Welch v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, No. 15-6418 (Apr. 18, 2016) (Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015), applies retroactively to invalidate 16(b), no matter when the conviction occurred, because it is a substantive rule of criminal procedure, because it changed the substantive reach of the Armed Career Criminal Act, altering the range of conduct or the class of persons that the [Act] punishes.) (quoting Schriro v. Summerlin, 542 U.S. 348, 353 (2004)).

Note: This decision has substantial implications for anyone involved in immigration work for clients with criminal histories. The ACCA residual clause, involved in Johnson, uses language that tracks the 16(b) definition of a crime of violence, a type of aggravated felony that frequently results in detention and removal of migrants through the nations immigration court system. Since Johnson was decided, the Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits have that the reasoning of Johnson holding unconstitutional the residual clause of the ACCA requires them to invalidate 18 U.S.C. 16(b), for the same reasons.