Henderson v. United States

Disclosure: John Elwood, a regular contributor to this blog, is among the counsel to the petitioner in this case.

Holding: A court-ordered transfer of a felon’s lawfully owned firearms from government custody to a third party is not barred by a federal law that prohibits felons from possessing guns if the court is satisfied that the recipient will not give the felon control over the firearms, so that he could either use them or direct their use.

Judgment: Vacated and remanded, 9-0, in an opinion by Justice Kagan on May 18, 2015.

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