Source: http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/562/09-479/
Timestamp: 2014-08-22 02:15:11
Document Index: 225210272

Matched Legal Cases: ['§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§924', '§3559', '§924', '§3559', '§924', '§924']

Abbott v. United States :: 562 U.S. ___ (2010) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center Justia.comFind a LawyerLegal AnswersLawMore ▾Justia BlogVerdictLaw Blog DirectoryLegal FormsUS Law US Supreme Court Cases Federal Cases US Constitution US Code Federal RegulationsFederal DocketsState CasesState Codes & StatutesTrademarksPatentsCompany Legal ProfilesMarketing ServicesSign InSearchJustia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 562 › Abbott v. United States › Syllabus
Sign up for Justia's FREE Newsletters: Daily Opinion Summaries by Court (covering the U.S. Supreme Court, all Federal Appellate Courts, and the 50 State Supreme Courts), and Weekly Opinion Summaries by Practice Area. Subscribe NowAbbott v. United States562 U.S. ___ (2010)Annotate this CaseOpinionPDF
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATESABBOTT v. UNITED STATEScertiorari to the united states court of appeals for the third circuitNo. 09–479. Argued October 4, 2010—Decided November 15, 2010Petitioners Abbott and Gould, defendants in unrelated prosecutions, were charged with drug and firearm offenses, including violation of 18 U. S. C. §924(c), which prohibits using, carrying, or possessing a deadly weapon in connection with “any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime,” §924(c)(1). The minimum prison term for a §924(c) offense is five years, §924(c)(1)(A)(i), in addition to “any other term of imprisonment imposed on the [offender],” §924(c)(1)(D)(ii). Abbott was convicted on the §924(c) count, on two predicate drug-trafficking counts, and of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He received a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence for his felon-in-possession conviction and an additional five years for his §924(c) violation. Gould’s predicate drug-trafficking crime carried a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence; he received an additional five years for his §924(c) violation. On appeal, Abbott and Gould challenged their §924(c) sentences, resting their objections on the “except” clause prefacing §924(c)(1)(A). That clause provides for imposition of a minimum five-year term as a consecutive sentence “[e]xcept to the extent that a greater minimum sentence is otherwise provided by [§924(c) itself] or by any other provision of law.” Abbott urged that the “except” clause was triggered by his 15-year felon-in-possession sentence; Gould said the same of the ten years commanded by his predicate trafficking crime. The Third Circuit affirmed Abbott’s sentence, concluding that the “except” clause “refers only to other minimum sentences that may be imposed” for §924(c) violations. Gould fared no better before the Fifth Circuit.Held: A defendant is subject to the highest mandatory minimum specified for his conduct in §924(c), unless another provision of law directed to conduct proscribed by §924(c) imposes an even greater mandatory minimum. Pp. 5–18. (a) Section 924(c) was enacted as part of the Gun Control Act of 1968, but the “except” clause was not added until 1998. Under the pre-1998 text, it is undisputed, separate counts of conviction did not preempt §924(c) sentences, and Abbott and Gould would have been correctly sentenced under §924(c). The question here is whether Congress’ 1998 reformulation of §924(c) rendered their sentences excessive. The 1998 alteration responded primarily to Bailey v. United States, 516 U. S. 137, which held that §924(c)(1)’s ban on “use” of a firearm did not reach “mere possession” of a weapon, id., at 144. In addition to bringing possession within the statute’s compass, Congress increased the severity of §924(c) sentences by changing “once mandatory sentences into mandatory minimum sentences,” United States v. O’Brien, 560 U. S. ___, ___, and by elevating the sentences for brandishing and discharging a firearm and for repeat offenses. Congress also restructured the provision, “divid[ing] what was once a lengthy principal sentence into separate subparagraphs,” id., at ___, and it added the “except” clause at issue. Pp. 5–8.
(c) The Government’s reading—that the “except” clause is triggered only when another provision commands a longer term for conduct violating §924(c)—makes far more sense. It gives effect to statutory language commanding that all §924(c) offenders shall receive additional punishment for their violation of that provision, a command reiterated three times: First, the statute states that the §924(c)(1) punishment “shall” be imposed “in addition to” the penalty for the predicate offense, §924(c)(1)(A); second, §924(c) demands a discrete punishment even if the predicate crime itself “provides for an enhanced punishment if committed by the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon or device,” ibid.; third, §924(c)(1)(D)(ii) rules out the possibility that a §924(c) sentence might “run concurrently with any other term of imprisonment.” Interpreting the “except” clause to train on conduct offending §924(c) also makes sense as a matter of syntax. The clause is a proviso, most naturally read to refer to the conduct §924(c) proscribes. See United States v. Morrow, 266 U. S. 531, 534–535. There is strong contextual support for the view that the “except” clause was intended simply to clarify §924(c). At the same time Congress added the clause, it made the rest of §924(c) more complex, dividing its existing sentencing prescriptions into four paragraphs, and adding new penalties for brandishing and discharging a firearm. Congress thought the restructuring might confuse sentencing judges: It added the “except” clause’s initial part, which covers greater minimums provided “by this subsection,” to instruct judges not to stack ten years for discharging a gun on top of seven for brandishing the same weapon. In referencing greater minimums provided by “any other provision of law,” the second portion of the clause simply furnishes the same no-stacking instruction for cases in which §924(c) and a different statute both punish conduct offending §924(c). Congress likely anticipated such cases when framing the “except” clause, for the bill that reformulated §924(c)’s text also amended 18 U. S. C. §3559(c) to command a life sentence for certain repeat felons convicted of “firearms possession (as described in §924(c)).” This interpretation does not render the “except” clause’s second part effectively meaningless. Though §3559(c) is the only existing statute, outside of §924(c) itself, that the Government places within the “except” clause, the “any other provision of law” portion installs a safety valve for additional sentences that Congress may codify outside §924(c) in the future. Neither United States v. Gonzales,520 U. S. 1, nor Republic of Iraq v. Beaty, 556 U. S. ___, warrants a different conclusion. Pp. 14–18.No. 09–479, 574 F. 3d 203; No. 09–7073, 329 Fed. Appx. 569, affirmed. Ginsburg, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which all other Members joined, except Kagan, J., who took no part in the consideration or decision of the cases. Together with No. 09–7073, Gould v. United States, on certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.