Court Opinion

ID: 9483871
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:33:47.889756+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:53.061523
License: Public Domain

BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the judgment in this case only because I believe that the decision in United States v. Driscoll, 970 F.2d 1472 (6th Cir.1992), binds this panel. I write to express my disagreement with the Driscoll holding that Michigan law fails to restore the civil rights of a felon after the completion of a term of imprisonment. Because of Driscoll, defendants are subject to the severe penalties of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) despite the substantial restoration of their civil rights under Michigan law. To me, such a result is patently unfair.
Robert Wayne Tinker was convicted for violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which prohibits “any person who has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” from “possessing] ... any firearm or ammunition.” Nonetheless, 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20) also provides,
What constitutes a conviction of such a crime shall be determined in accordance with the law of the jurisdiction in which the proceedings were held. A conviction ... for which a person ... has had civil rights restored shall not be considered a conviction for purposes of this chapter, unless such restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.
Therefore, if Michigan law restored Tinker’s civil rights after his release from imprisonment and did not restrict his right to bear arms, his conviction under § 922(g)(1) is invalid. See United States v. Cassidy, 899 F.2d 543 (6th Cir.1990).
“[W]e must look to the whole of state law of the state of conviction to determine whether the ‘convicted felon’ is entitled to vote, hold public office and serve on a jury and also whether the ‘convicted felon’ is entitled to exercise the privileges of shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm.” Id. at 1486 (quoting United States v. Cassidy, 900 F.2d 543, 549 (6th Cir.1990)). Although the Driscoll majority acknowledged that Michigan law automatically restores a felon’s right to vote and right to hold public office, it concluded that Michigan law does not restore the right to serve on a jury. See id. at 1478. As a result, the majority concluded that the defendant was subject to the prohibitions of 18 U.S.C. §. 922(g)(1) because Michigan law does not substantially restore civil rights to a convicted felon. Id. at 1479. I agree with Judge Jones’ dissent in Driscoll, 970 F.2d at 1486, in which he persuasively demonstrates that Michigan law substantially restores the civil rights of a felon after the term of imprisonment ends.
Michigan law does not deprive a convicted felon who has completed his sentence of his right to serve on a jury. Although the majority in Driscoll interprets the Michigan Court Rules as divesting a convicted felon of the right to serve as a juror, the Michigan Rules simply do not support that interpretation as it relates to convictions under § 922(g)(1). Michigan Rule of Court 2.511(D) provides, “[t]he parties may challenge jurors for cause” on the grounds that the person has been convicted of a felony. M.C.R. 2.511(D) (emphasis added). Therefore, “[i]f neither party in a civil suit challenges a convicted person’s presence on the jury, that person may serve on the jury.” Driscoll, 970 F.2d at 1487 (Jones, J., dissenting). Although the court must excuse a juror who is challenged for cause based on the provisions of Rule 2.511(D), one party must first make a challenge before the court must excuse the juror. See id. See also People v. Lamar, 153 Mich.App. 127, 395 N.W.2d 262, 265 (1986). Moreover, conviction of a felony does not affect one’s qualifications to serve on a jury if the person has completed the terms of the sentence imposed. Driscoll, 970 F.2d at 1487 (Jones, J., dissenting). Section 600.-1307a of the Michigan Compiled Laws lists the qualifications required of a juror, and the list concerns competency. For jurors convicted of a felony, the statute provides that one may “[n]ot be under sentence for a felony at the time of jury selection.” *245Mich.Comp.Laws § 600.1307a(l)(e) (emphasis added). Therefore, after a convicted felon has completed the sentence imposed, that person may serve on a jury, absent a challenge for cause by one of the parties. Driscoll, 970 F.2d at 1487-88.
In United States v. Cassidy, 899 F.2d 543, 549 (6th Cir.1990), we stressed that state law need not fully restore civil rights to a convicted felon as a prerequisite to the operation of 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20). Rather, we specifically noted that “[i]f Congress had intended a requirement of a complete restoration of all rights and privileges forfeited upon conviction, it could easily have so stated.” Id. See also United States v. Dahms, 938 F.2d 131, 133 (9th Cir.1991). In my opinion, Driscoll does not follow the standard for restoration of rights that we established in Cassidy, and it erroneously requires the law of the state of conviction to “restore[ ] felons to their full civil rights.” Driscoll, 970 F.2d at 1480 (emphasis added). Cassidy and Dahms envision something less than a requirement of absolute restoration of civil rights, as Judge Jones explains with great clarity in his dissent. His dissent also demonstrates that Michigan law substantially restores civil rights to felons after their imprisonment ends.
Given that Michigan law restores a convicted person’s civil rights upon release from imprisonment, the second part of the inquiry requires a determination of whether Michigan law expressly prohibits such a person from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving firearms. Id. at 1475. See also 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20). Because Tinker’s prior criminal conviction occurred more than eight years before the instant offense, Michigan law does not restrict his right to bear arms. See Mich.Comp.Laws § 28.422. Therefore, Tinker’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) is invalid because Michigan law substantially restores civil rights to a convicted felon, and it does not restrict Tinker’s right to bear arms.
In addition, I strongly urge en banc consideration of whether Michigan law substantially restores civil rights to a convicted felon. A well defined split exists on this issue between our circuit and the Ninth Circuit. In United States v. Dahms, 938 F.2d 131 (9th Cir.1991), the court construed Michigan law and found that it did substantially restore the civil rights of a felon for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20). In Driscoll, a panel of this court explicitly rejected the reasoning in Dahms, even though both Dahms and Driscoll construed the same substantive law. The issue has also continued to divide the panels of this court. Driscoll implicitly rejected the reasoning of Cassidy by requiring a full restoration of rights. Moreover, in United States v. Warren, 973 F.2d 1304, 1310 (6th Cir.1992), a decision issued after Driscoll, a panel of this court implicitly recognized the validity of the Dahms holding that Michigan law substantially restores the civil rights of a convicted felon.
Therefore, I join in the judgment only.