United States v. Lipsey, 3:12-cr-00114

Petitioner Alvin Lipsey pled guilty to federal bank robbery (18 U.S.C. § 2113(d)) and using a firearm during a crime of violence (18 U.S.C. § 924(c)); originally sentenced to 290 months.
Lipsey previously attacked his conviction under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 and was resentenced to 123 months.
Lipsey filed a new § 2255 motion seeking vacatur, arguing post-Johnson/Dimaya that bank robbery is no longer a "crime of violence” for § 924(c) purposes.
The current § 2255 petition is successive and was not certified/authorized by the Seventh Circuit.
The district court concluded it lacked jurisdiction to consider the successive petition and explained that, on the merits, bank robbery remains a crime of violence under the elements clause.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Jurisdiction to hear successive § 2255 motion	Lipsey seeks to file a second § 2255 to vacate his § 924(c) conviction	Successive petition requires prior authorization from the court of appeals	Denied jurisdiction: petition is successive and not certified by the Seventh Circuit; court cannot consider it
Whether bank robbery is a "crime of violence" after Johnson/Dimaya	Lipsey: Johnson/Dimaya render the predicate for § 924(c) void because of vagueness, so § 924(c) conviction must be vacated	Gov't/ court: Johnson struck only ACCA residual clause; bank robbery has force as an element and fits § 924(c)(3)(A) elements clause; Seventh Circuit precedent so holds	On the merits (alternative ruling): bank robbery remains a crime of violence under the elements clause; § 924(c) is not rendered unconstitutional as applied to bank robbery

Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015) (struck down ACCA residual clause as unconstitutionally vague)
Sessions v. Dimaya, 138 S. Ct. 1204 (2018) (applied vagueness analysis to immigration statute’s residual clause)
United States v. Williams, 864 F.3d 826 (7th Cir. 2017) (concluded bank robbery is a crime of violence under § 924(c) elements clause)
United States v. Yang, 799 F.3d 750 (7th Cir. 2015) (Johnson does not affect cases not relying on the residual clause)
Stanley v. United States, 827 F.3d 562 (7th Cir. 2016) (Johnson’s holding limited to the ACCA residual clause)
United States v. Jones, 932 F.2d 624 (7th Cir. 1991) (federal bank robbery has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force)
United States v. McNeal, 818 F.3d 141 (4th Cir. 2016) (armed bank robbery is a crime of violence under § 924(c)(3)(A) elements clause)