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PaperclipPerfector  11mo ago (text post)   26396 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 20, 2025

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Hemani rules against the marijuana prohibition, in a fairly technical breakdown that rounds to 9-0-ish on the judgement.

In many respects, this case is a narrow one. We do not address efforts to ban addicts, or those presently intoxicated, from possessing a firearm. We do not address other prophylactic laws Congress might adopt after determining that users of a particular drug pose a special risk of misusing firearms. We do not address 18 U. S. C. §922(g)(1)’s provision disarming individuals convicted of felonies (often including drug-related ones). We do not even address whether the government could bring a prosecution under §922(g)(3) accompanied by individualized proof that the defendant’s use of marijuana (or any other drug) renders him a danger to himself or others. Or proof that a certain drug always renders its users dangerous because of its potency or for some other reason. None of those issues is before us and we do not pass on them either way.

There's a little bit of fun - stay for the Thomas concurrence railing against the Commerce Clause - but it's not a great salve even for the specific case of marijuana-using-gun-owners. There's little broader ramification to the logic that hasn't already been established, and while the dicta preclude the level-of-generality games that many lower courts have relied on, it's not strict enough dicta to stop them or even be read as a serious warning.

But mea culpa; I did not expect a pro-Hemani ruling.

We'll see if Wolford has bigger impact.

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