Henderson v. United States (575 U.S. 622)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 18, 2015 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 575 U.S. 622 · 135 S. Ct. 1780
- Docket
- No. 13-1487
- Argued
- February 24, 2015
- Decided
- May 18, 2015
- Term
- October Term 2014
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Kagan
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, Justice Kennedy, Justice Thomas, Justice Ginsburg, Justice Breyer, Justice Alito, Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kagan (wrote)
Oral argument transcript and advocates · Opinion on Justia
Opinion excerpt
Justice KAGANdelivered the opinion of the Court. Government agencies sometimes come into possession of firearms lawfully owned by individuals facing serious criminal charges. If convicted, such a person cannot recover his guns because a federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), prohibits any felon from possessing firearms. In this case, we consider what § 922(g)allows a court to do when a felon instead seeks the transfer of his guns to either a firearms dealer (for future sale on the open market) or some other third party. We hold that § 922(g)does not bar such a transfer unless it would allow the felon to later control the guns, so that he could either use them or direct their use. I The Federal Government charged petitioner Tony Henderson, then a U.S. Border Patrol agent, with the felony offense of distributing marijuana. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(D). A Magistrate Judge required that Henderson surrender all his firearms as a condition of his release on bail. Henderson complied, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took custody of the guns. Soon afterward, Henderson pleaded guilty to the distribution charge; as a result of that conviction, § 922(g)prevents him from legally repossessing his firearms. Following his release from prison, Henderson asked the FBI to transfer the guns to Robert Rosier, a friend who had agreed to purchase them for an unspecified price.…
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