''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 Amend ...
's self-incrimination clause. ''Haynes'' extended the Fifth Amendment protections elucidated in ''
Marchetti v. United States''.
[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 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 constitution ...
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 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.
See also
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 390
References
Further reading
*
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