''Haynes v. United States'', 390 U.S. 85 (1968), was a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decision interpreting the

Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fifth Amendment (Amendment V) to the United States Constitution addresses criminal procedure and other aspects of the Constitution. It was ratified, along with nine other articles, in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights. The Fifth Amen ...

's self-incrimination clause. ''Haynes'' extended the Fifth Amendment protections elucidated in ''

Marchetti v. United States Marchetti is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alberto Marchetti (born 1954), Italian professional football player *Alessandro Marchetti (aircraft engineer) (1884–1966), Italian aircraft engineer *Alessandro Marchetti ...

''.William F. Funk, Richard H. Seamon, ''Examples & explanations series: Administrative Law'', Edition 3, Aspen Publishers, 2009, page 361-62.

Background of the case

The National Firearms Act of 1934 required the registration of certain types of firearms. Miles Edward Haynes was a

convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is co ...

felon who was charged with failing to register a firearm under the Act. Haynes argued that, because he was a convicted felon and thus prohibited from owning a firearm, requiring him to register any firearms in his possession was requiring him to make an open admission to the government that he was in violation of the law, which was essentially a violation of his right not to incriminate himself.

Majority opinion

In a 7-1 decision, the Court ruled in 1968 in favor of Haynes.

Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presided over a major shift in American constitutio ...

dissented in a one sentence opinion and

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

did not participate in the ruling. As with many other 5th amendment cases, felons and others prohibited from possessing firearms could not be compelled to incriminate themselves through registration. The

National Firearms Act The National Firearms Act (NFA), 73rd Congress, Sess. 2, ch. 757, was enacted on June 26, 1934, and currently codified and amended as . The law is an Act of Congress in the United States that, in general, imposes an excise tax on the manufact ...

was amended after ''Haynes'' to make it apply only to those who could lawfully possess a firearm. This eliminated prosecution of prohibited persons, such as criminals, and cured the self-incrimination problem. In this new form, the new registration provision was upheld. The court held: " To eliminate the defects revealed by Haynes, Congress amended the Act so that only a possessor who lawfully makes, manufactures, or imports firearms can and must register them", '' United States v. Freed'', 401 U.S. 601 (1971).David Fellman, ''Defendants Rights Today'', Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1979, page 310. The original Haynes decision continues to block state prosecutions of criminals who fail to register guns as required by various state law gun registration schemes.

References

External links

* {{Fifth Amendment crimpro, self, state=expanded United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court United States administrative case law United States Fifth Amendment self-incrimination case law United States federal firearms case law 1968 in United States case law

Background of the case

Majority opinion

See also

References

Further reading

External links