U.S. v. Lamont

• Decision Date: 09 June 2003
• Docket Number: No. 00-30220.,00-30220.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robin G. LAMONT, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1249

330 F.3d 1249

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robin G. LAMONT, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 00-30220.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted March 3, 2003.

Filed June 9, 2003.

Terence M. Ryan, Spokane, WA, for the defendant-appellant.

Stephanie J. Lister, Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office, Spokane, WA, for the plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington; Wm. Fremming Nielsen, Chief Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-99-00110-WFN.

Before REINHARDT, W. FLETCHER, and GOULD, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge.

Once again we are asked to delineate the appropriate scope of criminal law power as it is reposed within the federal government: this time, whether, under the general federal arson statute, setting fire to a church constitutes a federal offense. We hold that ordinarily it does not.

Appellant Robin Lamont entered a conditional guilty plea to committing arson with respect to the Subud church in Spokane, Washington. On appeal, Lamont argues that the application of the federal arson statute, 18 U.S.C. § 844(i), to the church represents an unconstitutional exercise of the Commerce Clause power.

Following the recent case of Jones v. United States, 529 U.S. 848, 120 S.Ct. 1904, 146 L.Ed.2d 902 (2000), we hold that, as a matter of statutory construction, a building used as a church does not by virtue of that use qualify as property "used in" interstate commerce or in any activity affecting interstate commerce for purposes of § 844(i). Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the district court with instructions to vacate the plea and dismiss the indictment.

I. BACKGROUND

Shortly after midnight on July 1, 1999, the Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to a fire at the local Subud church.¹ The fire was reported by a Miss Jensen, who herself had been told of the fire by Lamont. No one was injured in the fire. Lamont, then eighteen years old, lived with his family one block away from the church. Lamont eventually confessed to setting the fire. In his confession, he stated that he did not start the fire out of "hatered [sic] towards any body who went to that church," but "just for the rush."

Shortly thereafter, a federal grand jury indicted Lamont on one count of federal arson, 18 U.S.C. § 844(i). The statute provides, in relevant part, that:

Whoever maliciously damages or destroys, or attempts to damage or destroy, by means of fire or an explosive, any building, vehicle, or other real or personal property used in interstate or foreign commerce or in any activity affecting interstate or foreign commerce shall be imprisoned for not less than 5 years and not more than 20 years....

18 U.S.C. § 844(i) (emphasis added). Lamont filed two separate motions to dismiss on Commerce Clause grounds, both of which the district court denied. On June 19, 2000, the district court accepted Lamont's conditional guilty plea, reserving the right to appeal his Commerce Clause Challenge. The plea agreement contains the following language pertinent to our analysis:

While the Defendant intends to appeal the jurisdictional issue regarding interstate commerce, the Government would be able to present evidence at the trial that SUBUD Pacific Northwest is a spiritualistic organization and serves members in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Furthermore, the Church receives its gas from the Alberta natural gas fields. The Church is also insured by an out of state company, Lloyds of London. The Church also purchases goods which originate from out of state. Additionally, since several of the Church's members are from out of state and various funds have been transferred between states and internationally. Finally, the Church does receive and distribute publications that travel interstate.

The district court sentenced Lamont to twenty-four months with credit for time served, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Lamont has served his sentence and is currently on supervised release. He appeals.

II. DISCUSSION

A. The Nature of Lamont's Challenge

Lamont argues that the application of the federal arson statute to a church with minimal or nonexistent interstate commerce connections exceeds Congress's Commerce Clause power. Before turning to the substance of his claim, we first consider in what manner we ought to resolve it. We must start from a "fundamental and longstanding principle of judicial restraint [that] requires [us to] avoid reaching constitutional questions in advance of the necessity of deciding them." Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Ass'n, 485 U.S. 439, 445, 108 S.Ct. 1319, 99 L.Ed.2d 534 (1998). This principle means that "a decision on a constitutional question is appropriate only after addressing the statutory questions." United States v. Odom, 252 F.3d 1289, 1293 (11th Cir.2001). Here, our statutory analysis resolves the issue and there is thus no cause to reach the constitutional question.

