The Justice Department is telling the U.S. Supreme Court that “significant disagreement” about the federal ban on gun possession by marijuana consumers among numerous appeals courts has led to a situation where the justices should step in and provide clarity for the country.
The comments came in a new filing in a case that DOJ is asking the Supreme Court to reject due to recent procedural developments, though it wants the justices to take up a separate case on the issue while holding on to others for later action.
“In short, seven courts of appeals—the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits— have recently issued decisions concerning as-applied Second Amendment challenges to Section 922(g)(3),” the filing says, referring to the federal law that precludes people from owning firearms if they’re deemed to be an unlawful user of cannabis or other illegal drugs, “and each court has resolved that challenge by applying a somewhat different constitutional test.”
“Those decisions confirm that the question presented recurs frequently, has generated significant disagreement in the courts of appeals, and warrants this Court’s review,” U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the Monday brief.
The government’s filing in U.S. v. Baxter asks
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