This is Weekend Circuit, a review of the serious and the silly in federal appellate courts in the last week.
Concealed Carry Challenge SCOTUS Ban
A years-long fight against California’s stringent concealed carry law may soon reach the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, after a federal appeals court rejected a challenge from pro-Second Amendment activists. The pro-gun control group, Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, ranks California’s gun laws as the strictest in the nation.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals initially sided with pro-gun activists who challenged the law in 2014, finding individuals enjoy Second Amendment protections inside and outside the home, and invalidated the California concealed carry law.
The 2014 ruling was overturned by an en banc panel of 11 judges in June. En banc review occurs when all of a circuit court’s judges agree to hear and decide a case together. Though in most appellate courts an en banc session is heard by all judges of the circuit, the 9th Circuit restricts most en banc rehearings to a bench of 11 of its 28 judges because of sheer size.
The 11-judge panel argued by a lengthy historical analysis that the right to carry firearms outside the home was not captured by the right to bear arms in common law jurisdictions. (RELATED: California Concealed Carry Battle On Track For Supreme Court)
The full Ninth Circuit rejected a petition to review the June ruling Monday.
Seventh Circuit Rules Bisexual Asylum Seeker Isn’t Really Bisexual
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a bisexual Jamaican man can be deported despite his fears of persecution, finding the man isn’t actually bisexual.
After he was convicted of a violent felony, and because his conditional permanent residence status lapsed when he divorced his U.S.-born wife in 2005, deportation proceedings began against Ray Fuller. Fuller, 51, petitioned for asylum in the United States, arguing deportation to Jamaica threatened his safety and livelihood because of his sexual identity. Jamaica is notoriously homophobic. Fuller himself was previously assaulted by an anti-gay mob and disowned by his family.
A three-judge panel rejected his petition for asylum, finding his claim of bisexuality was contradicted “by glaring discrepancies in his written statement and testimony,” concerning his alleged history of discrimination. In court documents and in testimony, the date of his assault in Jamaica varied significantly, as did his account of the witnesses present.
The ruling drew a stinging dissent from Judge Richard Posner.
“The immigration judge emphasized such things as Fuller’s lack of detailed recollection of events that go back as far as 1983 and a supposed lack of ‘proof’ of bisexuality,” Posner wrote.
“Well, even members of this panel have forgotten a lot of 33‐year‐old details. And how exactly does one prove that he (or she) is bisexual? Persuade all one’s male sex partners to testify, to write letters, etc.? No, because most Jamaican homosexuals are not going to go public with their homosexuality given the vicious Jamaican discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (“LGBT”) persons, which is undeniable.”
Meth Dealer: You Can’t Add Time To My Sentence Just Because I Fled To Mexico
Antonio Morales was arrested for selling methamphetamine in Melrose, Minnesota in 2004. After his release on bail, he fled to Mexico, allegedly to attend to his ailing mother. He did not return permanently to the United States until 2008, when he took up residence in California under his real name.
He was detained in 2013 and transferred back to Minnesota, where he was found guilty of conspiring and possessing with the intent to distribute, as well as distributing methamphetamine.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison and three years of supervised release. U.S. District Court Judge John Tunheim added time to his sentence for absconding justice. Morales objected, asserting he had voluntarily surrendered himself in 2013 accepted responsibility for his misconduct, and had not “willfully” fled justice, since his mother’s rapidly deteriorating condition left him little alternative.
A three judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the sentence.
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