State v. Octavia W. Dodson, 2018AP1476-CR, petition for review granted 1/20/21; case activity (including briefs) Issue presented: Did the sentencing court violate Dodson’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms by considering his status as a lawful gun owner an aggravating factor at sentencing? The supreme court just recently rejected an as-applied challenge to… Read more
34. Bear Arms, 2nd Am.
State v. Leevan Roundtree, 2012 WI 1, 1/7/21, affirming a per curiam court of appeals opinion, 2018AP594-CR; case activity (including briefs) In 2003, Roundtree was convicted of multiple felony counts of failure to pay child support. Twelve years later, police executed a search warrant at his home and found a firearm and ammunition under his… Read more
State v. Mitchell L. Christen, 2019AP1767-Cr, 3/17/20, District 4 (1-judge opinion; ineligible for publication); review granted 9/16/16; case activity (including briefs) Interesting case. Section 941.20(1)(b) makes operating or going armed with a firearm while under the influence of an intoxicant a misdemeanor. Christen argued that the statute violates the 2nd Amendment “as applied” to anyone… Read more
State v. Thomas Michael Barrett, 2020 WI App 13; case activity (including briefs) The court of appeals rejects Barrett’s facial and void-for-vagueness challenges to Wisconsin’s prohibition on firearm silencers, § 941.298. Barrett’s facial challenge argues the statute violates the Second Amendment, and relies on District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008). ¶19 … Read more
State v. Norris W. Culver, 2018 WI App 55; case activity (including briefs) Wisconsin Stat. § 942.09(3m)(a)2. prohibits a person from posting or publishing “private representations” without the consent of the person depicted in the representation. The court of appeals rejects Culver’s claim that the statute is void because it’s overbroad and vague. The court also… Read more
Question presented: Whether a guilty plea inherently waives a defendant’s right to challenge the constitutionality of his statute of conviction? Lower court opinion: United States v. Class (unreported) (D.C. Cir. 2016) Docket Scotusblog page Though this is an appeal of a federal prosecution, it may well affect state practice. We’re all familiar with the general rule… Read more
The brief answer from two recent federal court decisions is “yes,” though the devil, as they say, is in the details. The first decision, from a highly fractured en banc panel of the Third Circuit, involves persons convicted of a misdemeanor punishable by more than one year, who are banned from possessing a firearm under 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(20)(B)… Read more
Voisine v. United States, USSC No. 14-10154, 2016 WL 3461559, 579 U.S. ___ (June 27, 2016), affirming United States v. Voisine, 778 F.3d 176 (1st Cir. 2015); Scotusblog page (includes links to briefs and commentary) Federal law prohibits any person convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” from possessing a firearm. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)… Read more
