(Washington, D.C.)—The government should not categorically strip millions of Americans of their Second Amendment rights based solely on cannabis use, especially without any individualized finding that they are dangerous. The Liberty Justice Center is proud to file an amicus brief in United States v. Hemani, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm the below decision.
The case concerns a federal statute that imposes a sweeping ban on firearm possession by “unlawful users” of controlled substances. In practice, the statute’s breadth reaches tens of millions of Americans who use cannabis—many of whom do so under state-law regimes that permit medical or adult recreational use.
In its amicus brief supporting Respondent Ali Danial Hemani, the Liberty Justice Center argues that modern policy judgments about risk cannot substitute for the historical tradition required by the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment framework. The brief states that while the government may restrict firearm possession by individuals who are intoxicated or who have been found to pose a credible threat, the nation’s history does not support permanent or near-permanent disarmament of sober individuals based on that status alone.
The Fifth Circuit’s decision is consistent with its prior precedent and is aligned with the approach other federal appellate courts have increasingly required. The decision recognizes a constitutional line the government may not cross: disarming ordinary, law-abiding people without a judicial determination of dangerousness. Treating every cannabis user as presumptively dangerous is incompatible with the Second Amendment and with the public’s demonstrated acceptance of lawful cannabis use across the country.
“The Second Amendment protects individual rights. So, each person should be judged individually on whether they are too dangerous to possess a firearm, regardless of their personal circumstances,” said Ryan Morrison, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center.
The Liberty Justice Center’s amicus brief in United States v. Hemani calls on the Supreme Court to affirm the Fifth Circuit and to reject an interpretation that would allow the federal government to disarm sober individuals simply because they use cannabis. The brief emphasizes that constitutional rights do not depend on broad, modern-day risk balancing untethered from history—and that the Second Amendment is not a second-class right.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case on Monday, March 2, 2026.
The Liberty Justice Center’s amicus brief in United States v. Hemani can be found here.