Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/575/13-1487/
Timestamp: 2019-09-22 21:12:44
Document Index: 559471865

Matched Legal Cases: ['§922', '§922', '§922', '§39', '§39', '§39', '§922', '§922', '§922', '§922', '§922', '§922', '§922']

Henderson v. United States :: 575 U.S. ___ (2015) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
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Henderson v. United States, 575 U.S. ___ (2015)
After being charged with the felony offense of distributing marijuana, Henderson was required, as a condition of bail, to turn over firearms that he lawfully owned. Henderson pleaded guilty, and, as a felon, was prohibited under 18 U.S.C. 922(g) from possessing any firearms. Henderson asked the FBI, which had custody of his firearms, to transfer them to his friend. The agency refused. The district court reasoned that Henderson’s requested transfer would give him constructive possession of the firearms. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed. The unanimous Supreme Court vacated: A court-ordered transfer of a felon’s lawfully owned firearms from government custody to a third party is not barred by section 922(g) if the court is satisfied that the recipient will not give the felon control over the firearms, so that he could either use them or direct their use. The government’s view conflated possession, which section 922(g) prohibits, with an owner’s right to alienate his property, which it does not. The Court stated that a felon may select a firearms dealer or third party to sell his guns; a court, with proper assurances from the recipient, may also grant a felon’s request to transfer his guns to a person who expects to maintain custody of them.
18 U.S.C. Section 922(g), which bars convicted felons from possessing firearms in certain situations, does not apply to a court-ordered transfer of a felon's lawfully owned firearms from government custody to a third party, as long as the recipient will not allow the felon to use or direct the use of the firearms.
Henderson then returned to the court that had handled his criminal case to seek release of his firearms. Invoking the court’s equitable powers, Henderson asked for an order directing the FBI to transfer the guns either to his wife or to Rosier. The District Court denied the motion, concluding (as the FBI had) that Henderson could not “transfer the firearms or receive money from their sale” without “constructive[ly] possessi[ng]” them in violation of §922(g). No. 3:06–cr–211 (MD Fla., Aug. 8, 2012), App. to Pet. for Cert. 5a–6a, 12a. The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed on the same ground, reasoning that granting Henderson’s motion would amount to giving a felon “constructive possession” of his firearms. 555 Fed. Appx. 851, 853 (2014) (per curiam).[1]
We granted certiorari, 574 U. S. ___ (2014), to resolve a circuit split over whether, as the courts below held, §922(g) categorically prohibits a court from approving a convicted felon’s request to transfer his firearms to an-other person.[2] We now vacate the decision below.
Section 922(g) proscribes possession alone, but covers possession in every form. By its terms, §922(g) does not prohibit a felon from owning firearms. Rather, it interferes with a single incident of ownership—one of the proverbial sticks in the bundle of property rights—by preventing the felon from knowingly possessing his (or an-other person’s) guns. But that stick is a thick one, encompassing what the criminal law recognizes as “actual” and “constructive” possession alike. 2A K. O’Malley, J. Grenig, & W. Lee, Federal Jury Practice and Instructions, Criminal §39.12, p. 55 (6th ed. 2009) (hereinafter O’Malley); see National Safe Deposit Co. v. Stead, 232 U. S. 58, 67 (1914) (noting that in “legal terminology” the word “possession” is “interchangeably used to describe” both the actual and the constructive kinds). Actual possession exists when a person has direct physical control over a thing. See Black’s Law Dictionary 1047 (5th ed. 1979) (hereinafter Black’s); 2A O’Malley §39.12, at 55. Constructive possession is established when a person, though lacking such physical custody, still has the power and intent to exercise control over the object. See Black’s 1047; 2A O’Malley §39.12, at 55. Section 922(g) thus prevents a felon not only from holding his firearms himself but also from maintaining control over those guns in the hands of others.
But the Government’s theory wrongly conflates the right to possess a gun with another incident of ownership, which §922(g) does not affect: the right merely to sell or otherwise dispose of that item. Cf. Andrus v. Allard, 444 U. S. 51 –66 (1979) (distinguishing between entitlements to possess and sell property). Consider the scenario that the Government claims would violate §922(g). The felon has nothing to do with his guns before, during, or after the transaction in question, except to nominate their recipient. Prior to the transfer, the guns sit in an evidence vault, under the sole custody of law enforcement officers. Assuming the court approves the proposed recipient, FBI agents handle the firearms’ physical conveyance, without the felon’s participation. Afterward, the purchaser or other custodian denies the felon any access to or influence over the guns; the recipient alone decides where to store them, when to loan them out, how to use them, and so on. In short, the arrangement serves only to divest the felon of his firearms—and even that much depends on a court’s approving the designee’s fitness and ordering the transfer to go forward. Such a felon exercises not a possessory interest (whether directly or through another), but instead a naked right of alienation—the capacity to sell or transfer his guns, unaccompanied by any control over them.[3]
The Government’s view of what counts as “possession” would also extend §922(g)’s scope far beyond its purpose. Congress enacted that ban to keep firearms away from felons like Henderson, for fear that they would use those guns irresponsibly. See Small v. United States, 544 U. S. 385, 393 (2005) . Yet on the Government’s construction, §922(g) would prevent Henderson from disposing of his firearms even in ways that guarantee he never uses them again, solely because he played a part in selecting their transferee. He could not, for example, place those guns in a secure trust for distribution to his children after his death. He could not sell them to someone halfway around the world. He could not even donate them to a law enforcement agency. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 22. Results of that kind would do nothing to advance §922(g)’s purpose.
Finally, the Government’s expansive idea of constructive possession fits poorly with its concession that a felon in Henderson’s position may select a firearms dealer or other third party to sell his guns and give him the proceeds. After all, the felon chooses the guns’ “first recipient” in that case too, deciding who “next ha[s] access to the firearms.” Brief for United States 24; see supra, at 5. If (as the Government argues) that is all it takes to exercise control over and thus constructively possess an item, then (contrary to the Government’s view) the felon would violate §922(g) merely by selecting a dealer to sell his guns. To be sure, that person will predictably convey the firearms to someone whom the felon does not know and cannot control: That is why the Government, as a practical matter, has no worries about the transfer. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 19–21. But that fact merely demonstrates how the Government’s view of §922(g) errs in its focus in a case like this one. What matters here is not whether a felon plays a role in deciding where his firearms should go next: That test would logically prohibit a transfer even whenthe chosen recipient will later sell the guns to someone else. What matters instead is whether the felon will have the ability to use or direct the use of his firearms afterthe transfer. That is what gives the felon constructive possession.
1 The Court of Appeals added that Henderson’s “equitable argument rings hollow” because a convicted felon has “unclean hands to demand return [or transfer] of his firearms.” 555 Fed. Appx., at 854. That view is wrong, as all parties now agree. See Brief for Petitioner 35–39; Brief for United States 31, n. 8; Tr. of Oral Arg. 33, 42. The unclean hands doctrine proscribes equitable relief when, but only when, an individ-ual’s misconduct has “immediate and necessary relation to the equity that he seeks.” Keystone Driller Co. v. General Excavator Co., 290 U. S. 240, 245 (1933) . The doctrine might apply, for example, if a felon requests the return or transfer of property used in furtherance of his offense. See, e.g., United States v. Kaczynski, 551 F. 3d 1120, 1129–1130 (CA9 2009) (holding that the Unabomber had unclean hands to request the return of bomb-making materials). But Henderson’s felony conviction had nothing to do with his firearms, so the unclean hands rule has no role to play here.
Oral Argument - February 24, 2015
13-1487