Source: http://supreme.nolo.com/us/431/563/case.html
Timestamp: 2019-10-20 05:57:45
Document Index: 335826383

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1202', '§ 922', '§ 922', '§ 1202', '§ 1202', '§ 1202']

SCARBOROUGH V. UNITED STATES, 431 U. S. 563 - Volume 431 - 1977 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 431 > SCARBOROUGH V. UNITED STATES, 431 U. S. 563 (1977) > Full Text
Our first encounter with Title VII of the Omnibus Crime Control Act came in United States v. Bass, 404 U. S. 336 (1971). There, we had to decide whether the statutory phrase "in commerce or affecting commerce" in § 1202(a) applied to "possesses" and "receives," as well as to "transports." We noted that the statute was not a model of clarity. On the one hand, we found "significant support" in the legislative history for the contention that the statute "reaches the mere possession of guns without any showing of an interstate commerce nexus" in individual cases. 404 U.S. at 404 U. S. 345-346. On the other hand, we could not ignore Congress' inserting the phrase "in commerce or affecting commerce" in the statute. Id. at 404 U. S. 345. The phrase clearly modified "transport"
The essential difficulty with this argument is that it is not very meaningful to compare Title VII with Title IV. See Bass, 404 U.S. at 404 U. S. 344. Title VII was a last-minute amendment to the Omnibus Crime Control Act enacted hastily, with little discussion and no hearings. [Footnote 9] The statute, as we noted in
In the present case, by contrast, Congress' choice of language was ambiguous, at best. While it is true that Congress did not choose the precise language used in § 922(h) to indicate that a present nexus with commerce is not required, neither did it use the language of § 922(j) to indicate that the gun must have a contemporaneous connection with commerce at the time of the offense. Thus, while petitioner is correct
United States v. American Bldg. Maintenance Industries, 422 U. S. 271, 422 U. S. 280 (1975); see also NLRB v. Reliance Fuel Corp., 371 U. S. 224, 371 U. S. 226 (1963). Indeed, that awareness was explicitly demonstrated here. In arguing that Congress could,
Id. at 14773-14774.
Id. at 14774 (emphasis added). It was after this colloquy that Senator McClellan suggested that the amendment be taken to conference for "further thought." Ibid. While that appeared to be its destination, the House, after Senate passage of the bill, defeated a motion to go to conference and adopted the entire Senate bill, including Title VII, without alteration. Id. at 16077-16078, 16299-16300. Title VII thus became law without modification.
Initially, we note our difficulty in fully comprehending petitioner's conception of a nexus with commerce. In his view, if an individual purchases a gun before his conviction, the fact that the gun once traveled in commerce does not provide an adequate nexus. It is necessary, in addition, that the person also carry it in an interstate facility. If, however, one purchases the same gun from the same dealer one day after the conviction, as opposed to one day before, somehow the nexus magically appears, regardless of whether the purchaser carries the gun in any particular place. Such an interpretation strains credulity. We find no evidence in either the language or the legislative history for such a construction. [Footnote 12]
Petitioner responds that the Government's reading of the statute fails to give effect to all three terms of the statute -- receive, possess, transport. He argues that someone guilty of receipt or transport will necessarily be guilty of possession, and that, therefore, there was no need to include the other two offenses in the statute. While this contention is not frivolous, [Footnote 13] the fact is that petitioner's theory is similarly vulnerable. By his proposed definitions, there are essentially only two crimes -- receipt and transport. The possessor who acquires the weapon after his conviction is guilty of receipt, and the one who is carrying the gun in commerce or at an interstate
Finally, petitioner seeks to invoke the two principles of statutory construction relied on in Bass -- lenity in construing criminal statutes and caution where the federal-state balance is implicated. Petitioner, however, overlooks the fact that we did not turn to these guides in Bass until we had concluded that, "[a]fter seizing every thing from which aid can be derived,'. . . we are left with an ambiguous statute." 404 U.S. at 404 U. S. 347. The principles are applicable only when we are uncertain about the statute's meaning, and are not to be used "in complete disregard of the purpose of the legislature." United States v. Bramblett, 348 U. S. 503, 348 U. S. 510 (1955). Here, the intent of Congress is clear. We do not face the conflicting pull between the text and the history that confronted us in Bass. In this case, the history is unambiguous, and the text consistent with it. Congress sought to reach possessions broadly, with little concern for when the nexus with commerce occurred. Indeed, it was a close question in Bass whether § 1202(a) even required proof of any nexus at all in individual cases. The only reason we concluded it did was because it was not "plainly and unmistakably" clear that it did not. 404 U.S. at 404 U. S. 348. But there is no question that Congress intended no more than a minimal nexus requirement.
In Bass, the Court suggested that there might be a distinction between receipt and possession and that possession might require a stricter nexus with commerce. While such a requirement would make sense, see United States v. Bell, 524 F.2d at 209, further consideration has persuaded us that that was not the choice Congress made. Congress was not particularly concerned with the impact on commerce except as a means to insure the constitutionality of Title VII. State gun control laws were found "inadequate to bar possession of firearms from those most likely to use them for unlawful purposes," and Congress sought to buttress the States' efforts. 114 Cong.Rec. 14774 (1968). All indications are that Congress meant to reach possessions broadly.
The language of § 1202(a)(1) does not compel the construction that the Court adopts. The statute covers "[a]ny person who . . . has been convicted . . . of a felony . . . and who receives, possesses, or transports . . . any firearm. . . ." Plainly, the acts of receiving and transporting are prohibited only if they occur after the defendant's conviction. The language does not indicate, however, whether the illegal possession must also first begin after conviction, or whether a prior possession becomes illegal at the moment the possessor is adjudged guilty of a felony. And, as the Court observes, ante at 431 U. S. 576-577, any reading of the statute makes
In short, I disagree with the Court that the scope of § 1202(a) is so crystal clear that there is no room for the operation of the rule of lenity. In my view, we are under no mandate to construe this statute so that a person in lawful possession of a firearm, and presumed to be innocent of a felony until proved guilty, must, upon his conviction of a felony, also be automatically and instantly guilty of a wholly different serious criminal offense. [Footnote 2/1] The statute could equally
Powered by Justia US Supreme Court Center: SCARBOROUGH V. UNITED STATES, 431 U. S. 563 (1977)