Challenge to Illinois ban on foster parents owning firearms

1
Miller v. Smith
Loss in US District Court for Central Illinois:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap ... 4.65.0.pdf
Few courts have considered the question of when government
contractors can be contractually required to relinquish their Second
Amendment rights. Accordingly, the Court looks to analogous
precedents in the more developed area of First Amendment law.
See Ezell I, 651 F.3d at 697, 702–03 (modeling framework for
analyzing Second Amendment claims on analogous framework used
for First Amendment claims); see also Marzzarella, 614 F.3d at
89 n.4 (relying on First Amendment precedents for guidance while
interpreting the Second Amendment and reasoning that
“Heller itself repeatedly invokes the First Amendment in
establishing principles governing the Second Amendment”).
Supreme Court precedents establish that statements made by
government employees pursuant to their professional duties are
categorically unprotected by the First Amendment. Garcetti v.
Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 426 (2006). Government contractors also
“accept certain restrictions on their freedom as part of the deal.”
Fulton, 141 S. Ct. at 1878. Considerations of managerial efficiency
require that governments be allowed considerable freedom in the
management of their contractual relationships. See Comsys, Inc. v.
Pacetti, 893 F.3d 468, 471 (7th Cir. 2018) (holding, in part because
of the need to allow governments to flexibly manage their internal
affairs, that the First Amendment does not protect public
contractors from retaliation for job-related speech). The principle
behind these First Amendment decisions applies with equal force in
this case. Like any other parent or guardian, Illinois must be
afforded considerable latitude to make its own reasonable decisions
regarding how best to ensure the physical safety of the children in
its custody.

Based on its consideration of analogous First Amendment
precedents, as well as the evidence presented by Defendants, the
Court concludes that the safe storage requirements imposed by the
Foster Home Rule survive intermediate scrutiny. The Miller-Azrael
Report uses reliable data to demonstrate that “risk of firearm injury
and mortality is significantly reduced, but not eliminated, by storing
guns and ammunition in a way that makes them less accessible to
children (that is, locking, unloading, storing separately from
ammunition).” D/e 56, exh. 16, p. 12. This is sufficient to
establish that the Foster Home Rule is substantially related to
Illinois’s compelling interest in safeguarding foster children from
injury and death. This conclusion is bolstered by precedents from
outside of the Seventh Circuit. The Ninth Circuit, for example,
found in 2014 that a law imposing comparable safe storage
requirements on an entire city survived intermediate scrutiny, in
part because “a modern gun safe may be opened quickly.” Jackson
v. City & Cty. of San Francisco, 746 F.3d 953, 964 (9th Cir. 2014).

Because the Court’s conclusion that both of the DCFS Rules
survive intermediate scrutiny would be the same regardless of
whether or not the Court considered Plaintiffs’ challenged evidence,
the Court does not reach the issue of the admissibility of the
testimony and expert report of Mr. Marty Hayes or the other
sources referenced in Plaintiffs’ Response. See d/e 43, 62–64.
Appeal filed in the 7th Circuit:
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/firear ... 1652719246

Re: Challenge to Illinois ban on foster parents owning firearms

3
I agree with the conclusion in the Firearms Policy Coalitions brief for the 7th Circuit appeal (link).
Illinois’s restrictions destroy the Millers’ right to keep operable firearms for self-defense in the home. The restrictions cannot be historically justified and cannot satisfy heightened scrutiny. The restrictions should be held unconstitutional, and the district court’s decision should be reversed.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests