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Timestamp: 2019-10-18 03:28:51
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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6', '§ 4742', '§ 4742', '§ 4701', '§ 4721', '§ 4701', '§ 4704', '§ 4705', '§ 4705', '§ 4721', '§ 4705', '§ 151']

MINOR V. UNITED STATES, 396 U. S. 87 (1969) - US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
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MINOR V. UNITED STATES, 396 U. S. 87 (1969)
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(b) In Leary, supra, the statute purported to make all marihuana purchases legal from the buyer's viewpoint at his option; but, to exercise that option and avoid the federal penalty, he was forced to incriminate himself under other laws. Here, compliance by selling is foreclosed as a viable option not because the seller might incriminate himself, but because he will seldom, if ever, encounter an unregistered purchaser willing and able to secure the order form. In such a case, "full and literal" compliance chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
No. 189, 398 F.2d 511, and No. 271, 407 F.2d 905, affirmed. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Michael Buie, petitioner in No. 271, sold five packages of marihuana in May, 1967, to an undercover narcotics agent. The agent did not have the official order form required for such transactions by § 6 of the Marihuana Tax Act, now 26 U.S.C. § 4742(a). [Footnote 2] A jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York convicted petitioner of violating § 4742(a). chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Buie argues that, because the buyer's order must be on the form issued by the Secretary of the Treasury, and chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
We have considerable doubt that any of these arguments would withstand close scrutiny, [Footnote 3] but we find it unnecessary to appraise them in detail because we have concluded that there is no real and substantial possibility that Buie's purchaser, or purchasers generally, would be willing to comply with the order form requirement even if their seller insisted on selling only pursuant to the form prescribed by law. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Buie's situation thus bears little resemblance to the situation that confronted Leary. The vice of the statute in that case -- as in Marchetti v. United States, 390 U. S. 39, Grosso v. United States, 390 U. S. 62, and Haynes v. United States, 390 U. S. 85 (1968) -- stemmed from the dilemma that confronted the buyer. The statute purported to make all purchases of marihuana legal from the buyer's viewpoint at his option; all he had to do to avoid the federal penalty was to secure the form and pay the tax. But to exercise that option and avoid the federal penalty, he was forced to incriminate himself under other laws. In the present case, the first horn of this dilemma does not confront the seller. In the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
This conclusion is not affected by the fact that there is a tiny number of registered marihuana dealers -- some 83 in the entire country, according to government figures for 1967. [Footnote 5] In order to register, dealers must show that they are in compliance with local laws, [Footnote 6] and, when chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
No. 189. The same result must follow in Minor's case, and for similar reasons. The Harrison Narcotics Act, 26 U.S.C. § 4701 et seq., applies to various drugs, including heroin. Dealers must register and pay an occupational tax, 26 U.S.C. §§ 4721-4722; producers or importers who sell must purchase stamps and affix them to the package, 26 U.S.C. §§ 4701, 4703, 4771(a)(1), and it is illegal to purchase or sell except from the original stamped package, 26 U.S.C. § 4704(a). As in the case of the Marihuana Tax Act, all transfers, with exceptions not relevant here, must be made pursuant to a written order form issued by the Government. 26 U.S.C. § 4705(a). Only dealers who are in compliance with state law may register, and only registered dealers may secure order forms. 26 U.S.C. § 4705(f), (g); see 26 U.S.C. § 4721; 26 CFR 151.24. Order forms are issued in triplicate to proper applicants, and are stamped only with the name of the prospective purchaser. 26 U.S.C. § 4705(f); 26 CFR § 151.161. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The order form provisions for narcotic drugs thus differ from the marihuana provisions in three principal respects. First, the prospective seller's name does not have to be given to the Government when the order form is secured, but is filled in only when the form is subsequently executed. [Footnote 7] Second, although the marihuana seller apparently does not have to add anything to the order form in making the sale, the seller of narcotics must enter the amounts sold and the dates. Finally, unlike the Marihuana Tax Act, which, at least in theory, permits any person to buy as long as the transfer tax is paid, the Harrison Narcotics Act explicitly forbids the sale of order forms to any but registered dealers and permits registration chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Like Buie, Minor argues that compliance with the order form provision would compel him to give incriminating information to be preserved in his and the buyer's file and to be made readily accessible to law enforcement agents. Like Buie's argument, Minor' argument assumes that an order form would otherwise be forthcoming if he refused to sell without it, [Footnote 9] and founders if, in reality, there is no substantial possibility that the buyer would or could have secured an order form. As in Buie's case, we are convinced that this possibility is an unreal one. Prospective buyers who have either failed to register or cannot register because their dealings in the drug are illicit -- and petitioner himself strenuously argues that virtually all dealings in heroin are illicit [Footnote 10] -- simply chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
We doubt that our conclusion would be different even if Minor's customer were registered. It is true that there were some 400,000 registered dealers under the Harrison Narcotics Act in 1967, [Footnote 11] and that registered dealers can readily get order forms issued in blank. It is conceivable, of course, that a registered dealer would seek to buy heroin on the illegal market, but it is difficult to imagine that he would enter the name of an unregistered seller on the order form and make a record of what would surely be an illegal sale. [Footnote 12] Such unlikely possibilities chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The guilt of petitioner on this record seems plain. Two counts charge sales of heroin on two different dates in 1967 "not in pursuance of a written order . . . form." He was found guilty on each count by the District Court, a trial by jury having been waived. The basis of his chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Thus, it is the order form -- not the mere sale -- that constitutes the heart of the offense for which this petitioner was convicted. I do not see how the Government can make a crime out of not receiving an order form, chanroblesvirtualawlibrary