Government in full retreat on Henderson v. US

[Arizona_Mike]

Volokh has an interesting update on this Constructive Possession case.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...02/25/the-sound-of-the-government-retreating/

This is a different type of CP than we are used to talking about. This is financial CP. The question is whether a new firearms disability is only a ban on possession or it also a financial "taking". Does a new felon have the right to dispose of his firearms?

The government is trying to salvage something in this case (can't sell or give to friend or relative) but it does not look good for them.

I predict the court will rule completely in Henderson's favor and the possession disability will be just that possession and not indirect types of control. For example, felons will still be able to hire and manage an armed bodyguard, for example.

Mike

PS. Reminds me of the famous G. Gordon Liddy quote:

Mrs. Liddy has an extensive collection of firearms, some of which she keeps on my side of the bed.

 

[Frank Ettin]

At least one Circuit had decided that it is possible for someone to be prohibited from possessing a gun but still have legal title to it. In U.S. v. Casterline, 103 F.3d 76 (C.A.9 (Or.), 1996), the 9th Circuit set aside a conviction for being a felon in possession of a gun, because the conviction was based solely on evidence of ownership, but under circumstances in which the defendant could not possibly have had access to or possession of the guns. Casterline was in prison at the time, and the guns were in the sheriff's department evidence locker. As the Ninth Circuit wrote in Casterline, at 79 (emphasis added):

...The felon-in-possession statute is prophylactic, intended "to keep guns out of the hands of those who have demonstrated that 'they may not be trusted to possess a firearm without becoming a threat to society.' " Scarborough v. United States, 431 U.S. 563, 572, 97 S.Ct. 1963 1968, 52 L.Ed.2d 582 (1977). Ownership without physical access to, or dominion and control over, the firearm does not constitute possession. If the felon owns a firearm, but does not actually possess or have dominion and control over it, then he does not possess the firearm for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). ....

It's possible that the Supreme Court will see things along those lines in Henderson.