Danzel Mackins v. United States

Whether the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit erred by applying its plain error standard to affirm the judgment of conviction and sentence pronounced by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on his plea of guilty to one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2)1, based on that court’s decision in Zherka v. Bondi, 140 F.4th 68, 74–75, 93 (2d Cir. 2025), cert. denied, No. 25-269, ___ U.S. ___, 2026 U.S. LEXIS 608 (Jan. 20, 2026), in which the Second Circuit held that § 922(g)(1) was constitutional both on its face and as applied to convicted felons with nonviolent predicate crimes of conviction, notwithstanding precedent from this Court which rendered obsolete the Second Circuit’s prior decisions upholding the constitutionality of the felon in possession statute. This petition asks the Court to resolve the split among the lower courts regarding the facial constitutionality of § 922(g)(1). 1 Mr. Mackins’ sentence was also based on his plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(b)(1)(C).