Rule 41(g) (and some firearms and a crossbow) in the Supreme Court

One of my favorite rules of criminal procedure (what? you don't have one?) is Rule 41, which governs searches and seizures—actually it's Rule 41(g) specifically, which governs the return of seized property. So you can imagine how tickled I am that the Supreme Court is hearing a case about Rule 41(g), Henderson v. United States.

Frequent Volokh excerptee Richard Re has a great preview at SCOTUSBlog. Here's part:

The petitioner, Tony Henderson, was a Border Patrol agent convicted of distributing marijuana, a felony offense. Shortly after being arrested in 2006, Henderson surrendered his personal collection of firearms and other weapons to federal agents as a condition of release during the pendency of his criminal case. According to Henderson, his weapons collection included valuable items that had long been in the family, as well as an "antique." Moreover, the collection was and remains Henderson's lawful property. So, starting in 2008, Henderson asked authorities to transfer his weapons collection to someone else. But prosecutors and courts alike declined. Understandably enough, Henderson didn't want his collection to escheat to the government like so much feudal property. So he's pressed his rights to the Supreme Court.

The legal issues start with a conflict between a procedural rule and a federal statute. Under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41, the government usually has to "return" a defendant's lawful property. But that can't happen in Henderson's case because a federal criminal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)) prohibits convicted felons, including Henderson, from possessing firearms. So if Rule 41 were allowed to operate according to its terms, Henderson would instantly be in violation of Section 922(g)(1). The courts below recognized that result as contrary to federal law and policy. (In a footnote in its merits brief, the federal government acknowledges that some of Henderson's long-withheld weapons collection actually doesn't consist of firearms at all. The government accordingly assures the Court that the "FBI is making the necessary arrangements to return the crossbow and the muzzle-loading rifle to petitioner.")

The rest is here.