elements of a prior state offense for ACCA categorical approach purposes

QUESTION PRESENTED To determine whether a prior state conviction qualifies as a predicate under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), federal courts apply the categorical approach. Under that approach, federal courts must identify the elements of the state offense. To do so, they must consult state court decisions interpreting the state statute. This case involves the following, recurring scenario: after the defendant’s prior state conviction, a state court issues a decision changing the scope of the offense elements in a manner that would affect whether the offense qualifies under ACCA. The question presented is: To determine the elements of a prior state conviction for purposes of applying ACCA’s categorical approach, should federal courts consult the most recent, authoritative state court decisions (as the Eleventh Circuit holds), or the state court decisions pre-dating the defendant’s prior conviction (as several other circuits hold)? i