Initially, we did not approach the federal arson statute in this manner. In United States v. Pappadopoulos, 64 F.3d 522 (9th Cir.1995), we considered, and ultimately accepted, the defendant's claim that § 844(i) did not apply to the arson of a private residence, but we did so only after analyzing the scope of the Commerce Clause. In Pappadopoulos, we stated that "whether a private residence is sufficiently connected to interstate commerce within the meaning of section 844(i) ... might appear to be solely a matter of statutory construction." 64 F.3d at 525. We ultimately concluded, however, that "section 844(i) expresses an intent by Congress to exercise its full power under the Commerce Clause. Therefore, the question we must decide is whether Congress could constitutionally prohibit the destruction of the Pappadopoulos residence under the power vested in it by the Commerce Clause." Id. (citation omitted).

The Supreme Court subsequently rejected our interpretation of § 844(i). In Jones v. United States, 529 U.S. 848, 120 S.Ct. 1904, 146 L.Ed.2d 902 (2000), the Court, in considering whether the federal arson statute applies to a private residence, disagreed with the assumption that in adopting the federal arson statute Congress intended to use its Commerce Clause power to the fullest extent. Rejecting the Government's view that the words "affecting... commerce" "signal[ed] Congress' intent to invoke its full authority under the Commerce Clause," the Court observed that "§ 844(i) contains the qualifying words'used in' a commerce-affecting activity," and that "the key word is `used.'" Id. at 854, 120 S.Ct. 1904. "`Congress did not define the crime described in § 844(i) as the explosion of a building whose damage or destruction might affect interstate commerce....'" Id. (quoting United States v. Mennuti, 639 F.2d 107, 110 (2d Cir.1981)). The reach of the federal arson statute, then, is not coterminous with the outer limits of Congress's Commerce Clause power. Accordingly, we resolve Lamont's claim as a matter of statutory construction, and do not reach his constitutional challenge.

B. The General Scope of the Federal Arson Statute

As a substantive matter, Jones determined that an owneroccupied residence not used for any commercial purpose did not qualify as property "used in" any activity affecting interstate commerce, so as to be reached by § 844(i). Specifically, Jones set forth a two-part inquiry for ascertaining whether § 844(i) encompasses a particular building damaged by arson: first, a reviewing court examines "the function of the building itself, and then [determines] whether that function affects interstate commerce." Id. In Jones, the Court determined that the relevant facts purportedly tying the private residence damaged by arson to interstate commerce — including an out-of-state mortgage and insurance policy, as well as the receipt of natural gas from out-of-state — were insufficient to support a conviction under the statute. Id. at 855-56, 120 S.Ct. 1904. Rejecting the government's broad interpretation of the statute, Jones stated that under that view

hardly a building in the land would fall outside the federal statute's domain. Practically every building in our cities, towns, and rural areas is constructed with supplies that have moved in interstate commerce, served by utilities that have an interstate connection, financed or insured by enterprises that do business across state lines, or bears some other trace of interstate commerce.

Id. at 857, 120 S.Ct. 1904. Citing the constitutional concerns present in United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549, 115 S.Ct. 1624, 131 L.Ed.2d 626 (1995), Jones stated that "it is appropriate to avoid the constitutional question that would arise were we to read § 844(i) to render the `traditionally local criminal conduct' in which petitioner Jones engaged `a matter for federal enforcement.'" 529 U.S. at 858, 120 S.Ct. 1904 (quoting United States v. Bass, 404 U.S. 336, 350, 92 S.Ct. 515, 30 L.Ed.2d 488 (1971)). Ultimately, Jones held that the statute did not cover the arson in question, that of an owner-occupied private residence. Id. at 859, 120 S.Ct. 1904.

Lamont argues that the federal arson statute does not apply to a church because churches in general, and the Subud church in Spokane in particular, are not, as the indictment alleges, "used in" interstate commerce or in activities affecting interstate commerce. We next discuss that question.

C. The Application of the Federal Arson Statute to a Church

1. General Principles

We approach our task of statutory interpretation in light of two factors that help determine the outcome. First, we afford a narrow scope to our construction of the arson statute's jurisdictional provision. As we pointed out earlier, when Congress enacted the statute it did not intend to employ its full Commerce Clause power. Second, because this is a criminal statute that...