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Small v. United States

1) Small was convicted in Japan for illegally possessing firearms and served over 5 years in prison. He was later convicted under U.S. law for illegally possessing a firearm based on his Japanese conviction. 2) Small appealed his U.S. conviction, arguing that "convicted in any court" in the relevant U.S. law referred only to domestic, not foreign convictions. 3) The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in Small's favor, finding that the law was intended to apply only to domestic convictions, not foreign ones like Small's Japanese conviction. This established precedent around how foreign convictions should be interpreted in U.S. law.

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Gretel Jagape Timario
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851 views2 pages

Small v. United States

1) Small was convicted in Japan for illegally possessing firearms and served over 5 years in prison. He was later convicted under U.S. law for illegally possessing a firearm based on his Japanese conviction. 2) Small appealed his U.S. conviction, arguing that "convicted in any court" in the relevant U.S. law referred only to domestic, not foreign convictions. 3) The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in Small's favor, finding that the law was intended to apply only to domestic convictions, not foreign ones like Small's Japanese conviction. This established precedent around how foreign convictions should be interpreted in U.S. law.

Uploaded by

Gretel Jagape Timario
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Small v.

United States

Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the third circuit

Facts

a. Filed in the Third Circuit of Appeals, federal authorities charged Small under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1)
which forbids “an person convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a
term exceeding one year to possess any firearm”

b. A Japanese court convicted Gary Sherwood Small for gun possession In December of 1992.
There was an apparent attempt to recover a water heater located in Japan. The water heater
was said to have contained pistols, rifles and ammunition. Small was sent to prison for over Five
years for violating the Japanese Act Controlling the Possession of Firearms and Swords, the
Gunpowder Control Act, and the Customs Act. Small was then convicted by the U.S. district
court because of his previous conviction of illegally possessing guns. Soon after he was released
from prison, Small purchased a hand gun and answered “no” to the question on the form
required by the bureau of ATF.

c. The Plaintiff was the ATF, which believed that Small should be convicted in the United States,
given the statement, “convicted in any court”. The lower courts felt that the law did apply to
foreign court orders, where the federal district courts viewed otherwise.

d. The defendant was Small. He appealed the district court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the third circuit and then after being held guilty once again, he sent a petition for Certiorari
to the Supreme Court of the United States. They were interested in hearing his case and
applying a uniform rule in regulating foreign convictions.

Questions

a. The Federal Law made gun possession illegal for any person convicted in any court for a
crime punishable by more than one year in prison. The question is whether “convicted in
any court” includes convictions in foreign courts or just courts in the United States. Does
Small have the right to appeal his conviction?

Decisions

a. The first time this case went to court, Small was considered guilty by the District Court,
sentencing him to eight months in jail because of his prior conviction.
b. After the third appeal, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Small. All previous decisions
held that the Japanese courts’ decision was correct and should hold true in the United
States. After Small was given Certiorari, the Supreme Court decided that the phrase,
“convicted in any court,” meant only domestic, not foreign convictions. Because of this
fact, the majority decided that Congress had domestic concerns in mind and that the
language of law suggested no target in reaching further from domestic convictions. The
courts favored Smalls in that the word “any” did not apply to foreign conviction.

Principles

a. The key international law point in this case is Title 18 United States Code § 922(g)
(1), which states that for any person who has been convicted in any court of a crime
punishable by imprisonment of over a year to possess firearms.

b. The rules of law that the courts went by under the previously listed law were the
Japanese Act Controlling the Possession of Firearms and Swords, the Gunpowder
Control Act, and the Customs Act. These were laws that only dealt with Japan. The
only law that affected Small in the United States was Title 18.

Conclusion

a. This case is important because it better defines the rules of, “any court”. There
were many other cases that had previously struggled with similar situations on
foreign conviction for a felon-in-posession. It is very crucial for the courts to be
able to determine what should and should not be considered domestic rule of
law. This case provides precedent to any other case that must deal with
internationally related commerce and firearm possession prosecution.

Bibliography

Small v. United States. No. 03-750 544 U.S. 385 (2005) 333 F.3.d 425

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