Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
David Seth Worman, et al. v. Maura T. Healey, Attorney General of Massachusetts, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, No. 18-1545 · judgment April 26, 2019
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
This Court exhaustively analyzed the text, history, and tradition of the Second Amendment in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), concluding that the Second Amendment enshrines an individual right of self-defense, id. at 595, and protects common firearms that are “typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes,” id. at 625. The Court struck down the District of Columbia’s ban on possession of handguns and operable rifles and shotguns, holding a ban on arms typically possessed for lawful purposes is inconsistent with the Second Amendment’s text, history, and tradition. Id. at 627–29. This Court confirmed Heller’s standard and applied it to the states in McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742, 790–91 (2010). Six years later, the Court made clear the Heller standard was to be applied in reviewing the constitutionality of a state ban on possession of stun guns. Caetano v. Massachusetts, 136 S. Ct. 1027, 1027–28 (2016) (per curiam). Massachusetts prohibits the possession of firearms and ammunition magazines that are typically possessed by law-abiding, responsible citizens for lawful purposes, including self-defense. The court of appeals rejected Heller’s text, history, and tradition standard, instead applying a two-part approach to uphold the ban under intermediate scrutiny. App. 11–28. The question presented is: Does Massachusetts’ ban unconstitutionally infringe the individual right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
John Parker Sweeney
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP
For respondent
Julia Eleanor Kobick
Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
Proceedings
- Jun 15 2020Petition DENIED.
- Jun 08 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/11/2020.
- Jun 01 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/4/2020.
- May 22 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/28/2020.
- May 18 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/21/2020.
- May 11 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/15/2020.
- Apr 27 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/1/2020.
- Dec 23 2019DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/10/2020.
- Dec 20 2019Reply of petitioners David Seth Worman, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Dec 06 2019Brief of respondents Maura T. Healey, et al. in opposition filed.
- Oct 30 2019Brief amicus curiae of Commonwealth Second Amendment, Inc. filed.
- Oct 25 2019Brief amici curiae of National Association of Chiefs of Police et al. filed.
- Oct 25 2019Brief amicus curiae of National African American Gun Association, Inc. filed.
- Oct 25 2019Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 9, 2019.
- Oct 25 2019Amicus brief of Ninety-Four Members of the United States House of Representatives not accepted for filing. (October 28, 2019 - corrected brief to be submitted)
- Oct 25 2019Brief amicus curiae of National Shooting Sports Foundation filed.
- Oct 25 2019Brief amicus curiae of The National Rifle Association of America, Inc. filed.
- Oct 25 2019Brief amici curiae of Ninety-Four Members of the United States House of Representatives filed.
- Oct 25 2019Amicus brief of Commonwealth Second Amendment, Inc. not accepted for filing. (November 04, 2019)
- Oct 24 2019Brief amici curiae of Cato Institute, et al. filed.
- Oct 22 2019Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 25, 2019 to December 9, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
- Sep 23 2019Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 25, 2019)
- Jun 30 2019Application (19A11) granted by Justice Breyer extending the time to file until September 23, 2019.
- Jun 28 2019Application (19A11) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 25, 2019 to September 23, 2019, submitted to Justice Breyer.