Supreme Court Case Voisine v. United States Essay Example
In the case Voisine v. United States, two individuals named Voisine and Armstrong who had previously been convicted of domestic violence by the state of Maine were found to be in possession of firearms. Consequently, they were charged with violating a federal law that prohibits domestic abusers from possessing firearms (U.S. Supreme Court, 2016). Armstrong and Voisine brought their case to court, arguing that the state of Maine's misdemeanor domestic violence assault conviction should not be considered equivalent to the federal statute's misdemeanor domestic violence offense due to differing requirements; while the state of Maine only requires "recklessness" for a conviction, the federal statute has different criteria.
The Court of Appeal upheld the District Court's denial of Voisine and Armstrong's motion. They then appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled on June 27, 2016, that engagin
...g in domestic assault recklessly is a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. This ruling makes it illegal for convicted felons to possess firearms (U.S. Supreme Court, 2016). The Supreme Court decided to hear this case due to its constitutional implications.
In this particular case, the Supreme Court faced a constitutional dilemma. The issue was whether a reckless domestic violence assault is considered a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence according to federal law statutes 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(33)(A) and 922(g)(9) (Stern, 2016). The defendants argued that this offense did not meet the requirements for "use of force" as defined in the U.S. constitution. As a result, the Court had to address and resolve this matter within the boundaries set by the constitution.
The Supreme Court had to handle this case due to conflicting decisions between the lower courts. This case was an appeal from
the lower courts, which is a common scenario for the Supreme Court. The District Court rejected the motion while the Court of Appeal upheld it. If there had been agreement among the lower courts on this issue, the Supreme Court would not have taken the case.
References
- Stern, M. (2016). Clarence Thomas Finally Broke His 10-Year Silence. That’s Great News for the Supreme Court.. Slate Magazine. Retrieved 6 July 2016, from http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/supreme_court_dispatches/2016/02/why_voisine_v_united_states_a_case_about_domestic_violence_and_gun_rights.html
- U.S. Supreme Court.
The website Supremecourt.gov (2016) provides information on the case "Voisine v. United States" and serves as the home page for the Supreme Court of the United States.
The given text is already a unified paragraph and does not require any or unifying.
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