Doe v. Bonta
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- On appeal
- Jane Doe v. Rob Bonta (2024-05-08) — affirmed — the Ninth Circuit's later ruling on this docket
- Panel
- Larry Alan Burns (author)
Analysis
The court reviewed a motion to dismiss and a motion for preliminary injunction challenging California Assembly Bill 173 under the Second Amendment. The court ordered the parties to file supplemental briefing on the impact of the Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen on the applicable legal standard.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Order directing supplemental briefing“the Court ORDERS the parties to brief the following questions: 1) What standard must the Court apply to Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment claims after Bruen? 2) If Bruen alters the applicable standard, how should the Court apply that standard to the Motions insofar as they relate to Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment claim?” | agree with court The court correctly identified that the Supreme Court's decision in Bruen, issued the same day, disapproved of the 'two-step' test previously used in the Ninth Circuit. Because the pending motions relied on the now-disapproved standard, it was procedurally appropriate to stay the resolution of the motions and require the parties to brief the new standard rather than ruling on the merits immediately. |
The order itself: sound — The order is a procedural directive to manage the docket in light of a significant change in controlling law. It correctly identifies the conflict between the pending motions' reliance on Chovan and the new standard in Bruen. It does not reach the merits of the constitutional claim, so it is not subject to substantive legal critique at this stage.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 JANE DOE, et al. CASE NO. 22-cv-10-LAB (DEB) 11 Plaintiffs, 12 ORDER DIRECTING 13 vs. SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEFING 14 ROB BONTA, in his capacity as Attorney General of the State of 15 California, et al. 16 Defendants.
17 18 Plaintiffs Jane Doe and John Doe Nos. 1 through 4 filed this action 19 against Defendant Rob Bonta, in his capacity as Attorney General of the 20 State of California, asking the Court to enjoin Defendant from enforcing 21 California Assembly Bill 173. Plaintiffs contend, as relevant to this Order, that 22 AB 173 infringes upon their right to keep and bear arms under the Second 23 Amendment to the United States Constitution. 24 Defendant has filed a motion to dismiss, and Plaintiffs have filed a 25 motion for preliminary injunction (the “Motions”). Both Motions are currently 26 pending and ask the Court to apply District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 27 570 (2008), and Ninth Circuit precedent “employ[ing] a two-prong test to 1 the challenged law burdens conduct protected by the Second Amendment 2 and (2) if so, directs courts to apply an appropriate level of scrutiny.’” (Pls.’ 3 Mot. for Preliminary Injunction, Dkt. 26, at 19 (quoting United States v. 4 Chovan, 735 F.3d 1127, 1136 (2008)); see also Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss, 5 Dkt. 36, at 19–20). 6 The Supreme Court’s June 23, 2022, decision in New York State Rifle 7 & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. ___ (2022), states that it makes “the 8 constitutional standard endorsed in Heller more explicit,” id. at 23, and 9 disapproves of the “two-step” approach that Courts of Appeals have 10 employed in evaluating firearm regulations. Id. at 9–15. Because Bruen may 11 affect the proper resolution of the Motions, the Court ORDERS the parties to 12 brief the following questions: 13 1) What standard must the Court apply to Plaintiffs’ Second 14 Amendment claims after Bruen? 15 2) If Bruen alters the applicable standard, how should the Court apply 16 that standard to the Motions insofar as they relate to Plaintiffs’ 17 Second Amendment claim? 18 Plaintiffs’ brief and Defendant’s brief both must be no longer than 20 19 pages and filed on or before July 25, 2022. 20 IT IS SO ORDERED.
21 22 Dated: June 23, 2022 23 HON. LARRY ALAN BURNS United States District Judge 24 25 26 27