Landmark Ruling: Federal Judge In Illinois Grants THESE Rights To Convicted Felon

The ruling was made in relation to an alleged robbery incident in Chicago in September 2021, involving a man named Glen Price.

Price, 37, is accused of robbing three men on a CTA train. Upon his arrest, police reportedly discovered a stolen credit card, cocaine, a 9mm handgun, and additional ammunition in his possession. Given Price's criminal history, which includes three previous convictions for felony armed robbery, federal law deemed him ineligible to own a firearm.

Consequently, Price was charged with possession of a firearm as a felon, an offense carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years.

However, on November 2, the federal case against Price was dismissed. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, appointed by President Clinton, ruled that the statute barring felons from possessing firearms was unconstitutional. In his 22-page decision, Gettleman stated that the law "imposes a far greater burden on the right to keep and bear arms than the historical categorical exclusions from the people's Second Amendment right."

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November 19, 2023

Judge Gettleman based his ruling on a 2022 Supreme Court case in which a 6-3 decision struck down a New York state law requiring individuals to demonstrate "proper cause" when applying for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Gettleman argued that this ruling necessitated the government to "provide evidence of a historical analogue that is both comparably justified and comparably burdensome of the right to keep and bear arms." Despite extensive research dating back to 1677, Gettleman found no historical precedent for a similar prohibition on criminals possessing firearms.

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Gettleman also asserted that the "plague" of violence in certain communities did not supersede the need for historical precedent that "authorized capital punishment and estate forfeiture for felonies." He quoted from a 2023 federal ruling, stating that while there are "strong policy reasons" for attempting to curb violent crime, "lifetime disarmament" is not "rooted in our Nation’s history and tradition."

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Bill Kushner, a police affairs consultant for WLS-TV, contested the ruling, arguing that the statute preventing felons from possessing weapons, established in the 1930s and expanded in the 1960s, is instrumental in preventing violent crime. Richard Pearson, the executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, also expressed disagreement with Gettleman's decision.

U.S. attorneys have since filed an appeal in the case, according to Law&Crime. The outlet further suggested that the case "seems fated to find its way before the U.S. Supreme Court."