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By Mandy Taheri
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Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' recent and upcoming decisions could play a surprising role in aiding recently convicted Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden, the president's only living son, is the first child of a U.S. sitting president to be criminally convicted. On Tuesday, a Delaware jury found Hunter Biden guilty on three felony counts related to a 2018 gun purchase and possession of the gun while using narcotics. Prosecutors argued that he lied on federal documents about his drug use, which would have barred him from legally obtaining a firearm.
Presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika will determine Hunter Biden's sentence in the coming months.
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Typically, the Supreme Court wraps up its session at the end of June, delivering many important and sometimes life-changing decisions at the end of the month. In the coming days, the Court is expected to decide on U.S. v. Rahimi, a case that could alter how Hunter Biden's felony gun case is viewed.
The case focuses on whether domestic violence abusers can be barred from owning guns or if that is a violation of the Second Amendment. It reaches the Supreme Court two years after it ruled on New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, a case that expanded gun rights.
In Bruen, the Court ruled that both the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual's right to carry a gun for self-defense outside the home and that New York's requirement for a "special need for self-defense" to obtain a public-carry license is unconstitutional.
Justice Thomas wrote the 6-3 majority opinion, stating, "the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation."
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Zackey Rahimi, who argues that a federal law limiting individuals under domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns is unconstitutional, Hunter Biden would have "a lot of ammunition" when challenging his conviction, Andrew Willinger, executive director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law, told CNN in an article Wednesday.
Another case pending before the Court, U.S. v. Daniels, mirrors Hunter Biden's crime, as police found marijuana and two guns in his car. Given the petition is pending, it is likely that after ruling on Rahimi, that the Court will send Daniels back to lower courts with the new precedent from Rahimi.
Newsweek reached out to several legal scholars for comment via email on Thursday.
Saul Cornell, the Paul and Diane Guenther Chair in American History at Fordham University and former director of the Second Amendment Research Center at the John Glenn Institute, told Newsweek in an email Thursday, "Based on oral argument [in Rahimi] it seems likely that the court will allow gun rights to be taken from those adjudicated to be dangerous."
In relation to Hunter Biden's case and how Rahimi might impact his appeals process, Cornell added that, "It is very much an open question if drug use will be treated as analogous to crimes that can justify disarmament."
Duke Law professor Joseph Blocher, who specializes in constitutional law and the First and Second Amendments, told Newsweek in an email that "[Hunter] Biden did raise a Second Amendment defense at trial, arguing in effect that it is unconstitutional to deny weapons to unlawful drug users or addicts. Federal courts have been divided about that argument, with some agreeing that it's unconstitutional at least in the context of marijuana users."
He noted that Judge Noreika rejected the Second Amendment defense "on the basis that there's a historical tradition supporting the disarmament of relevantly similar groups, including the mentally ill. That kind of historical comparison is required by the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Bruen."
Blocher said, "Justice Thomas doesn't have any direct role in the Biden case, which is far from reaching the Supreme Court. Right now, all we have is a conviction at trial, so the next step will be the normal appeals process—which could theoretically result in a petition to the Justices at some point down the road."
On Tuesday, following Hunter Biden's guilty verdict, his defense attorney Abbe Lowell said in a written statement that they will "continue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available."
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