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Criminal Law Update: Weapons Possession Law Impermissibly Discriminated Against Non-Citizens

By Bashian & Papantoniou
February 22, 2011

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In People v. Bounasri, the  defendant, a citizen of Tunisia who was a lawful permanent resident of the United States, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree under a provision of New York Penal Law that criminalized only a non-United States citizen’s possession of a dangerous instrument or weapon.  The defendant sought dismissal of the charge, arguing that the statute discriminated against him as a non-citizen in violation of his right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.   The Court held that the New York Penal Law prohibiting only a non-United States citizen’s possession of a dangerous or deadly weapon, Penal Law 265.01(5), was not justified by any state interest, let alone a compelling state interest, and so impermissibly discriminated against non-citizens in violation of the  Equal Protection Clause . There was no conceivable reason that aliens should be distinguished from citizens to achieve the law’s otherwise legitimate public safety objectives. Read the Court’s  Opinion

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