Conley v. United States, criminal case win vs Washington DC

[Kharn]

Cliffnotes: DC made it a felony to be in a motor vehicle that contained an illegal gun, court says try again.

The fundamental constitutional vice of § 22 - 2511 is that it criminalizes entirely innocent behavior — merely remaining in the vicinity of a firearm in a vehicle, which the average citizen would not suppose to be wrongful (let alone felonious) — without requiring the government to prove that the defendant had notice of any legal duty to behave otherwise.This is a defect that we cannot cure by interpreting the statutory language. Accordingly, we are obliged to hold that §22 -2511 is unconstitutional on its face and that appellant‟s conviction for violating that statute must be reversed

Ruling available here

 

[hdatontodo]

Any relevance to the spent shell casing issue?

 

[press1280]

Note that this is DC's version of a state supreme court, and not the US circuit for the District of Columbia.
They did reference the DC code for carrying a pistol w/o a license. I thought that statute was repealed, or do they just leave it there and not issue any licenses?

 

[esqappellate]

Cliffnotes: DC made it a felony to be in a motor vehicle that contained an illegal gun, court says try again.



Ruling available here

this is actually a pretty big deal. Thanks much for sharing.

 

[rbird7282]

 

[Kharn]

this is actually a pretty big deal. Thanks much for sharing.

I liked the court's statement that average citizens wouldn't believe a gun in a vehicle to be a bad thing.

 

[Kharn]

Note that this is DC's version of a state supreme court, and not the US circuit for the District of Columbia.
They did reference the DC code for carrying a pistol w/o a license. I thought that statute was repealed, or do they just leave it there and not issue any licenses?

Still under litigation in Palmer, going on ~4 years.

 

[esqappellate]

I liked the court's statement that average citizens wouldn't believe a gun in a vehicle to be a bad thing.

Me too!

 

[press1280]

Still under litigation in Palmer, going on ~4 years.

Maybe they should have filed in DC's court system; they probably would have been all the way through by now.

It's also too bad this isn't a 2A case, hence probably the reason this plaintiff won.

 

[Brooklyn]

Cliffnotes: DC made it a felony to be in a motor vehicle that contained an illegal gun, court says try again.



Ruling available here

welcome back mens rea --- I missed you dearly


As esq says this is a very big deal if I understand it correctly