Washington ( CNN ) -- They have become staples of many cable and broadcast television stations : high-speed , often dangerous police pursuits of fleeing motorists , videotaped and packaged into such shows as `` World 's Wildest Police Chases . '' In an appeal that came to the Supreme Court , the issue was : When do such incidents cross over into the realm of `` violent felonies '' that could lead to increased jail time ? The justices , by a 6-3 vote Thursday , dismissed an appeal from an Indiana man who received an enhanced federal sentence because of prior serious offenses , one of which was for trying to escape in a vehicle . Justice Anthony Kennedy said that while the federal law in question does not specifically mention dangerous car chases , they clearly are the kind of crime that deserves to be treated more seriously . `` Risk of violence is inherent to vehicle flight , '' Kennedy said . `` It is well known that when offenders use motor vehicles as their means of escape they create serious potential risks of physical injury to others . Flight from a law enforcement officer invites , even demands , pursuit . '' Marcus Sykes had pleaded guilty to felony possession of a firearm , a federal offense . He had attempted to rob two people at gunpoint , according to court records . He also had at least three prior felonies on his record , including an armed robbery . It was the third felony that concerned the high court . Indiana 's `` resisting law enforcement '' law provides various criteria , depending on the circumstances , for those who flee officers . Sykes had at one time used a vehicle to escape after an officer had ordered him to stop , which is a felony under state law . Officers had noticed Sykes driving without headlights , and when police flashed their emergency sirens , the suspect took off and a chase ensued . Prosecutors said Sykes drove on the wrong side of the road and through yards with residents nearby , then rammed a fence and finally crashed into a house . He fled on foot and was eventually captured , thanks to a police dog in pursuit . Under the federal Armed Criminal , Career Criminal Act , Sykes received a mandatory minimum 15-year prison term for the gun possession charge , enhanced because of his past criminal record . The law was designed to get tough with habitual felons through longer sentences . Sykes appealed , admitting he fled police and that it was a felony , but he argued it was not violent '' The federal law labels as violent felonies such offenses such as burglary , arson or extortion , or where there is `` conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another . '' Kennedy said the `` serious potential risk '' standard applies to Sykes ' driving behavior , since he repeatedly refused to pull over and submit to custody . `` As that pursuit continues , the risk of an accident accumulates , '' Kennedy wrote . `` And having chosen to flee , and thereby commit a crime , the perpetrator has all the more reason to avoid capture . '' This is the fourth time in the past four years the high court has tried to clarify the meaning of `` violent felony '' under the so-called residual clauses of the federal law . In a typically sharp dissent , Justice Antonin Scalia said the law , like the majority 's efforts to interpret its boundaries , is ultimately a failure . `` Today 's opinion will sow further confusion , '' he wrote . `` Insanity , it has been said , is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results . Four times is enough '' in trying to clarify what are violent felonies under the career-criminal law . He said the statute should be declared `` void for vagueness . '' Justice Elena Kagan also dissented , but for far different reasons . She said that under the state 's own guidelines , Sykes ' conduct was clear : there was no aggravated vehicular flight . `` Because petitioner Marcus Sykes was convicted only of simple vehicular flight , and not of any flight offense involving aggressive or dangerous activity , I would find he did not commit a 'violent felony ' '' under the federal law . Supported by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg , Kagan said states properly distinguish among various types of efforts to escape police , and that the high court should have relied on those state standards to make its ruling , rather than trying to parse the federal law 's definition of `` violent '' felony , which does not specifically include vehicular flight . Kennedy in his ruling cited a study by the International Association of Chiefs of Police showing that at least 7,737 police chases were reported nationwide from 2001 through 2007 . Those pursuits resulted in 313 injuries to police and bystanders , or a rate of about 4-in-100 . There was no indication whether the pursuit of Sykes was videotaped by a police dashboard camera , and if so , whether that visual record was used against him in the trial or subsequent appeals . The case was Sykes v. United States ( 09-11311 ) .
`` Risk of violence is inherent to vehicle flight , '' Justice Anthony Kennedy says . The court also said that the government had not shown a compelling reason for requiring drivers who are stopped by police officers to submit to blood and urine tests before being allowed into federal courthouses. Justice Scalia dissents , saying the law should be declared `` void for vagueness ' Justices Kagan and Ginsburg , in a separate dissent , argue there was no violent felony .