James McGrath v. United States

LEVAL, Circuit Judge:

This case presents an issue of first impression in this circuit: Whether a person convicted of a felony but never stripped of his civil rights under state law is thereafter subject to prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) as a felon in possession of a firearm. James McGrath appeals the dismissal of his habeas corpus petition by the District Court for the District of Vermont (Fred I. Parker, Chief Judge), in which he sought reversal of his conviction. McGrath argues that he was wrongfully prosecuted as a “felon in possession” because he falls within a separately codified…