I don't think I like this lawyer's idea. And Whisnant, his client doesn't seem deserving of any special consideration. SCOTUS didn't have a turd like him in mind in its ruling.
Felon pushes gun rights
Motion filed by slaying suspect in light of recent high court decision
By Jamie Satterfield (Contact)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/31/felon-pushes-gun-rights/
An accused Scott County killer contends a recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming an individual's right to go armed opens the door for an attack on a federal law that bars felons from possessing guns in their own homes.
A motion filed in U.S. District Court by defense attorney Alex Brown on behalf of felon and slaying suspect Douglas V. Whisnant puts the 61-year-old Whisnant at the forefront of a nationwide move to have declared unconstitutional gun control laws aimed at felons.
Brown joins defense attorneys in federal courts throughout the United States who are using the June decision by the nation's high court striking down gun control laws in Washington, D.C., to launch an attack on a federal law that strips felons of the right to go armed.
Whisnant was arraigned Tuesday on a beefed-up indictment prepared by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed Schmutzer that accuses the Scott County felon of illegally possessing a cache of guns, including a machine gun, found hidden in a hidey-hole in his wall.
The guns were discovered as part of Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent Steve Vinsant's probe into the February 2007 disappearance of Whisnant's ex-wife, Jean Johnson, 66. Vinsant has since charged Whisnant with killing Johnson, although her body has not been found.
Brown contends the U.S. Supreme Court has breathed new life into efforts to strike down as unconstitutional gun control efforts targeting felons.
In June, the nation's high court ruled that the Second Amendment granted an individual the right to bear arms for "traditionally lawful purposes, such as self defense within the home." It is known as the Heller decision, so named for the Washington, D.C., police officer who challenged that city's requirement that guns be registered and kept unloaded and dissembled in the home.
In a narrow 5-4 decision, justices led by conservative Justice Antonin Scalia struck down as unconstitutional gun control laws that ban handgun possession in the home. Brown contends that the right to bear arms at home for self defense should be extended to felons.
"A felon who has a firearm in his home for his own protection is not a danger to the public, as a felon who possesses a firearm in public would be," Brown wrote. "Based on the Heller opinion, the defense argues that even if Mr. Whisnant could be banned from having weapons in public, he would still have the right to have such weapons in the privacy of his own home."
Brown acknowledged in his motion that Scalia wrote in the landmark decision that the court's opinion "should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill."
However, he said the court stopped short of declaring those laws constitutional. The law banning felons from gun possession is flawed because it does not delineate between going armed in public and in private, Brown argued.
Schmutzer has not yet had time to respond to Brown's motion. It will be up to U.S. District Judge Bruce Guyton to decide the issue.
Felon pushes gun rights
Motion filed by slaying suspect in light of recent high court decision
By Jamie Satterfield (Contact)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/31/felon-pushes-gun-rights/
An accused Scott County killer contends a recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming an individual's right to go armed opens the door for an attack on a federal law that bars felons from possessing guns in their own homes.
A motion filed in U.S. District Court by defense attorney Alex Brown on behalf of felon and slaying suspect Douglas V. Whisnant puts the 61-year-old Whisnant at the forefront of a nationwide move to have declared unconstitutional gun control laws aimed at felons.
Brown joins defense attorneys in federal courts throughout the United States who are using the June decision by the nation's high court striking down gun control laws in Washington, D.C., to launch an attack on a federal law that strips felons of the right to go armed.
Whisnant was arraigned Tuesday on a beefed-up indictment prepared by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed Schmutzer that accuses the Scott County felon of illegally possessing a cache of guns, including a machine gun, found hidden in a hidey-hole in his wall.
The guns were discovered as part of Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent Steve Vinsant's probe into the February 2007 disappearance of Whisnant's ex-wife, Jean Johnson, 66. Vinsant has since charged Whisnant with killing Johnson, although her body has not been found.
Brown contends the U.S. Supreme Court has breathed new life into efforts to strike down as unconstitutional gun control efforts targeting felons.
In June, the nation's high court ruled that the Second Amendment granted an individual the right to bear arms for "traditionally lawful purposes, such as self defense within the home." It is known as the Heller decision, so named for the Washington, D.C., police officer who challenged that city's requirement that guns be registered and kept unloaded and dissembled in the home.
In a narrow 5-4 decision, justices led by conservative Justice Antonin Scalia struck down as unconstitutional gun control laws that ban handgun possession in the home. Brown contends that the right to bear arms at home for self defense should be extended to felons.
"A felon who has a firearm in his home for his own protection is not a danger to the public, as a felon who possesses a firearm in public would be," Brown wrote. "Based on the Heller opinion, the defense argues that even if Mr. Whisnant could be banned from having weapons in public, he would still have the right to have such weapons in the privacy of his own home."
Brown acknowledged in his motion that Scalia wrote in the landmark decision that the court's opinion "should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill."
However, he said the court stopped short of declaring those laws constitutional. The law banning felons from gun possession is flawed because it does not delineate between going armed in public and in private, Brown argued.
Schmutzer has not yet had time to respond to Brown's motion. It will be up to U.S. District Judge Bruce Guyton to decide the issue.
