gun control

Issues

In 1994, Randy Edward Hayes pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense under West Virginia law for the battery of his then-wife, Mary Ann Hayes. Ten years later, police arrested Hayes and charged and convicted him under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(A) for possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Hayes challenged the charge, alleging that since the West Virginia statute under which he was originally convicted did not have a domestic relationship between offender and victim as an element, he could not later be prosecuted under § 921(a)(33)(A), which, he argues, does require a domestic relationship between offender and victim as an element. The Government, while not denying that a domestic relationship is necessary for application of the statute, contends that a domestic relationship is not an element of the predicate offense of a violent misdemeanor in § 921(a)(33)(A). The Government points out that nine other courts of appeal have read the statute in this way. Hayes argues that the Government’s interpretation of the statute illegitimately broadens it beyond its intended meaning.  He says that the Fourth Circuit, which overturned his conviction, was correct in reading the statute’s definition of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” to include a domestic relationship element in the predicate offense. 

Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties

Additional Resources

Issues

Congress passed the Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) (“section 922”), to prohibit domestic abusers from obtaining firearms. Section 922 covers individuals convicted for a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,” which includes state misdemeanors that constitute “the use of physical force.” The Supreme Court will consider whether convictions under Maine’s domestic assault law satisfy this predicate offense requirement. Stephen Voisine was convicted under Maine’s domestic assault statute, which criminalizes “the intentional, knowing, or reckless causation of bodily injury or offensive physical contract to another person.” Voisine was then convicted under section 922. But Voisine asserts that common law battery requires a mens rea greater than recklessness and that the “use of physical force” implies intentional conduct. The United States argues that recklessness meets the standard for common law battery, and contends that section 922 would be pointless if it did not cover misdemeanors like Maine’s domestic assault statute. The Court’s decision will affect the ability of misdemeanants to possess firearms and the health and safety of domestic violence victims.

Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties

Written by

Edited by

Additional Resources