Brief filed: 07/24/2017
Documents
Robinson v. United States
United States Supreme Court; Case No. 16-1532
Prior Decision
On petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, decision below 846 F.3d 694 (4th Cir. Jan 23, 2017).
Argument(s)
The decision below merits review because, given the expansion of lawful public carrying, it opens the door to unchecked racial profiling. Over the past two decades, and especially in recent years, states have been expanding the rights of their citizens to carry firearms in public. The per se rule endorsed below allows for unchecked racial profiling, as officers encounter more citizens who are—or may be—legally armed. The decision below merits review because it sets the Fourth Amendment against state policy judgments, the common law, and this Court’s precedent. The per se assumption endorsed by the Fourth Circuit undermines the considered policy judgments of state legislatures. A per se assumption is inconsistent with the common law and rests on a faulty reading of precedent.
Author(s)
C. Kevin Marshall and Nicholas R. Reaves, Jones Day, Washington, DC; Jeffrey T. Green, NACDL, Washington, DC.