Under the Armed Career Criminal Act, defendants with three or more violent felonies can face higher sentences when subsequently convicted of a federal firearms-related offense.

[2][3][4] The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), a federal law passed in 1984, requires a mandatory 15-year sentence to firearms defendants convicted of three or more violent felonies.

The District Court held that Stokeling's prior robbery conviction did not meet the requirements and reduced his mandatory minimum sentence by half.

In a 5–4 decision, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the Florida statute fit within the guideline set by past Supreme Court precedent and the current interpretation of the Armed Career Criminal Act.

The altercation need not cause pain or injury or even be prolonged; it is the physical contest between the criminal and the victim that is itself ‘capable of causing physical pain or injury.’"Thomas's opinion was heavily grounded in common law jurisprudence and legislative history, and noted that between 31 and 46 states had statutes that mirrored Florida's and that Congress had intended to accommodate rather than invalidate these statutes.