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<p class="MsoNormal">Justice Sotomayor delivered the unanimous decision of the Court in this opinion which reverses the holding of the Sixth Circuit.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><i>United States v. Castleman</i>, 12-1371. Under 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(9), it is a crime for any person convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” to possess a firearm. The phrase “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” is
defined to include any federal, state, or tribal misdemeanor offense, committed by a person with a specified domestic relationship to the victim, that “has, as an element, the use or attempted use of
<i>physical force</i>, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon.” <i>Id</i>. §921(a)(33)(A) (emphasis added).
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<p class="MsoNormal">The Court unanimously held that <b>respondent’s Tennessee conviction for misdemeanor domestic assault by intentionally or knowingly causing bodily injury to the mother of his child qualifies as a conviction for a “misdemeanor crime of
domestic violence.” The Court reasoned that §921(a)(33)(A) incorporates the common law definition of “force,” which is mere offensive touching.</b> The Court therefore reversed the Sixth Circuit, which had held that
<i>Johnson v. United States</i>, 559 U.S. 133 (2010), dictates that “violent force” is required.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/slipopinions.aspx">http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/slipopinions.aspx</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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