WASHINGTON—In a case touching on one of the most prominent issues on the minds of Americans, the U.S. Supreme Court decided by a 6-2 ruling to maintain restrictions that prevent people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors from owning guns.
The case was Voisine v. United States, and combined the cases of Stephen Voisine and William Armstrong who were each found guilty of misdemeanor domestic assaults in the state of Maine. A federal law makes it illegal for anyone with that type of conviction to possess a gun.
The men presented two arguments to the Supreme Court; one asserting that only a conviction for an intentional domestic assault offense should qualify for the federal gun prohibition and the other saying that the prohibition violates their constitutional right to have a gun.
In accepting the case, the court said it would only deal with the first question and not the constitutional issue. But during oral arguments in February, where justices have the chance to question the lawyers presenting each side, Justice Clarence Thomas brought up the second question anyway.
“This is a misdemeanor violation,” he said. “It suspends a constitutional right. Can you give me another area where a misdemeanor violation suspends a constitutional right?”
Ilana Eisenstein, presenting the government’s case, said she could not come up with an example, but cited evidence from Congress linking crimes of battery to future violence.
“I understand Your Honor’s concern that this is a potential infringement of individual’s Second Amendment rights, but I believe that Congress has identified a compelling purpose and has found a reasonable means of achieving that purpose,” she said.
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