Source: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-455.ZO.html
Timestamp: 2014-11-24 03:12:08
Document Index: 490621822

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1001', '§844', '§844', '§1001', '§844', '§102', '§924', '§924', '§844', '§924', '§1005', '§924', '§924', '§924', 'art, 779', '§6474', '§844', '§6474', '§6474', '§844', '§844', '§844', '§844']

Respondent was subsequently convicted of a number of crimes, including the felony of making a false statement to a United States customs official in violation of 18 U. S. C. §1001 (1994 ed., Supp. V) (Count 5) and carrying an explosive “during the commission of” that felony in violation of §844(h)(2) (1994 ed.) (Count 9). The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit set aside his conviction on Count 9 because it read the word “during,” as used in §844(h)(2), to include a requirement that the explosive be carried “in relation to” the underlying felony. 474 F. 3d 597 (2007). Because that construction of the statute conflicted with decisions of other Courts of Appeals, we granted certiorari.1 552 U. S. ___ (2007).
It is undisputed that the items hidden in respondent’s car were “explosives.”2 It is also undisputed that respondent was “carr[ying]” those explosives when he knowingly made false statements to a customs official, and that those statements violated §1001 (1994 ed., Supp. V).
The history of the statute we construe today further supports our conclusion that Congress did not intend to require the Government to establish a relationship between the explosive carried and the underlying felony. Congress originally enacted §844(h)(2) as part of its “Regulation of Explosives” in Title XI of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, 84 Stat.
957. The provision was modeled after a portion of the Gun Control Act of 1968, §102, 82 Stat.
1224, codified, as amended, at 18 U. S. C. §924(c) (2000 ed. and Supp. V). The earlier statute mandated at least 1 and no more than 10 years’ imprisonment for any person who “carries a firearm unlawfully during the commission of any felony which may be prosecuted in a court of the United States.” 18 U. S. C. §924(c)(2) (1964 ed., Supp. IV). Except for the word “explosive” in §844(h)(2), instead of the word “firearm” in §924(c)(2), the two provisions as originally enacted were identical.
In 1984, Congress redrafted the firearm statute; it increased the penalties attached to the provision and, most significantly for our purposes, deleted the word “unlawfully” and inserted the words “and in relation to” immediately after the word “during.” §1005(a), 98 Stat.
2138. Reviewing a conviction for an offense that was committed before the amendment but not decided on appeal until after its enactment, the Ninth Circuit held that the original version of the firearm statute had implicitly included the “in relation to” requirement that was expressly added while the case was pending on appeal. As then-Judge Kennedy explained: “The statute as written when Stewart committed the offense provided in pertinent part that it was a crime to ‘carr[y] a firearm unlawfully during the commission of any felony… .’ 18 U. S. C. §924(c)(2) (1982). In 1984, Congress revised section 924(c) … . The 1984 amendment substituted for the word ‘during’ the phrase ‘during and in relation to.’ 18 U. S. C. A. §924(c) (West Supp. 1985) (emphasis added). Our study of the legislative history of the amendment … indicates the ‘in relation to’ language was not intended to create an element of the crime that did not previously exist, but rather was intended to make clear a condition already implicit in the statute. The legislative history reveals that because the amendment eliminated the requirement that the firearm be carried unlawfully, 18 U. S. C. A. §924(c) (West Supp. 1985), the ‘in relation to’ language was added to allay explicitly the concern that a person could be prosecuted under section 924(c) for committing an entirely unrelated crime while in possession of a firearm. Though the legislative history does not say so expressly, it strongly implies that the ‘in relation to’ language did not alter the scope of the statute … .” United States v. Stewart, 779 F. 2d 538, 539–540 (1985) (citations omitted).
In 1988, Congress enacted the “Explosives Offenses Amendments,” §6474(b), 102 Stat.
4379, which modified the text of §844(h). Those amendments increased the penalties for violating the provision, §6474(b)(2), id., at 4380; they also deleted the word “unlawfully,” §6474(b)(1), ibid. Unlike its earlier amendment to the firearm statute, however, Congress did not also insert the words “and in relation to” after the word “during.” While it is possible that this omission was inadvertent, that possibility seems remote given the stark difference that was thereby introduced into the otherwise similar texts of 18 U. S. C. §§844(h) and 924(c).
1 Both the Third and Fifth Circuits have declined to interpret §844(h)(2) as requiring that the explosive be carried in relation to the underlying felony. See United States v. Rosenberg, 806 F. 2d 1169, 1178–1179 (CA3 1986) (“The plain everyday meaning of ‘during’ is ‘at the same time’ or ‘at a point in the course of… . It does not normally mean ‘at the same time and in connection with… .’ It is not fitting for this court to declare that the crime defined by §844(h)(2) has more elements than those enumerated on the face of the statute”); United States v. Ivy, 929 F. 2d 147, 151 (CA5 1991) (“Section 844(h)(2) … does not include the relation element Ivy urges… . We … refuse to judicially append the relation element to §844(h)(2)”).
2 Because respondent concedes that the items in his car were “explosives,” we have no occasion to determine the boundaries of that term as used in the statute. Specifically, we do not comment on when, if ever, “such commonplace materials as kerosene, gasoline, or certain fertilizers,” post, at 2 (Breyer, J., dissenting), might fall within the definition of “explosive.” Supreme Court Toolbox