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Eleventh Circuit rejects Second Amendment right of felon to possess a gun for any purpose

By Douglas A. Berman

Though many circuits have already rejected Second Amendment claims brought by felons prosecuted and sentenced under the federal felon-in-possession criminal statute, the Eleventh Circuit's opinions today in US v. Rozier, No. 08-17061 (11th Cir. Mar. 4, 2010) (available here), has the broadest language in any of these rulings that I can recall.  Here are snippets: One of the major thrusts of the [Heller] Court?s ruling was ?the inherent right of self-defense ... central to the Second Amendment right.? Id.at 2817.  Rozier argues that his case parallels the facts in Heller, in that his possession of a handgun was in the home and for the purposes of self-defense. For the purposes of this appeal, we accept Rozier?s assertion that he possessed the handgun for self-defense; however, the motive behind Rozier?s possession of the handgun is irrelevant...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 04, 2010 (boomark / email).