Sotomayor, J., dissenting
when it used the words “physical force” to define the kind of “violent felony” that should be captured by the ACCA’s elements clause. See 559 U. S., at 138–143.
Rather than parsing “cherry pick[ed] adjectives,” ante, at 10, it is instructive to look to how Johnson actually answered that question. Writing for the Court, Justice Scalia explained:
“We think it clear that in the context of a statutory definition of ‘violent felony,’ the phrase ‘physical force’ means violent force–that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person. See Flores v. Ashcroft, 350 F. 3d 666, 672 (CA7 2003) (Easterbrook, J.). Even by itself, the word ‘violent’ in §924(e)(2)(B) connotes a substantial degree of force. Webster’s Second 2846 (defining ‘violent’ as ‘[m]oving, acting, or characterized, by physical force, esp. by extreme and sudden or by unjust or improper force; furious; severe; vehement…’); 19 Oxford English Dictionary 656 (2d ed. 1989) (‘[c]haracterized by the exertion of great physical force or strength’); Black’s [Law Dictionary] 1706 [(9th ed. 2009)] (‘[o]f, relating to, or characterized by strong physical force’). When the adjective ‘violent’ is attached to the noun ‘felony,’ its connotation of strong physical force is even clearer. See id., at 1188 (defining ‘violent felony’ as ‘[a] crime characterized by extreme physical force, such as murder, forcible rape, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon’); see also United States v. Doe, 960 F. 2d 221, 225 (CA1 1992) (Breyer, C. J.) (‘[T]he term to be defined, “violent felony,”… calls to mind a tradition of crimes that involve the possibility of more closely related, active violence’).” 559 U. S., at 140–141.
In other words, in the context of a statute delineating “violent felon[ies],” the phrase “physical force” signifies a
