United States v. John Lanny Lynch

This appeal arises out of John Lanny Lynch’s conviction and twenty-year sentence for violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951 , and his conviction and five-year consecutive sentence for using or carrying a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924 (c)(1)(A). In United States v. Lynch, 282 F.3d 1049 (9th Cir.2002) (Lynch I), we held that crimes directed toward an individual violate the Hobbs Act only if “the acts deplete the assets of an individual who is directly and customarily engaged in interstate commerce; if the acts cause or create the likelihood that the individual will deplete the assets of an entity engaged in interstate commerce; or if the number of individuals victimized or the sum at stake is so large that there will be some cumulative effect on interstate commerce.” Id. at 1053 (quoting United States v. Collins, 40 F.3d 95, 100 (5th Cir.1994)). We remanded with instructions to the district court to apply the Collins test, which it found that the government had met. United States v. Lynch, 207 F.Supp.2d 1133, 1135 (D.Mont.2002) (Lynch II). When Lynch appealed again, however, we held that the Collins test “is utilized where…

concurring:

I concur in the result. I would not, however, reach most of the questions the per curiam opinion attempts to resolve because, on the facts of this case, the opinion is merely advisory. This case plainly involves a substantial and direct effect on interstate commerce. A person in Montana engaged in a commercial transaction with a person in Nevada, causing contraband to be brought to Montana. There, the Montana man killed the Nevada man in order to steal the merchandise that had been transported. The doctrine of constitutional avoidance 1 counsels that we should not attempt to clarify abstruse and esoteric questions of constitutional law in cases where they will not affect the decision.

Our opinion is driven by a desire to resolve the tension between our decisions *917 in Lynch 2 and Lynch II 3 as explained in Judge Berzon’s concurrence in Lynch III 4 We can wait until the inconsistencies matter, and should. This case is squarely within Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce under any interpretation. Federal courts should not stretch beyond the decisions they need to make in the futile hope of cleaning all of the cobwebs out of constitutional law.

. See,…

437 F.3d 902 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John Lanny LYNCH, Defendant-Appellant. No. 02-30216. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted February 3, 2005. * Filed February 10, 2006. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Judy Clarke and Roger J. Peven, Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho, Spokane, WA, for the defendant-appellant. John A. Drennan, Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and Bernard F. Hubley, Assistant United States Attorney, Helena, Montana, for the plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana; Donald M. Molloy, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-99-18-M-DWM. Before MARY M. SCHROEDER, Chief Judge, and DIARMUID F. O'SCANNLAIN, PAMELA ANN RYMER, ANDREW J. KLEINFELD, SIDNEY R. THOMAS, BARRY G. SILVERMAN, KIM McLANE WARDLAW, W. FLETCHER, RAYMOND C. FISHER, JOHNNIE B. RAWLINSON, and RICHARD R. CLIFTON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM. 1 This appeal arises out of John Lanny Lynch's conviction and twenty-year sentence for violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951 , and his conviction and five-year consecutive sentence for using or carrying a firearm…