Tuesday, November 5, 2013

United States v. Batchelder case brief

United States v. Batchelder case brief summary
442 U.S. 114 (1979)

CASE SYNOPSIS
Respondent, a previously convicted felon, was convicted of violating the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 by receiving a firearm that had traveled in interstate commerce, 18 U.S.C.S. § 922(h), and was sentenced under 18 U.S.C.S. § 924(a) to five years in jail. The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the conviction but remanded for resentencing to two years' imprisonment, 18 U.S.C.S. App. § 1202(a).

CASE FACTS
Respondent had been sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment under 18 U.S.C.S. § 924(a). 18 U.S.C.S. App. § 1202(a) provided a two year maximum sentence for similar conduct. The Court reversed the judgment of the lower court because it determined that nothing in the language, structure, or legislative history of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 suggested that because of the overlap, a defendant convicted under 18 U.S.C.S. § 922(h) could be imprisoned for no more than the maximum term specified in 18 U.S.C.S. App. § 1202(a).

DISCUSSION
  • The Court determined that each substantive statute, in conjunction with its own sentencing provision, operated independently of the other. 
  • On their faces, the statutes established that 18 U.S.C.S. § 924(a) alone delimited the appropriate punishment for violations of 18 U.S.C.S.§ 922(h). 
  • The Court found that respondent unquestionably violated § 922(h), and 18 U.S.C.S. § 924(a) unquestionably permitted five years' imprisonment for such a violation.

CONCLUSION

The Court reversed the judgment of the lower court.

Recommended Supplements for Criminal Procedure Criminal Procedure: Examples & Explanations, Sixth Edition
Emanuel Law Outline: Criminal Procedure

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