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Facts: - Petitioner Gary Sherwood Small: United States Code

Small was convicted in a Japanese court for smuggling firearms into Japan and served 5 years in prison. After returning to the US, he purchased a handgun. The issue is whether his Japanese conviction counts as being "convicted in any court" under a US law making it illegal for those convicted of crimes punishable by over 1 year to possess firearms. The Supreme Court held that the phrase "convicted in any court" in the law refers only to domestic, not foreign convictions, as the language and context of the statute do not show Congress intended for it to apply extraterritorially to foreign convictions.

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82 views

Facts: - Petitioner Gary Sherwood Small: United States Code

Small was convicted in a Japanese court for smuggling firearms into Japan and served 5 years in prison. After returning to the US, he purchased a handgun. The issue is whether his Japanese conviction counts as being "convicted in any court" under a US law making it illegal for those convicted of crimes punishable by over 1 year to possess firearms. The Supreme Court held that the phrase "convicted in any court" in the law refers only to domestic, not foreign convictions, as the language and context of the statute do not show Congress intended for it to apply extraterritorially to foreign convictions.

Uploaded by

maanmarq
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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FACTS:

-Petitioner Gary Sherwood Small was convicted in a Japanese Court of trying to smuggle firearms
and ammunition into that country.
-He served (five) years in prison and then returned to the U.S., where he bought a handgun.
-According to the government, because Small had been convicted in Japan in 1994, when he
purchased the handgun at the Delmont Sport Shop he violated Title 18 United States Code § 922(g)
(1), which makes it unlawful:
(g) . . . for any person
(1) who has been “convicted in any court” of a crime punishable by imprisonment
for a term exceeding one year: . . .
to possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm.
ISSUE: Whether or not the phrase in Sec. 922 (g)(1) of the Code “convicted in any court” include
convictions in foreign courts.

HELD:
-NO
-The Court assumes a congressional intent that the phrase “convicted in any court” applies
domestically, not extraterritorially, unless the statutory language, context, history, or purpose shows
the contrary.
-The statute’s language suggests no intent to reach beyond domestic convictions.
-The Congress did not consider whether the generic phrase “convicted in any court” applies to
foreign convictions.

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