Solicitior General seeks Scotus review in five more gun cases.

Emboldened by their success in U.S. v. Rahimi, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar has petitioned for  Scotus review in five more gun cases.  The issue is the constitutionality, post the Bruen debacle, of  18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1):

It shall be unlawful for any person—

(1)

who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;

In Rahimi the Court was oddly fractured yet united in the view that one held to have committed an act of domestic violence is barred - at least temporarily - from lawful possession of a gun.   Six joined John Roberts opinion of the Court, but five wrote separate concurrences.

Clarence Thomas, alone, dissented,  claiming

It is also undisputed that the Second Amendment applies to Rahimi. By its terms, the Second Amendment extends to “‘the people,’” and that “term unambiguously refers to all members of the political community, not an unspecified subset.” Id., at 580. The Second Amendment thus recognizes a right “guaranteed to ‘all Americans.’” Bruen, 597 U. S., at 70 (quoting Heller, 554 U. S., at 581). Since Rahimi is a member of the political community, he falls within the Second Amendment’s guarantee. [emph. added]

The SG's supplemental (post Rahimi) brief in Garland v. Range argues

These five cases present the question whether 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), the statute prohibiting a person from possessing a firearm if he has been convicted of “a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year,” ibid., violates the Second Amendment. In each case, we asked this Court to hold the petition for a writ of certiorari pending its decision in United States v. Rahimi, No. 22-915 (June 21, 2024). Now that the Court has decided Rahimi, we believe that it should grant plenary review to resolve Section 922(g)(1)’s constitutionality. In particular, the Court should grant the petitions in Doss, Jackson, and either Range or Vincent; consolidate the granted cases for briefing and argument; and hold the remaining petitions pending the resolution of the granted cases. If the Court chooses not to take that course, it should grant, vacate, and remand (GVR) in Range and deny certiorari in the remaining cases.  

This will be an interesting test. Amy Barrett, while on the 7th Circuit dissented in a case barring a gun from a man convicted of tax fraud.

- GWC 6/25/2024