United States v. Harris, No. 11-50503 (9th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseDefendant entered a conditional guilty plea for conspiracy to carry a concealed dangerous weapon on an aircraft, in violation of 49 U.S.C. 46505(e), and for aiding and abetting the carrying of a concealed dangerous weapon on an aircraft, a violation of 18 U.S.C. 2 and 49 U.S.C. 46505(b)(1). At issue was whether 49 U.S.C. 46505 was unconstitutionally vague as applied to defendant, an airport employee, who sneaks a pocketknife past a security checkpoint and then gives it to a passenger who takes it aboard an airplane. The court concluded that 49 U.S.C. 46505 gave adequate notice to defendant that a pocketknife with a blade of slightly less than two-and-a-half inches was prohibited aboard an aircraft. Accordingly, the court held that the statute was not constitutionally vague as applied and affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Criminal Law. Affirming a conviction, the panel held that 49 U.S.C. § 46505, which prohibits carrying a “concealed dangerous weapon” on aircraft, is not unconstitutionally vague as applied to an airport employee who sneaks a pocketknife with a blade that is almost two-and-a-half inches long past a security checkpoint and then gives it to a passenger who takes it aboard an airplane.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on January 14, 2013.
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