Welcome back, Ninth Circuit!
After a virtual hiatus for nearly two weeks, a Ninth Circuit panel finally publishes an opinion this morning. And it's a goodie!
Amongst other questions raised, but not decided, by the opinion are whether aliens who are in the United States without authorization are included in the phrase "the people" to whom various rights are given under the Constitution. Interesting stuff.
It's also a case that splits the left-right spectrum. On the one hand, it involves whether unauthorized aliens have various rights. On that question, conservatives generally like to say "No," whereas those on the left generally like to say "Yes."
But in this case, the right in question is the Second Amendment right to possess a gun. When that's the right at stake, conservatives generally are in favor of it, whereas those on the left are generally opposed.
So what say ye? Federal law makes it illegal for an unauthorized aliens to possess a weapon. A violation of the Second Amendment, or not?
The Ninth Circuit says -- correctly, in my view -- that the statute's valid. The panel assumes without deciding that the Second Amendment applies. But holds that under intermediate scrutiny (which I agree is the proper standard here), the statute's valid because it advances an important governmental interest with a reasonable fit. In the words of the Ninth Circuit -- largely quoting from other circuit authorities:
“The
[government] has the important government interest of
ensuring the safety of both the public and its police officers. . . . These government interests are particularly applicable to
those subject to removal. “[T]hose who show a willingness to
defy our law are . . . a group that ought not be armed when
authorities seek them.” Huitron-Guizar, 678 F.3d at 1170. If
armed, unlawful aliens could pose a threat to immigration
officers or other law enforcement who attempt to apprehend
and remove them.
Further,“[unlawful aliens] often live ‘largely outside the
formal system of registration, employment, and identification,
[and] are harder to trace and more likely to assume a false
identity.’” Meza-Rodriguez, 798 F.3d at 673 (quoting
Huitron-Guizar, 678 F.3d at 1170). Therefore, “the ban on
the possession of firearms by [unlawful aliens] is
substantially related to the statute’s general objectives
because such persons are able purposefully to evade detection
by law enforcement.” Id."
Good to have the Ninth Circuit back. Glad to see it begin 2019 with a bang.
