Source: cases/18usc922/f2d-899-543-us-v-cassidy.case
Case source: https://www.neochart.com/catalog/cases/f2d/volume_899/0543_01/index.html
If state law has restored civil rights to a felon, without expressly limiting the felon’s firearms privileges, that felon is not subject to federal firearms disabilities.
Hence, if a “convicted felon” has his civil rights restored by operation of state law, with or without a certificate or order documenting the event, we must look to the whole of state law of the state of conviction to determine whether the “convicted felon” is entitled to vote, hold public office and serve on a jury and also whether the “convicted felon” is entitled to exercise the privileges of shipping, transporting, possessing or receiving a firearm.
We also find, however, that because he was expressly restricted under state law from possessing a firearm, he has been convicted of a “crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20).
The district court held that since the Restoration Certificate did not expressly limit Cassidy’s firearms privileges, Cassidy did not fall within the statutory definition of “convicted felon,” thus requiring dismissal of Counts II and III.
casedsl 1 case /f2d/899/0543-01 name United States v. Cassidy cite 899 F.2d 543 (1990) court United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit date 1990-03-30 url catalog/cases/f2d/volume_899/0543_01/index.html source ir/caselaw/f2d_899.jsonl sha1=828cb829ff0f2dbebfcd2221bab5fc9700789e9c chars=25998 law 18usc922 (g)(1) role applied posture criminal; district court dismissed a three-count indictment because the defendant's civil rights had been restored (921(a)(20)); government appeal; de novo review of statutory construction result remanded element status.g1 : satisfied [law] count Count II (receipt of a firearm, January 3, 1987, charged under 922(g)(1)) variant civil-rights-restoration/state-statute-firearms-bar-outside-restoration-certificate fact @512..682 [supports] | On September 29, 1983, Defendant Calvin Cassidy was convicted in the State of Ohio of trafficking in marijuana, a crime punishable by a prison term in excess of one year. fact @683..1015 [cuts-against] | Cassidy was released from prison on June 29, 1984 and received a “Restoration to Civil Rights” certificate (the “Restoration Certificate”) from the Ohio Adult Parole Authority which restored “the rights and privileges forfeited by [his] conviction; namely the right to serve on juries and to hold office of honor, trust, or profit.” fact @24708..24796 [cuts-against] | The right to vote was restored automatically by operation of state law upon his release. fact @25247..25322 [supports] | Cassidy has not been relieved from state disabilities pursuant to § 2923.14 rule @6116..6286 | If state law has restored civil rights to a felon, without expressly limiting the felon’s firearms privileges, that felon is not subject to federal firearms disabilities. rule @16220..16677 | Hence, if a “convicted felon” has his civil rights restored by operation of state law, with or without a certificate or order documenting the event, we must look to the whole of state law of the state of conviction to determine whether the “convicted felon” is entitled to vote, hold public office and serve on a jury and also whether the “convicted felon” is entitled to exercise the privileges of shipping, transporting, possessing or receiving a firearm. held @18360..18598 | We also find, however, that because he was expressly restricted under state law from possessing a firearm, he has been convicted of a “crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20). gloss Two-step reading of the 921(a)(20) exclusion. (1) Civil rights were restored (vote, jury, public office; more than de minimis, not necessarily all rights). (2) But the "unless ... expressly provides" proviso is tested against the whole of the convicting state's law, not just the certificate: Ohio Rev. Code 2923.13 bars drug-trafficking convicts from firearms, so the conviction still counts. Dismissal reversed; the status element stands as a matter of law on undisputed facts. element status.g1 : not-satisfied [law] scope superseded count Counts II and III opinion district court (reversed) variant civil-rights-restoration/certificate-silent-on-firearms held @2594..2833 | The district court held that since the Restoration Certificate did not expressly limit Cassidy’s firearms privileges, Cassidy did not fall within the statutory definition of “convicted felon,” thus requiring dismissal of Counts II and III. gloss The ruling below (look only to the certificate) that this court reverses. element receipt : not-reached gloss Count II alleges knowing receipt of a firearm shipped in interstate commerce; untried, left for remand. element commerce-receipt : not-reached element knowledge-conduct : not-reached misfit The holding concerns the 921(a)(20) conviction-relief exclusion (civil-rights restoration + the "unless expressly provides" proviso), which the law file carries only as an xref on status.g1, not as a declared exception id. The court finds the exclusion's first half MET (rights restored) and its proviso triggered; that internal split cannot be shown, and the restoration facts had to be tagged cuts-against the parent element. misfit Count I is the same status question under repealed 18 U.S.C. App. 1202(a)(1) (possession, March 1986) and Count III is a false statement to a dealer under 922(a)(6); both dismissals were reversed on the same reasoning, but neither is the 922(g) claim and no declared id covers them. The court expressly does not decide whether the FOPA definition applies to 1202(a)(1) prosecutions. misfit The decisive "fact" is a provision of state law (Ohio Rev. Code 2923.13), not conduct; quoted only via the sentence that Cassidy had not obtained relief from it. Law-as-fact has no slot (related to the known law-to-law comparison gap). misfit Basis: dismissal of an indictment, but decided on undisputed matter outside the indictment (the certificate, Ohio statutes), so [law] rather than [pleaded]; one-basis limit (known). Result "remanded": the prosecution won the appeal but nothing has been tried.