Gun rights after felony convictions
Clark v. United States
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- Ernest Clark asks the Supreme Court to review whether federal law barring people convicted of crimes punishable by more than a year in prison from possessing guns violates the Second Amendment on its face or as applied to his 2008 nonviolent burglary and 2013 nonviolent drug-distribution convictions.
- What's at stake
- The case leaves unresolved whether the federal firearm ban can constitutionally apply to Clark based on the two convictions he cites.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
He filed a petition for review and a request to proceed without paying court fees.
Clark's petition says courts and lawyers have struggled to apply a 2022 Supreme Court gun-rights ruling to this federal ban.
Question presented
Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), the federal statute that prohibits anyone who has been convicted of “a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” from possessing a firearm, violates the Second Amendment facially or as applied to Petitioner, based solely on a 2008 nonviolent residential burglary and a 2013 nonviolent drug distribution conviction.
What happens next
The next step is for the Supreme Court to decide whether to hear the case. No oral argument or decision date has been set.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
Brief added: Petition
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.