United States v. Castleman (572 U.S. 157)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 26, 2014 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 572 U.S. 157 · 134 S. Ct. 1405
- Docket
- No. 12-1371
- Argued
- January 15, 2014
- Decided
- March 26, 2014
- Term
- October Term 2013
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Sotomayor
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Kennedy, Justice Ginsburg, Justice Breyer, Justice Sotomayor (wrote), Justice Kagan
- Concurring in the judgment
- Justice Scalia (wrote), Justice Thomas, Justice Alito (wrote)
Oral argument transcript and advocates · Opinion on Justia
Opinion excerpt
(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2013 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus UNITED STATES v. CASTLEMAN CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT No. 12–1371. Argued January 15, 2014—Decided March 26, 2014 Respondent Castleman moved to dismiss his indictment under 18 U. S. C. §922(g)(9), which forbids the possession of firearms by any- one convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.” He ar- gued that his previous conviction for “intentionally or knowingly caus[ing] bodily injury to” the mother of his child, App. 27, did not qualify as a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” because it did not involve “the use or attempted use of physical force,” 18 U. S. C. §921(a)(33)(A)(ii). The District Court agreed, reasoning that “physi- cal force” must entail violent contact and that one can cause bodily injury without violent contact, e.g., by poisoning. The Sixth Circuit affirmed on a different rationale. It held that the degree of physical force required for a…
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