Abuelhawa v. United States

Abuelhawa v. United States

Argued March 4, 2009
Decided May 26, 2009
Full case name Salman Khade Abuelhawa, petitioner v. United States
Docket nos. 08-192
Citations

556 U.S. 816 (more)

Prior history petitioner convicted 1:07-cr-00018-LMB (E.D. Va., 2007); affirmed 523 F.3d 415 (4th Cir.); reversed and remanded U.S.
Holding
A person who uses a cell phone to buy drugs solely for personal use (a misdemeanor) cannot be charged with the separate crime of using a phone to facilitate the sale of drugs (a felony).
Court membership
Chief Justice
John G. Roberts
Case opinions
Majority Souter, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
21 USC §843(b),[1] §844(a)[2]

Abuelhawa v. United States, 556 U.S. 816 (2009), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a defendant who used a cellphone for the misdemeanor purchase of cocaine could not be charged with a felony for using a "communication facility" to facilitate the distribution of an illegal drug under 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). In a unanimous opinion delivered by Justice Souter, the Court reasoned that the Government's interpretation of "facilitate" exposed a first-time buyer using a phone "to punishment 12 times more severe than a purchase by a recidivist offender and 8 times more severe than the unauthorized possession of a drug used by rapists," and was clearly not in line with Congress's intent, since it conflicted with the classification of the drug sale itself as a misdemeanor.

References

  1. ↑ U.S.C. §843(b) http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode21/usc_sec_21_00000843----000-.html
  2. ↑ U.S.C. §844 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/21/844.html#a

External links


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