Hunter Biden could have grounds for appeal on a larger constitutional question, a CNN legal commentator said, pointing to the case regarding regulations around guns and drugs that was struck down by a federal appeals court last year.
The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in August
struck down a decades-old law barring users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms — another blow to US gun regulations after the Supreme Court
cleared the way for courts to reexamine the nation’s gun laws under a new legal standard.
“Because you have that decision in the 5th Circuit — of course, this being in a different circuit, could go all the way to the Supreme Court to validate this specific statute,” Tim Parlatore, a CNN commentator and former attorney for Donald Trump said.
The 5th Circuit case,
United States v. Daniels, involves Patrick Daniels who was arrested in April 2022 after law enforcement officers searched his car during a stop and found marijuana butts and two loaded firearms. In its ruling, the three-judge panel said the 1968 law is unconstitutional, citing a landmark
2022 Supreme Court decision that changes the framework that lower courts must use when analyzing gun restrictions.
Parlatore said if Hunter Biden appeals, it’s likely that various groups with interests in seeing this law rolled back will submit amicus curiae briefs. These are submitted to the court by individuals or organizations that are not a direct party in the case but want to contribute more information.