Cite as: 511 U. S. 485 (1994)
Souter, J., dissenting
Alabama, 395 U. S. 238 (1969), or other constitutional rights.2 The weight of appellate authority, in my opinion, reflects the proper construction of the ACCA.
The Court's contrary reading ignores the legal framework within which Congress drafted the ACCA, a framework with which we presume Congress was familiar. See, e. g., Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U. S. 677, 696-698 (1979). When the language that became the ACCA was first proposed in 1982, when it was enacted in 1984 (codified at § 1202(a)(1)) and when it was reenacted in 1986 (codified at § 924(e)), this Court's decisions in Burgett v. Texas, 389 U. S. 109 (1967), and United States v. Tucker, 404 U. S. 443 (1972), were on the books. Even under the narrow reading the Court accords those decisions today, they recognize at least a right to raise during sentencing Gideon challenges to prior convictions used for enhancement. See ante, at 495-496. Unless Congress intended to snub that constitutional right (and we ordinarily indulge a "strong presumption . . . that Congress legislated in accordance with the Constitution," Textile Workers v. Lincoln Mills of Ala., 353 U. S. 448, 477 (1957) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting)), "convictio[n]" in § 924(e) simply cannot refer to the mere fact of conviction, and the provision must have been meant to allow during sentencing at least some challenges to prior convictions offered for enhancement.
Nor is it likely that Congress's intent was informed by as narrow a reading of Burgett and Tucker as the Court adopts
2 See United States v. Paleo, 967 F. 2d 7, 11-13 (Breyer, C. J.), rehearing denied, 9 F. 3d 988, 988-989 (CA1 1992) (containing additional discussion of statutory issue); United States v. Preston, 910 F. 2d 81, 87-89 (CA3 1990); United States v. Taylor, 882 F. 2d 1018, 1031 (CA6 1989); United States v. Gallman, 907 F. 2d 639, 642-643 (CA7 1990); United States v. Day, 949 F. 2d 973, 981-984 (CA8 1991); United States v. Clawson, 831 F. 2d 909, 914-915 (CA9 1987) (interpreting 18 U. S. C. § 1202(a)(1) (1982 ed.), the predecessor of § 924(e)); United States v. Wicks, 995 F. 2d 964, 974-979 (CA10 1993); United States v. Ruo, 943 F. 2d 1274, 1275-1277 (CA11 1991).
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