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Posted on 04/26/2005 7:53:22 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that people convicted of a crime overseas may own a gun in the United States.
In a 5-3 decision, the court ruled in favor of Gary Sherwood Small of Pennsylvania. The court reasoned that U.S. law, which prohibits felons who have been convicted in "any court" from owning guns, applies only to domestic crimes.
Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing for the majority, said interpreting the law broadly to apply to foreign convictions would be unfair to defendants because procedural protections are often less in international courts. If Congress intended foreign convictions to apply, they can rewrite the law to specifically say so, he said.
"We have no reason to believe that Congress considered the added enforcement advantages flowing from inclusion of foreign crimes, weighing them against, say, the potential unfairness of preventing those with inapt foreign convictions from possessing guns," Breyer wrote.
He was joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In a dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that Congress intended for foreign convictions to apply. "Any" court literally means any court, he wrote.
"Read naturally, the word 'any' has an expansive meaning, that is, 'one or some indiscriminately of whatever kind,"' Thomas said. He was joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy.
Small had answered "no" to the felony conviction question on a federal form when he bought a handgun in 1998, a few days after he was paroled from a Japanese prison for violating weapons laws in that country. Small was indicted in 2000 for lying on the form and for illegally owning two pistols and 335 rounds of ammunition. He later entered a conditional guilty plea pending the outcome of this case.
The Bush administration had asked the court to apply the statute to foreign convictions. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist did not participate in deciding the case, which was heard in November when he was undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer.
The case is Small v. United States, 03-750. ------
Well put. That was my first thought too.
The Congress wrote the law poorly. The actual outcome of the case may indeed be in line with what the Congress wanted (I hope so, but the Congress is full of Rinos and Rats ...), but it is not in line with what they actually wrote.
Unintended consequences.
You misunderstand. The man is an American.
I agree. Personally, I agree with the majority, liberal position on this one, and disagree with the conservatives. That makes me worried!
... The Bush administration had asked the court to apply the statute to foreign convictions....
We're only pretending to go left, eh?
Maggots.
Here is a link to the opinion. You are exactly right that it depends on the meaning of "any". Many posters disagree with the conservative justices in this case, but to agree with the majority is to support legislation from the bench. The statute may or may not be poorly worded, but that does not give the Supremes carte blanche to depart from the plain meaning of words. "Any" means any. The statute does not say "...any federal or state court...", it says "any court". If conviction in these instances are not the desired legislative intent, then the statute needs to be changed.
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/26apr20050800/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-750.pdf
So, does the guy who was arrested in Mexico for having a single shotgun shell in his vehicle get his rights restored after US courts stripped him of all his guns when he came home???
Agreed. And, think of the implications and the threat that brings to the country in this, narrow application.
An individual, known to have violated the firearms laws of ANY country, is allowed to own weapons here. In this age of terrorism, what do you think the reaction would be if this individual continued on his scofflaw ways...
I like the decision but hasn't the Supreme Court decided it has to consider foreign court decisions?
This seems inconsistent.
Thomas is right. Here, you have an example of the liberal justices temporarily putting on hold their anti-gun agenda in order to legislate from the bench. What part of 'any' isn't clear to them?
"This seems inconsistent."
It is.
You can't say on one hand that 'foreign law applies', and on the other, that the 'conviction in a foreign court' doesn't.
Thomas is spot on. If congress wants to limit the scope of 'any' to just US courts, it's congress's job to do that, not the supreme court.
The Bush administration was pushing for this? That sure is disappointing. Must be more of that "compassionate conservatism".
You're exactly right. So many are blinded by the subject of the decision - guns - that they can't focus on the sinister method the court used to get to a decision they find appealing. Its very sad our country has come to the point where even conservatives here would cheer the supreme court for making policy decisions, rather than strictly interpreting the constitution and federal statutes.
Supreme Court............ not so supreme.
Wonder when the U.S. will adopt the liberal drinking laws of Europe.
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