Opinion ID: 2996793
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Calculation of Gillaum’s Sentence

Text: We next turn to Gillaum’s argument concerning the calculation of his sentence. Gillaum argues that the district court improperly used two Illinois convictions to reach the three necessary for Gillaum to be considered an “armed career criminal” and subject to a sentence enhancement pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). The district court rejected Gillaum’s argument and sentenced Gillaum to a prison sentence of 188 months. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), a defendant found guilty of violating any provision of 18 U.S.C. § 922 “and who has three previous convictions . . . for a violent felony or a serious drug offense, or both . . .” shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years. The difference in sentencing for a defendant who has not previously been convicted of three such offenses is considerable: If a defendant does not have at least three such prior convictions the defendant is subject to a statutory maximum of ten years’ imprisonment. 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2). Not all previous convictions can be used to reach the three necessary for the sentence enhancement. Section 921(a)(20) of Title 18 provides, in part, that: No. 02-4015 19 Any conviction which has been expunged, or set aside or for which a person has been pardoned or has had civil rights restored shall not be considered a conviction for purposes of this chapter, unless such pardon, expungement, or restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms. 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20). Put more clearly, a conviction does not count toward the three necessary for an enhanced sentence if the defendant “has had civil rights restored” unless the defendant has been put on notice that he may not “ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.” On October 27, 1983, Gillaum received an “Order For Discharge” signed by the Governor of Illinois (the “Order”). The Order stated that Gillaum was “finally discharged” from the convictions for attempted robbery and aggravated battery. The Order also stated that Gillaum’s “rights to vote and administer estates are regained.” There was no notice that Gillaum could not possess a firearm. Gillaum argues that the Order restored his civil rights but did not give him notice that he could not possess a firearm. As a result, Gillaum argues, the Illinois convictions cannot be considered qualifying felonies for sentence enhancement. If the Illinois convictions are not considered, Gillaum would not have the requisite three prior qualifying felonies and would not, therefore, be subject to an enhanced sentence. The United States argues that because all of Gillaum’s civil rights were not restored by the Order, the convictions were properly considered. At issue here, therefore, is whether the restoration of some of a defendant’s civil rights (here the rights to vote and administer estates) triggers the notice requirement of § 921(a)(20). In other words, if a discharge order states that 20 No. 02-4015 some specific civil rights have been restored but does not notify the defendant that he is prohibited from possessing guns, can the conviction covered by such order still count towards sentence enhancement under § 924(e)(1)? This is a question of law that this court reviews de novo. This court has reviewed § 921(a)(20) on several occasions. There was some discussion at oral argument as to possible conflicts in the holdings of these cases and whether they can be reconciled. As discussed below, these cases are not in conflict and a close reading indicates that it is the law of this circuit that a conviction is not counted only where the discharge order restores all of a defendant’s civil rights and there is no notice to the defendant that he may not possess firearms. Section 921(a)(20) has been described by this court as “an anti-mousetrapping rule.” United States v. Erwin, 902 F.2d 510, 512 (7th Cir. 1990). The notice requirement for convictions that have been discharged for the conviction to count “is designed to prevent states from deceiving ex-convicts into believing they have the right to carry guns.” United States v. Wagner, 976 F.2d 354, 355 (7th Cir. 1992). In some states, upon the completion of a criminal defendant’s sentence, all or some of the defendant’s civil rights are restored by the operation of statute. In other states, however, the defendant is given documentary evidence that his civil rights are restored. This court has held that, where a criminal defendant is given a piece of paper restoring his civil rights, a court’s inquiry is limited to that document. See United States v. Glaser, 14 F.3d 1213, 1218 (7th Cir. 1994) (“When the state gives [a] person a formal notice of the restoration of civil rights, . . . the final sentence of § 921(a)(20) instructs us to look, not at the contents of the state’s statute books but at the contents of the document.”) (emphasis added). If the document restores the defendant’s No. 02-4015 21 civil rights but does not provide that the defendant may not possess firearms, the underlying conviction cannot count towards sentence enhancement. Id. (“The statutory question is whether, when the state disseminates a writing purporting to restore all civil rights, the document contains a firearms qualification.”) (emphasis added). This court has explained the rationale as follows: If the state sends the felon a piece of paper implying that he is no longer “convicted” and that all civil rights have been restored, a reservation in a corner of the state’s penal code can not be the basis of a federal prosecution. A