Opinion ID: 728939
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Due process and equal protection challenges based on arbitrary classification.

Text: 8 McKenzie makes several challenges to the constitutionality of § 922(g)(1) based on the fact that its prohibition of firearm possession applies to any person convicted of a crime punishable for a term exceeding one year--in effect, to any person determined under state law to be a felon. Specifically, McKenzie argues that this classification violates equal protection principles since it is not based on either a real or substantial distinction between the persons whose prior conduct is at issue and since it fails to accord like treatment to persons similarly situated. To show the lack of uniformity and discrimination against persons subject to the statute, McKenzie provides a lengthy list of offense conduct that differs on whether it constitutes a felony depending on whether it is committed in Illinois or Wisconsin. 3 9 He also argues that the classification violates the due process principle that the classification must have a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation. Specifically, he contends the classification bears no relation to the legislation's purpose of enhanc[ing] the ability of law enforcement to fight violent crime and narcotics trafficking. (Def.'s Br. at 9, citing H.R.Rep. No. 99-495, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. 23 (1986), 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1327.) McKenzie submits that [w]ere the legislation barring certain people from possessing guns limited solely to felons whose crimes caused or threatened violence, the classification might have complete relevance to the purpose. Id. As a result of the arbitrary classification, he further notes that such innocuous felons as adulterers in Wisconsin are subject to the legislation. Id. Quite simply, the catch-all classification is based on a juridical fact that has no necessary relation to the the (sic) likelihood that the actor committed or will commit an act of violence. (Def.'s Br. at 1.) In other words, he contends that the legislation violates substantive due process principles by failing to serve its purpose due to its overly inclusive scope. 10 McKenzie correctly notes that legislative penalties imposed on certain classes of persons must rest on real and not feigned differences, must have some relevance to the purpose for which the classification is made, and must not subject the class members to wholly arbitrary treatment, see Walters v. St. Louis, 347 U.S. 231, 237, 74 S.Ct. 505, 509, 98 L.Ed. 660 (1954). But the Court has also noted that Congress has great latitude in making statutory classifications. Indeed, a state's statutory discrimination will not be set aside as violative of equal protection or due process if any set of facts reasonably may be conceived to justify it. Lewis v. United States, 445 U.S. 55, 65, 100 S.Ct. 915, 63 L.Ed.2d 198 (1980); McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 425-26, 81 S.Ct. 1101, 1104-05, 6 L.Ed.2d 393 (1961); United States v. Neary, 552 F.2d 1184, 1192, 1194 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 864, 98 S.Ct. 197, 54 L.Ed.2d 139 (1977); United States v. Weatherford, 471 F.2d 47, 51 (7th Cir.1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 972, 93 S.Ct. 2144, 36 L.Ed.2d 695 (1973). Stated another way, since [f]elons are not yet a protected class, only irrational discrimination against them would violate the equal protection clause. Baer v. City of Wauwatosa, 716 F.2d 1117, 1125 (7th Cir.1983). Furthermore, the Due Process Clause does not require Congress to make classifications that fit every individual with the same degree of relevance. Jones v. United States, 463 U.S. 354, 366, 103 S.Ct. 3043, 3050, 77 L.Ed.2d 694 (1983); see also Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 485, 90 S.Ct. 1153, 1161-62, 25 L.Ed.2d 491 (1970) (stating that legislative perfection in making a statutory classification is neither possible nor necessary). 11 Contrary to McKenzie's assertions, federal courts have addressed constitutional challenges to the federal gun-control statutes. In Lewis, 445 U.S. at 57, 100 S.Ct. at 916-17, the Court considered whether a conviction under 18 U.S.C. app. § 1202, a gun control statute similar to and partially overlapping § 922(g)(1), could be predicated on a prior felony obtained in violation of the petitioner's Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. 4 Id. at 57, 100 S.Ct. at 916-17. In deciding that the constitutionality of the underlying felony conviction was irrelevant, the Court took note of Congress' concern 5 about the availability of firearms to those persons who pose a threat to community peace. Id. at 66, 100 S.Ct. at 921. The Court noted that Congress found a nexus between violent crime and any person with a criminal record. Id. Therefore, the Court held that Congress could rationally conclude that any felony conviction, even an allegedly invalid one, is a sufficient basis on which to prohibit the possession of a firearm. Id. 12 Subsequently, the Court held that the prohibitions imposed by § 922(g)(1) apply to a person who pleads guilty to a felony even if that felony is subsequently expunged pursuant to state procedures. Dickerson v. New Banner Inst., 460 U.S. 103, 105, 112, 115, 103 S.Ct. 986, 987-88, 991-92, 993, 74 L.Ed.2d 845 (1983). In finding expungement irrelevant, the Court approved using state-defined felonies as the trigger for the § 922(g)(1) prohibitions, stating that they provide a convenient, although somewhat inexact, way of identifying 'especially risky people.'  