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District Court rejects Second Amendment claim from misdemeanant

By Douglas A. Berman

Thanks to this post at The Volokh Conspiracy, I see that this week has brought another example of a federal district court working hard to make sure that the constitutional right recognized by the Supreme Court in Heller is categorically unavailable to another group of individuals.  The decision this time comes in US v. Booker, No. CR-08-19-B-W (D. Maine Aug. 11, 2008) (available here).  Here are the fundamentals of a short opinion that merits a full read:After the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Court concludes that the law prohibiting persons who have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence survives Second Amendment scrutiny... Based on the absence of a meaningful distinction between felons and persons convicted of crimes of domestic violence as predictors of firearm violence, the critical nature of the governmental interest, and the definitional tailoring of the statute, the Court concludes that persons who have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence must be added to the list of ?felons and the mentally ill? against whom the ?longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms? survive Second Amendment scrutiny...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on August 14, 2008 (boomark / email).