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Notable defender amicus briefs submitted in support of Second Amendment claims in Rahimi

By Douglas Berman

This week brought the final submission of the main merits and amicus briefs in the Supreme Court for the case of US v. Rahimi, which will address (at least) one aspect of how the landmark Bruen Second Amendment case applies to federal firearm possession criminalization.  In this post a couple of year ago, I flagged this notable amicus brief filed by various defender offices in support of expanding Second Amendment rights in Bruen.  Looking over the recent amicus filings, I noticed at least three different defense submission on behalf of the defendant in Rahimi.  A quick scan of some of these briefs reveals a number of notable passages, and I thought the very start of this brief from some California public defender groups highlighted some of the dimensions of this latest notable high-profile Second Amendment litigation:

The State of California aggressively criminalizes the possession of firearms.  We have seen that this disproportionately affects people of color, particularly Black people.  Since New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022), we have litigated hundreds of motions seeking to bring California’s expansive gun regulations in line with the Second Amendment.  And we have found the difference between punishment and freedom often depends on how our courts interpret “law-abiding responsible citizens.”  We have also seen our clients in California face criminal prosecution for violating civil disarmament orders that sweep far beyond domestic violence.

As to the particular statute at issue in this case, 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(8), we acknowledge the need to protect people from domestic violence.  Many of our clients are themselves victims of domestic violence.  But we also have first-hand experience fighting the rote issuance of civil protective orders that deny our clients their Second Amendment rights and lead to unjust, unequal criminal prosecutions.

A few prior related posts: