Gorsuch sides with liberal justices on gun violence law

by The Right Scoop

Gorsuch sided with liberal justices today on a federal gun violence law today while his constitutional counterparts dissented.

Gorsuch, along with Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan, ruled the law was simply too vague:

THE HILL – The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-4 that a federal law allowing for gun convictions relating to “a crime of violence” was too vague.

The case involved a pair of men who were convicted on several felony robbery charges, but were also convicted under another federal statute that required significant mandatory minimum sentences for a “crime of violence.”

The men in question—Maurice Davis and Andre Glover—argued that the federal law was too vague. The justices on Monday were split in their decision, but ultimately sided with the men.

Gorsuch not only sided with the liberal justices, but wrote the opinion.

Kavanaugh, Thomas, Alito and Roberts all dissented.

At issue is the language of the law. Gorsuch writes in his opinion that the government’s ‘alternative’ explanation of this vague gun violence law, which doesn’t define the “certain other federal crimes” under which the law is to be applied, can’t be squared with the actual text and therefore the court would be stepping outside its purview and “writing a new law rather than applying the one Congress adopted.”

Therefore Gorsuch says Congress needs to “try again” with this law:

Kavanaugh didn’t agree:

 
You can read the full opinion by clicking the link below from SCOTUSblog:


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