Opinion ID: 2470159
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Meaning of Is Stolen

Text: Property shall be seized and forfeited pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1595a(c)(1)(A) if it is stolen, smuggled, or clandestinely imported or introduced into the United States. Davis submits that the word is requires us to assess whether Le Marché constituted stolen property at the time of forfeiture, rather than at the time it entered the United States. [3] That argument, which calls for an interpretation of the statute that conflicts with the most natural reading of the text, is without merit. The text of the statute makes clear that is stolen refers to the status of the property at the time of its introduction into the United States. The relevant portion of Section 1595a(c) states: Merchandise which is introduced or attempted to be introduced into the United States contrary to law shall be treated as follows: (1) The merchandise shall be seized and forfeited if it (A) is stolen, smuggled, or clandestinely imported or introduced; ... (D) is a plastic explosive, as defined in section 841(q) of Title 18, which does not contain a detection agent, as defined in section 841(p) of such title.... Subsection (c) applies only to [m]erchandise which is introduced or attempted to be introduced into the United States, and it therefore unquestionably focuses on the manner in which the merchandise enters the United States. Under the most natural reading of the text, the phrase is stolen, which modifies the same merchandise, also refers to the merchandise's status at the time of introduction. That focus makes sense: Section 1595a is a customs statute regulating the flow of goods into and out of the country. It is therefore concerned with what types of goods enter the United States, not with what happens to them after they get here. Davis's interpretation shifts the statute's focus away from the border in a manner that would produce absurd results. There is no reason to believe that the word is in Section 1595a(c)(1)(A) refers to a different time period than the word is in Section 1595a(c)(1)(D), which requires the forfeiture of merchandise that is a plastic explosive, ... which does not contain a detection agent. See Mashantucket Pequot Tribe v. Connecticut, 913 F.2d 1024, 1030 (2d Cir.1990) (noting that the same word or phrase should be construed to have the same meaning throughout a statute). However, interpreting is to refer to the time of forfeiture, rather than the time of importation, would mean that the forfeiture of plastic explosives under Section 1595a(c)(1)(D) could be thwarted if after importation a detection agent were added to the mixture. There is nothing to suggest that Congress intended to create such a loophole when enacting this legislation. Accordingly, we reject Davis's reading of is stolen, and adopt instead the more natural reading of the text that gives full force to each word that Congress employed: the phrase is stolen in 19 U.S.C. § 1595a(c) refers to the status of the property at the time of its introduction into the United States.