Free Republic

On Thursday a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that Steven Duarte, a felon, has a “right to possess a firearm for self-defense.” Courthouse News Service noted Duarte has five felony convictions and was a member of a street gang in Los Angeles. The decision upholding Duarte’s gun rights was split, with George W. Bush appointee Carlos Bea and Donald Trump appointee Lawrence VanDyke deciding in the majority. Bea wrote the majority opinion, noted the panel tested the prohibition against felons possessing guns in light of Bruen (2022) and found the government...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has nominated two California lawyers -- including the brother of Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith -- to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Milan Smith, a Los Angeles business lawyer and a former member of California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission, was named to the panel this week. His nomination follows the appointment last week of Sandra Segal Ikuta, general counsel to the California Resources Agency, to the nation's largest federal appeals court. The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit covers nine Western states with about 54 million people and has 28 judgeships. Smith and Ikuta would fill...