Opinion
SC: 164886 COA: 356081
10-06-2023
PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Chauncey Ronell JACKSON, Defendant-Appellant.
Order
By order of January 4, 2023, the application for leave to appeal the August 18, 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeals was held in abeyance pending the decision in People v Monroe (Docket No. 163937). On order of the Court, leave to appeal having been denied in Monroe on July 21, 2023, ––– Mich ––––, 992 N.W.2d 663 (2023), the application is again considered, and it is DENIED, because we are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.
Welch, J., (concurring).
I respectfully concur in this Court's order denying leave. Defendant argues that his dual convictions for carrying a firearm during the commission of a felony (felony-firearm), MCL 750.227b(1), and being a felon in possession of a firearm (felon-in-possession), MCL 750.224f(1), which arose out of a single act of possession of a gun, violate the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and Michigan Constitutions. We declined to review this identical argument in People v Monroe , ––– Mich ––––; 992 N.W.2d 663 (2023). I maintain my position from my concurrence in Monroe that there is clear legislative intent to allow these cumulative punishments for the single act of possessing a firearm. See People v Wafer , 509 Mich. 31, 38, 983 N.W.2d 315 (2022). However, I continue to urge the Legislature to reconsider its harsh and ineffectual policy in allowing these cumulative punishments for one single act of possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony and further consider the consequences that the criminal justice system has had to bear because of the mandatory two-year prison term that must be tacked onto a felon-in-possession conviction. Until such time, our hands are tied, and defendant's convictions must stand.