U.S. Warns Supreme Court Against ‘Windfall’ for Gun Possessors

Justice Department lawyers told the U.S. Supreme Court not to grant “windfalls” to people challenging their federal gun convictions following a 2019 high court ruling.

In that case, Rehaif v. United States, the court said the government has to prove a defendant both knew that he possessed a firearm and that he wasn’t allowed to possess one.

Tuesday’s back-to-back oral arguments raised the issue of how appellate courts should review cases with Rehaif errors, where the government didn’t prove a defendant’s felon status.

DOJ lawyers downplayed the failure as a technicality that wouldn’t have made a difference, anyway, because ...