Barrett v. United States · ¶51

Amicus's second textual argument is equally unavailing. Turning away from the concrete and toward the abstract, amicus tells us that subsection (c)(1) and subsection (j) have different focuses. Subsection (c)(1), he points out, calibrates its punishments to “the use of the frearm, the type of frearm, and recidivism.” Brief for Court-Appointed Amicus Curiae 10. By contrast, subsection (j) focuses on something “irrelevant” to subsection (c)(1): the harm (namely, death) inficted. Ibid. From this amicus urges us to conclude that the two subsections “target different wrongs” and thus may be punished cumulatively. Ibid.; see also id., at 17–18.

preliminary print (page proof)
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.