Summary
The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a conviction for disorderly conduct under Wis. Stat. § 947.01(1) is not categorically a federal misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(33) and 922(g)(9). Because the conviction did not disqualify Daniel Doubek from possessing a firearm under federal law, the court reversed the revocation of his Wisconsin concealed-carry license and remanded the case.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Wisconsin's disorderly-conduct statute, Wis. Stat. § 947.01(1), is divisible or indivisible under the categorical-approach framework.
- Whether a conviction under Wis. Stat. § 947.01(1) qualifies as a federal misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(33)(A) and 922(g)(9), thereby disqualifying the person from holding a Wisconsin concealed-carry license.
- Whether the court of appeals' decision in Evans v. Wisconsin Department of Justice remained good law after subsequent United States Supreme Court decisions clarifying the categorical approach.
Holdings
- Wisconsin's disorderly-conduct statute is indivisible and defines a single crime, with the listed forms of conduct serving as alternative factual means of satisfying the statute's first element rather than as separate elements defining multiple crimes.
- A conviction under Wis. Stat. § 947.01(1) is not a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(A) because the statute does not require, as an element of every violation, the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon.
- The Department of Justice erroneously interpreted the governing law when it revoked Doubek's concealed-carry license based on his disorderly-conduct conviction.
Key quotations
“We hold that disorderly conduct is not a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under federal law, and therefore does not disqualify a person from holding a CCW license.” (¶1)
“The most straightforward understanding of § 947.01(1)'s text is that it provides a non-exhaustive list of means by which the single crime of disorderly conduct may be committed.” (¶14)
“It is therefore not a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under federal law.” (¶20)
Factual background
In 1993, Daniel Doubek broke into his estranged wife's trailer while carrying a 2x4 and making threats, and he was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct under Wis. Stat. § 947.01(1). More than two decades later, the Wisconsin Department of Justice audited his concealed-carry license and concluded that the conviction was a disqualifying federal misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). The Department revoked Doubek's license, and the circuit court upheld the revocation.
Procedural history
Doubek received a Wisconsin concealed-carry license in 2016. In 2019, the Department of Justice revoked it after determining that his 1993 disorderly-conduct misdemeanor was a federal misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. The Brown County Circuit Court upheld the revocation. The court of appeals certified the case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which accepted certification.
Remand instructions
The cause was remanded to the Brown County Circuit Court to provide Doubek the appropriate relief under Wis. Stat. § 175.60(14m)(g).