Guns For Drugs- High Court Rules
The Supreme Court unanimously refused on Monday to broaden the impact of a law that adds extra prison time to the sentences of drug traffickers who use a gun in carrying out their crimes.
In a 9-0 decision, the Court said the tough anti-crime provision does not apply to traffickers who trade drugs for guns.
The Court overturned the gun-related conviction of Michael A. Watson of Ascension Parish, La., who told a man who turned out to be a government informant that Watson wanted a weapon for self-protection and was willing to trade illegal drugs for it.
The issue in the case was whether receiving a gun in exchange for drugs constitutes "use" of the gun under federal law. The federal government "may say that a person 'uses' a firearm simply by receiving it in a barter transaction, but no one else would," wrote Justice David Souter. "Given ordinary meaning and the conventions of English, we hold that a person does not 'use' a firearm'' under federal law "when he receives it in trade for drugs."
The informant introduced Watson to an undercover government agent who supplied Watson with an unloaded pistol in exchange for the prescription painkiller OxyContin. The drug has been blamed for hundreds of deaths across the country.
Watson was charged with use of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking offense. The federal law carries a mandatory prison term of at least five years in prison added on to whatever sentence is handed out for a drug trafficking offense.
A federal judge sentenced Watson, who is 56 and legally blind, to more than 21 years in prison.
In a 9-0 decision, the Court said the tough anti-crime provision does not apply to traffickers who trade drugs for guns.
The Court overturned the gun-related conviction of Michael A. Watson of Ascension Parish, La., who told a man who turned out to be a government informant that Watson wanted a weapon for self-protection and was willing to trade illegal drugs for it.
The issue in the case was whether receiving a gun in exchange for drugs constitutes "use" of the gun under federal law. The federal government "may say that a person 'uses' a firearm simply by receiving it in a barter transaction, but no one else would," wrote Justice David Souter. "Given ordinary meaning and the conventions of English, we hold that a person does not 'use' a firearm'' under federal law "when he receives it in trade for drugs."
The informant introduced Watson to an undercover government agent who supplied Watson with an unloaded pistol in exchange for the prescription painkiller OxyContin. The drug has been blamed for hundreds of deaths across the country.
Watson was charged with use of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking offense. The federal law carries a mandatory prison term of at least five years in prison added on to whatever sentence is handed out for a drug trafficking offense.
A federal judge sentenced Watson, who is 56 and legally blind, to more than 21 years in prison.
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A sensible ruling 0
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