The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction of a convicted felon for possessing a firearm. The court held that binding precedent confirms the constitutionality of the federal statute under the Second Amendment.
Olajuwan Hines pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon in violation of Section nineteen hundred and eighty-two of title eighteen of the United States Code. He was sentenced to sixty-three months of imprisonment and appealed, arguing the statute was unconstitutional as applied to him under the Second Amendment.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviewed the constitutionality of the statute de novo. It noted that neither Bruen nor Rahimi abrogated the Eleventh Circuit’s prior decision in United States v. Rozier, which held that Section ninety-two-two of title eighteen is constitutional under the Second Amendment. Because binding authority foreclosed Hines’s arguments, the court found no substantial question as to the outcome.
What it means going forward
The ruling reinforces the Eleventh Circuit’s position that Section ninety-two-two of title eighteen remains constitutional for convicted felons despite recent Supreme Court Second Amendment jurisprudence.
