Career Criminal Accountability Act of 2026

This bill creates a federal "three-strikes" sentencing system that mandates longer prison terms for repeat offenders based on the severity of their prior convictions. It directly affects defendants convicted of federal crimes by requiring judges to calculate "strikes" from past misdemeanor and felony convictions, with violent felonies and firearm offenses counting as full strikes while lesser offenses count as partial strikes. Under the new rules, offenders with three or more strikes face consecutive sentences of 10 to life years in prison depending on whether their current offense involves violence or firearms, while preventing enhancements from being triggered solely by misdemeanor convictions. The law also limits how juvenile convictions count toward strike totals and excludes strikes from a single continuous criminal episode to prevent harsh penalties for related crimes committed at once.