United States v. Bruce’s Empirical Analysis
939 F.2d 1053 · 1991
Citation profile
50 federal appellate · 5 district · 2 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 67 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently December 2013 · most notably Harris v. State (1993), United States v. Hager (1992)
50 federal appellate · 5 district · 2 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 18 U.S.C. § 922 (Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act) · 18 U.S.C. § 924 · 21 U.S.C. § 841 (§ 401 of the Controlled Substances Act) · 21 U.S.C. § 844 (§ 404 of the Controlled Substances Act) · 26 U.S.C. § 5861 (§ 201 of the Gun Control Act of 1968)
Relies on Kliewer v. New Jersey · United States v. Eichman · Chitwood v. McLemore · Perry v. Louisiana · United States v. Matra
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 67 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“If guns are strewn around a “crack house” in which drugs are stored, it might be inferred that the guns are there to protect the occupant’s “possession.” In such a case, the guns are “used” in relation to the drug trafficking crime of possession with intent to distribute because they are intended to protect the stash of drugs that will subsequently be distributed. And although actual distribution is a separate crime, courts have treated evidence of the use of guns in such a house for protection of the distribution function as equivalent to protection of possession. Since in the typical crack house possession and distribution are intertwined, that seems to us to be a logical interpretation of the statute.”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“the evidence established only that the gun was intended to be used for defendant's protection at the time and place of subsequent distribution.”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[w]hoever, during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime ..., uses or carries a firearm....”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.