Cite as: 524 U. S. 308 (1998)
Thomas, J., dissenting
weapons possessions that are already illegal under state law. And such a purpose is consistent with the statutory direction that state law controls what constitutes a conviction for a violent felony.
I believe that the plain meaning of the statute is that Massachusetts did not "expressly provid[e]" that petitioner "may not . . . possess . . . firearms." At the very least, this interpretation is a plausible one. Indeed, both the Government and the Court concede as much. See Brief for United States 16 ("grammatically possible" to read statute to say that its condition is not satisfied if the State does permit its felons to possess some firearms); ante, at 316 (this "reading is not plausible enough"). Accordingly, it is far from clear under the statute that a prior state conviction counts as a violent felony conviction for purposes of § 924(e) just because the State imposes some restriction, no matter how slight, on firearms possession by ex-felons. The rule of lenity must therefore apply: "[T]he Court will not interpret a federal criminal statute so as to increase the penalty that it places on an individual when such an interpretation can be based on no more than a guess as to what Congress intended." Ladner v. United States, 358 U. S. 169, 178 (1958). Ex-felons cannot be expected to realize that a federal statute that explicitly relies on state law prohibits behavior that state law allows.
The Court rejects the rule of lenity in this case because it thinks the purported statutory ambiguity rests on a "grammatical possibility" and "an implausible reading of the congressional purpose." Ante, at 316. But the alleged ambiguity does not result from a mere grammatical possibility; it exists because of an interpretation that, for the reasons I have described, both accords with a natural reading of the statutory language and is consistent with the statutory purpose.
The plain meaning of § 921(a)(20) is that Massachusetts law did not "expressly provid[e] that [petitioner] may not . . .
319
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007