''Caetano v. Massachusetts'', 577 U.S. 411 (2016), was a case in which the

Supreme Court of the United States 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 ...

unanimously vacated a

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

conviction of a woman who carried a

stun gun A stun gun is any weapon that incapacitates its target without killing. Tasers, tranquillizer guns, and mace (spray) are all types of stun guns. Subcategories of stun gun include the electroshock weapon, an incapacitating weapon that momentarily di ...

for self-defense., slip op. at 1-2 (2016) (per curiam).

Background

Jaime Caetano was reported to have been hospitalized and "in fear for erlife" after an altercation with her "abusive" boyfriend. After obtaining several restraining orders that "proved futile", Caetano accepted a stun gun from a friend for self-defense.''Caetano'', slip op. at 1 (Alito, J., concurring in the judgment). One night, when her ex-boyfriend confronted her outside her work and threatened her, she displayed the stun gun and successfully avoided an altercation. However, when police discovered that she was in possession of the stun gun, she was arrested, tried, and convicted under a Massachusetts law that outlawed the possession of stun guns. The

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

had said her stun gun was "not the type of weapon that is eligible for Second Amendment protection” because it was “not in common use at the time of he Second Amendment’senactment.” Caetano then appealed the Massachusetts court's ruling to the Supreme Court of the United States.''Caetano'', slip op. at 1 (per curiam).

Opinion of the Court

In a ''per curiam'' decision, the Supreme Court vacated the ruling of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.''Caetano'', slip op. at 2 (per curiam). Citing ''

District of Columbia v. Heller ''District of Columbia v. Heller'', 554 U.S. 570 (2008), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, unconnected with service i ...

'' and ''

McDonald v. City of Chicago ''McDonald v. City of Chicago'', 561 U.S. 742 (2010), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that found that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms", as protected under the Second Amendment, is incorporated ...

'', the Court began its opinion by stating that "the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding" and that "the Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States". The term "bearable arms" was defined in ''

'', 554 U.S. 570 (2008) and includes any "“ apo of offence” or “thing that a man wears for his defence, or takes into his hands,” that is “carr ed. . . for the purpose of offensive or defensive action.” 554 U. S., at 581, 584 (internal quotation marks omitted)." The Court then identified three reasons why the Massachusetts court's opinion contradicted prior rulings by the United States Supreme Court. First, the Massachusetts court said that stun guns could be banned because they "were not in common use at the time of the Second Amendment’s enactment", but the Supreme Court noted that this contradicted ''Hellers conclusion that Second Amendment protects "arms ... that were not in existence at the time of the founding”. Second, the Massachusetts court said that stun guns were "dangerous per se at common law and unusual" because they were "a thoroughly modern invention", but the Supreme Court held that this was also inconsistent with ''Heller''. Third, the Massachusetts court said that stun guns could be banned because they were not "readily adaptable to use in the military", but the Supreme Court held that ''Heller'' rejected the argument that "only those weapons useful in warfare" were protected by the Second Amendment.

Justice Alito's concurring opinion

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served ...

wrote an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which he was joined by Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 199 ...

. Justice Alito characterized the per curiam decision as "grudging" and wrote that " e reasoning of the Massachusetts court poses a grave threat to the fundamental right of self-defense". He provided an analysis of why he believed that the Massachusetts court's ruling contradicted ''Heller'' and other cases interpreting the Second Amendment. After concluding that the Massachusetts stun gun ban violates the Second Amendment, Justice Alito wrote: "if the fundamental right of self-defense does not protect Caetano, then the safety of all Americans is left to the mercy of state authorities who may be more concerned about disarming people than about keeping them safe".

Subsequent developments

On July 6, 2016, after the prosecution and defense reached an agreement, Caetano was found not guilty by a Massachusetts judge. In a subsequent case, ''Ramirez v. Commonwealth'', the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court relied on ''Caetano'' to strike down the state's stun gun law.

Commentary and analysis

Lyle Denniston Lyle Denniston (born March 16, 1931) is an American legal journalist, professor, and author, who has reported on the Supreme Court of the United States since 1958. He wrote for SCOTUSblog, an online blog featuring news and analysis of the Suprem ...

observed that the Court's opinion was the first direct interpretation of the meaning of the Second Amendment since the Court's 2008 ruling in ''Heller''. However, given the limited nature of the per curiam opinion, Denniston noted that " e facts in this case do not necessarily stand as a definite constitutional declaration".

References

External links

* {{US2ndAmendment United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court United States Supreme Court cases United States Second Amendment case law