From: [m--eg--n] at [ix.netcom.com] (Marnie Regen )
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs,alt.drugs.culture,rec.drugs.cannabis,alt.drugs.pot,alt.crime,alt.law.enforcement
Subject: Supreme Court drug offender update
Date: 7 Dec 1995 15:29:44 GMT

San Jose Mercury News
December 7 1995

'Carry a gun' verdicts reversed

Justices surprisingly back drug defendants

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that a federal law giving
drug traffickers an extra five years in prison for using a firearm can
be invoked only when a defendant actively employs the weapon.

The court reversed convictions in two District of Columbia cases in
which the firearms were locked away during the drug dealing.  In one
case, police found a pistol inside a bag in a car trunk.  In the other,
an unloaded derringer was discovered in a footlocker in a bedroom
closet.

The decision was a defeat for the Justice Department and its campaign
against illegal drugs.  It is rare for this conservative court to side
- unanimously - with criminal defendants over the government.  But the
decision in Baily vs United States, No. 94-7448, written by Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor, made plain that the court thought federal
prosecuters went beyond the bounds of the law.


Sincerely,
Marnie Regen
[m--eg--n] at [ix.netcom.com]