Supreme Court Declines DOJ Appeal, Leaving Fifth Circuit Ruling That Felon Gun Ban Was Unconstitutional as Applied
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the Justice Department's petition to review an appeals court decision that overturned Charles Hembree's conviction for possessing a firearm as a felon, according to legal outlets and gun-rights groups reporting on Oct. 5. The refusal leaves the Fifth Circuit's ruling in force across Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
A three-judge Fifth Circuit panel — two Trump appointees and one Obama appointee — had ruled on Jan. 27 that applying the felon-in-possession ban to Hembree, whose underlying conviction was a 2018 methamphetamine possession offense, violated the Second Amendment as applied to him. The case belongs to a line of as-applied challenges following the Supreme Court's ruling in Hemani v. United States, which struck down a gun charge against a regular marijuana user.
The Firearms Policy Coalition announced the denial on Oct. 5 and called it a win for gun rights. A denial of certiorari is not a ruling on the merits: it simply means the court will not take the case, so the circuit decision stands within its circuit while conflicts elsewhere await future cases.
Source: Liberty Unyielding, Oct. 7, reporting the Oct. 5 orders list; Firearms Policy Coalition announcement, Oct. 5.
Photo: Courtroom Gavel - Judge - Court Hearing — weiss_paarz_photos / CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Openverse)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国最高法院大楼正面。摄影：Jesse Collins，CC BY 3.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