state must tell the felon point blank that weapons are not kosher. The final sentence of § 921(a)(20) can not logically mean that the state may dole out an apparently-unconditional restoration of rights yet be silent so long as any musty statute withholds the right to carry guns. Then the state never would need to say a peep about guns; the statute would self-destruct. It must mean, therefore, that the state sometimes must tell the felon that under state law he is not entitled to carry guns. . . . When, however, the state sends no document granting pardon or restoring rights, there is no potential for deception, and the question becomes whether the particular civil right to carry guns has been restored by law. Erwin, 902 F.2d at 512-13 (emphasis in original). The text of the previous decisions of this court makes it clear that a conviction does not count only if the discharge document restores all of the defendant’s civil rights and the discharge conviction does not state that the defendant may not possess a firearm. In Erwin, this court stated that “[i]f the state sends the felon a piece of paper implying that he is no longer ‘convicted’ and that all civil rights have been restored, a reservation in a corner of the state’s penal code 22 No. 02-4015 cannot be the basis of a federal prosecution.” Id. (quoted in Wagner, 976 F.2d at 355; Glaser, 14 F.3d at 1218; Dahler v. United States, 143 F.3d 1084, 1087 (7th Cir. 1998)). Importantly, the italicized emphasis on “all” was in the original opinion. In Dahler, this court vacated the sentencing decision of the district court where the Wisconsin discharge document provided that “any civil rights lost as result of [this] conviction . . . are restored.” Dahler, 143 F.3d at 1087. This court held that in this context, “ ‘[a]ny’ and ‘all’ convey the same message to the recipient.” Id. The logic of this court’s rationale also makes it clear that the discharge document must restore all of the defendant’s civil rights. If the discharge document states that all of a defendant’s civil rights have been restored but does not expressly state that the defendant may not possess firearms, presumably the right to possess firearms is included with all civil rights, and the defendant’s sentence cannot be enhanced. To permit such would be, in effect, a “mousetrap”—baiting the defendant into believing that he has a right to carry a gun when he, in fact, does not. However, if the state restores only specific civil rights, there is no mousetrap—the restoration of specifically listed rights cannot be said to restore additional civil rights (including the right to possess a firearm) to the defendant that are not among those listed. Here, not all of Gillaum’s civil rights were restored. Instead, the discharge order provided only that Gillaum’s rights to vote and administer estates had been restored. It is difficult to imagine that a statement restoring two specific rights, wholly unrelated to the possession of a firearm, could “deceive an ex-convict into believing they have the right to carry guns.” Wagner, 976 F.2d at 355. Gillaum’s Illinois convictions were properly counted. At oral argument, Gillaum’s counsel argued that this court’s decisions in Dahler and Glaser suggest that the No. 02-4015 23 Illinois convictions should not count. In both of these cases, the defendants’ discharge documents restored all of their civil rights but there was not a proper notice to the defendant that he could not carry firearms. In Glaser, the discharge document stated that the restoration of the defendant’s civil rights did not relieve the defendant “of the disabilities imposed by the Federal Gun Control Act.” This court found that this statement was insufficient to satisfy the notice requirement of § 921(a)(20). Glaser, 14 F.3d at 1217. In Dahler, as addressed above, the discharge document provided that “any civil rights lost as result of [this] conviction . . . are restored.” Dahler, 143 F.3d at 1087. This court concluded that specific notice of the prohibition on possessing firearms was required. Because such notice was not provided, Dahler was not subject to the enhancement, although he still had one prior conviction which made him ineligible to carry a firearm. Gillaum’s counsel also argues that Dahler and Glaser stand for the proposition that there must be unambiguous notice to the defendant in the text of the discharge document that he may not possess a firearm for the conviction to count towards an enhancement of a defendant’s discharge. He is correct—when notice is required. As discussed above, notice is not required when the discharge document does not restore all of a defendant’s civil rights. Because all of Gillaum’s civil rights were not restored, there is no notice requirement. Gillaum’s Illinois convictions were properly counted. E. The Constitutionality of the Federal Felon-In-Possession Statute Finally, Gillaum argues that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) is an unconstitutional exercise (facially and as applied to him) 24 No. 02-4015 of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. Gillaum concedes, however, that this court has previously rejected this argument. See, e.g., United States v. Lemons, 302 F.3d 769 (7th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1049 (2002); United States v. Mitchell, 299 F.3d 632 (7th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, sub nom., Peete v. United States, 537 U.S. 1130 (2003); United States v. Wesela, 223 F.3d 656 (7th Cir. 2000). He has raised the issue on appeal only so as to preserve the argument in the event of a change in the law. We note that Gillaum has raised this argument and we decline to revisit our well established precedents.