Lehman v. PA State Police (Concurring Opinion)

Annotate this Case

Download PDF

[J-185-2002] IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA MIDDLE DISTRICT MICHAEL S. LEHMAN, Appellant v. PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE, : : : : : : : : : : No. 60 MAP 2002 Appeal from the Order of the Commonwealth Court entered 8-17-2001 at No. 2446 CD 2000 affirming the Order of the Office of Attorney General dated 102-2001 ARGUED: DECEMBER 4, 2002 Appellee CONCURRING OPINION MR. CHIEF JUSTICE CAPPY DECIDED: DECEMBER 30, 2003 I join the majority opinion to the extent that it relies on federal law in conducting its ex post facto analysis. Appellant challenges the constitutionality of § 922(g) of the Federal Gun Control Act under the Ex Post Facto Clause. See Majority slip opinion at 4. We are constrained to consider only federal law in considering a challenge to a federal statute by the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.1 U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2. To the 1 This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2. extent that the majority opinion examines Appellant s ex post facto claim under Pennsylvania law, I do not join in that analysis.2 2 Indeed, the majority opinion claims that it is abandoning the Artway/Verniero test, Artway v. Attorney General, 81 F.3d 1235 (3d Cir. 1996) and adopting the Smith v. Doe, 123 S. Ct. 1140 (2003) test to evaluate ex post facto claims. See Majority slip opinion at 6. This is not the appropriate case to abandon or adopt any federal test for purposes of Pennsylvania law. Instead, the Supremacy Clause requires that we merely apply federal law.

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.