The Supreme Court continues to address its backlog of cert petitions, but progress remains slow. In the latest development, the justices denied review in several cases, marking a significant clean-up of challenges related to the federal ban on felons possessing firearms. Recently, the Court disposed of two lingering cases, Vincent v. Bondi and Thompson v. United States, leaving no other pending challenges in this category.
This decision aligns with the Court’s earlier actions in January when it denied 76 out of 78 similar petitions. However, not all the justices were in agreement. In another case, Johnson v. High Desert State Prison, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed dissent regarding the denial of a review on whether indigent prisoners could collectively manage the $350 filing fee for joint civil actions.
In a somewhat unsurprising move, Beaird v. United States has been relisted, raising key issues including whether the felon-in-possession statute aligns with the Second Amendment. The petitioner, Kendrick Jarrell Beaird, challenges whether sentencing enhancements based on previous case law should hold, referencing the Kisor v. Wilkie decision that potentially affects deference to agency interpretations.
Beaird’s case also touches on federalism issues concerning the commerce clause. Beaird questions Congress’s authority to criminalize firearm possession based on interstate travel, a position the Court has historically rejected and is likely to uphold again. Meanwhile, the government continues to challenge Beaird’s petitions, indicating the Court had similarly rejected other cases and arguing Beaird’s case does not merit a cert grant.
This ongoing examination of relisted petitions, especially those related to firearms and procedural actions in federal courts, demonstrates the Supreme Court’s broader strategy to streamline its docket while adhering to recent interpretations of constitutional and federal statutes.