“The Supreme Court declined to disturb a ruling that freed a man disarmed for life over unpaid child support. In its silence, I read a deliberate SCOTUS strategy: spend the Court’s scarce political capital in the Second Amendment space on law-abiding Americans, not on the endless parade of bad actors who litigate Section 922(g) cases.” – Professor Mark W. Smith, Four Boxes Diner Host
The Supreme Court handed the Second Amendment a big victory by doing nothing at all. The Justices denied certiorari in United States v. Cockerham, No. 24-60401 (5th Cir. Dec. 17, 2025), declining the Justice Department’s petition to review a Fifth Circuit ruling that struck down the federal lifetime felon-in-possession ban as applied to a man whose qualifying offense was failing to pay child support.
A cert denial sets no precedent and explains nothing. But its practical effect here is unmistakable: the narrow, “text first, and then history second” ruling of potential future Supreme Court justice (now Judge) James C. Ho remains, and the federal government’s effort to defend disarmament on these facts is over.
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