Gerson Gonzalez Tovar v. United States
AdministrativeLaw SocialSecurity Securities Immigration
Whether 18 U.S.C. §2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child-pornography crossed state-lines at an unspecified-prior-occasion
QUESTIONS PRESENTED I. Whether 18 U.S.C. §2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child pornography once crossed state lines at an unspecified prior occasion, when there is no evidence that the production or possession of child pornography itself caused such movement? IL. Whether Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution permits Congress to impose criminal sanctions for all conduct undertaken using materials that have moved in interstate commerce, however remotely, whether or not the criminal conduct caused such movement? Il. Whether the sufficiency of a factual basis for a defendant’s plea should be subject to plain error review, or whether, under Sullivan v. Louisiana, 508 U.S. 275 (1993), such a case lacks “an object” upon which review for harmless and plain error may operate? il PARTIES Gerson Gonzalez Tovar is the petitioner; he was the defendant-appellant below. The United States of America is the respondent; it was the plaintiff-appellee below. ill