Scarborough v. United States
United States Supreme Court
431 U.S. 563 (1977)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
Scarborough (defendant) was convicted of a state drug-related felony. Approximately one year after that conviction, law-enforcement officers were executing a narcotics search warrant against Scarborough and found four firearms in his bedroom. Scarborough was charged under 18 U.S.C. app. § 1202(a)(1), a part of the Omnibus Crime Control Act, which criminalized the receipt, possession, or transportation, in commerce or affecting commerce, of any firearm by a felon. The prosecution offered proof that the guns had moved through interstate commerce prior to Scarborough’s felony conviction as the nexus with commerce required by the statute. Scarborough claimed that he had transferred ownership of the guns to his wife after his felony conviction, and he also asserted that proof that the guns had at some point moved through interstate commerce failed to establish a nexus between his possession of the guns and commerce. Scarborough was convicted and appealed. The appeals court affirmed the conviction and certiorari was granted.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Marshall, J.)
Dissent (Stewart, J.)
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