Id. (citing United States v. Bass, 404 U.S. 336, 345, 92 S.Ct. 515, 521, 30 L.Ed.2d 488 (1971)). 13 In addition, this circuit has rejected equal protection and due process challenges to § 922(g)(1). In Weatherford, 471 F.2d at 52, this court rejected the argument that § 922(g)(1) creates an illegal classification of citizens in violation of the Fifth Amendment. 6 We stated that § 922(g)(1) did not arbitrarily discriminate against previously convicted felons as a class and that [i]t seems crystal clear that the purpose of Congress in enacting this legislation was to eliminate firearms from the hands of criminals, while interfering as little as possible with the law abiding citizen. Id. at 51. We also rejected the appellant's argument, also made by McKenzie, that the statute was overbroad because it included felons whose prior crimes do not involve firearms or violence. Id. at 52 n. 6. Subsequently, in Baer, 716 F.2d at 1125, we again rejected a convicted felon's substantive due process and equal protections challenges to the prohibitions of § 922(g)(1). Like McKenzie, the felon in Baer argued that § 922(g)(1) discriminated against felons and had no rational basis. See also United States v. Fauntleroy, 488 F.2d 79, 81 (4th Cir.1973) (rejecting appellant's argument that § 922(g)(1) violated the constitutional guarantee of due process in that it distinguishes felons from nonfelons). 14 In light of this overwhelming authority and because a statutory discrimination (not involving a suspect class or bearing on a fundamental right) will not be set aside as violative of equal protection or due process if any set of facts may be conceived to justify it, see, e.g., Lewis, 445 U.S. at 65, 100 S.Ct. at 921-21, McKenzie faces an uphill battle on appeal. It is thus not surprising that he ignores most of this precedent or attempts to divert our attention from it by arguing that unlike the defendants in the cases upholding the constitutionality of § 922(g), he submitted evidence of the unlawful classification by including in his brief a comparison list of Wisconsin and Illinois felonies. This list asserts nothing more than an argument that this court has already rejected. See Weatherford, 471 F.2d at 51. Moreover, this list offers no reason to reject the reasoning of the Court in upholding § 922(g)(1) convictions triggered by state-law felony convictions that are later found unconstitutional or are expunged. See Lewis, 445 U.S. at 57, 66, 100 S.Ct. at 916-17, 921; Dickerson, 460 U.S. at 115, 103 S.Ct. at 993. While states may vary on what offenses constitute felonies, Congress consistently prohibited anyone, in whatever state they are from, from possessing a firearm if they have been convicted of a crime punishable by a term exceeding one year. McKenzie has not shown that Congress was irrational in deciding that such classes of persons should not possess firearms. See United States v. Three Winchester 30-30 Caliber Lever Action Carbines, 504 F.2d 1288, 1293 (7th Cir.1974) (stating that in enacting § 922(g)(1) the Congress has made a reasonable determination that convicted felons should not be able to possess, receive or transport firearms.). Thus, McKenzie has not demonstrated that § 922(g)(1) violates equal protection principles. 7 Most significantly, the disparity between what Wisconsin and Illinois consider to be felonious conduct has made no practical difference to McKenzie since both states agree on the felonious nature of his record of cocaine trafficking. Hence, he has no standing to raise the question of whether the statute's classification is unconstitutional. Baer, 716 F.2d at 1125 (People are not allowed to challenge statutes or ordinances because of the consequences of applying them to other people....). 15 We also reject McKenzie's due process argument that the federal courts upholding the constitutionality of convictions under § 922(g)(1) failed to consider that the statute's real purpose was not to prevent persons convicted of non-violent felonies from possessing firearms. Even assuming arguendo that Congress' ultimate goal in enacting § 922(g)(1) was not to prevent possession of firearms by those convicted of nonviolent crimes, but instead to prevent additional lawlessness and violent crime that flows from the widespread availability of firearms, Congress did not explicitly limit the reach of § 922(g)(1). That it could have is demonstrated by 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) which does impose additional penalties on persons possessing a firearm after being convicted of a violent felony or a serious drug offense. See § 924(e). Section 922(g)(1) is undoubtedly broader in its sweep. Arguably, by broadening the class of persons prohibited by § 922(g)(1) from possessing firearms, Congress broadened the means by which it hoped to promote its ultimate goal of preventing lawlessness and violent crimes. This reasoning is consistent with the Court's recognition of a nexus between violent crime and any person with a criminal record, Lewis, 445 U.S. at 66, 100 S.Ct. at 921, and with the Court's acceptance of the broad scope of § 922(g)(1)'s felon classification as a means to identify especially risky people, Dickerson, 460 U.S. at 120, 103 S.Ct. at 996. It is also instructive that the initial version § 922(g)(1) was amended so as to delete the words crime of violence and substitute therefore the words crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. Weatherford, 471 F.2d at 52 (citing 75 Stat. 757). Given Congress' great latitude in making statutory classifications, there is no plain error in accepting these justifications for the broad classification. 16