A fusillade of amicus briefs has now been filed in support of affirmance of the Fifth Circuit's decision invalidating the federal ban on possession of a firearm while under a domestic violence restraining order (DVRO). While no one countenances the alleged behavior of respondent Zackey Rahimi, the various amici persuasively argue that the federal law – 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) – facially violates the Second Amendment.
In this post, I'd like to identify some of the briefs that I thought to be extraordinary. All of the briefs are easily accessible in the docket on the Supreme Court's website.
But first I'd like to mention the Brief of Respondent, filed on behalf of Mr. Rahimi. Lead counsel is Matthew Wright, Office of the Federal Public Defender, N.D. Tex. The brief covers all of the bases of text and history, as mandated by the Court in NY State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen, and in particular does a thorough job of recording how the founding generation responded to interpersonal and domestic violence. That generation responded in numerous ways, but never by banning possession of arms. Contrary to myth, numerous men were jailed for spousal abuse in the new nation.
