Scarborough v. United States

Background

A man who pleaded guilty to a drug felony in Virginia had four guns seized from his bedroom the following year. The federal government charged him with receiving and possessing firearms under a 1968 law that bars convicted felons from receiving, possessing, or transporting guns “in commerce or affecting commerce.” At trial the government proved each gun had at some earlier time traveled in interstate commerce, but all such travel occurred before the man’s 1972 felony conviction. The judge acquitted him of the receipt charge because there was no proof of acquisition after conviction, but a jury convicted him of possession.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court considered whether showing only past interstate movement of a gun is enough to meet the law’s required link to commerce. The Court reviewed the statute’s text and the legislative history and concluded that Congress intended a broad ban on felon possession. The Court held that only a minimal commerce connection was required, so proof that the gun had at any time traveled in interstate commerce satisfied the statute’s commerce nexus and supported the possession conviction.

Real world impact

The ruling makes it easier for federal prosecutors to win felon-in-possession cases by relying on a weapon’s earlier interstate movement. People who acquired legal guns before a later felony conviction may nonetheless face a federal possession charge. The decision resolves a split among appeals courts and gives national guidance on how the statute operates.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Stewart dissented, arguing the statute is ambiguous and should be read in favor of defendants; he would have required unlawful possession to begin only after conviction.