Gun rights for nonviolent felons
Joseph Frederick Johnson v. United States
In brief
- Where it stands
- Dismissed
Petition denied.
- What it’s about
- Joseph Frederick Johnson argued that the Second Amendment lets a person whose only felony is nonviolent challenge the federal firearm ban as it applies to him; his only predicate conviction was a 2015 marijuana-cultivation felony.
- Who it affects
- Johnson received no Supreme Court answer on whether his nonviolent felony lets him challenge the federal gun ban as applied to him.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
The Tenth Circuit upheld his convictions because its precedent barred such challenges, but the Supreme Court refused to hear his case (denied review) and did not decide the legal question.
Johnson's only felony conviction at issue came from marijuana cultivation in 2015. The Tenth Circuit left his convictions in place because earlier rulings in that circuit barred this kind of challenge.
The federal law at issue, § 922(g)(1), bars people with qualifying felony convictions from possessing firearms.
Question presented
Whether an individual whose sole predicate felony is a non-violent offense may bring an as-applied Second Amendment challenge to § 922(g)(1)’s permanent dispossession of the right to keep and bear arms.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
AI analysis generated: Decision Record
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
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Brief added: Petition
Court Order added: Lower Court Orders/Opinions
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.