Jackson v. United States

Background

Michael Jackson moved under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a law allowing a person in federal custody to ask the sentencing court to vacate or correct a conviction or sentence. He challenged his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which prohibits a person convicted of a felony from possessing firearms or ammunition. Jackson argued that the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen made § 922(g)(1) unconstitutional.

Jackson was arrested in June 2021 and charged with possessing ammunition after a felony conviction. He pleaded guilty on May 20, 2022, admitting that he possessed ammunition on March 21, 2021, knew he had a prior felony conviction, and knew that possessing ammunition was a crime. He was sentenced on January 4, 2023, to five years in prison, below the recommended sentencing-guidelines range of nine to ten years. He did not appeal. He later filed the § 2255 motion without a lawyer.

Procedural default

The court first held that Jackson had procedurally defaulted his constitutional argument. Procedural default generally prevents a person from raising a claim in a later collateral challenge when the person could have raised it on direct appeal but did not.

Because Jackson did not appeal, he had to show either a legally sufficient reason for the failure and resulting harm, or that he was actually innocent. He did not claim actual innocence. The court therefore considered whether he had shown cause—an objective factor outside his defense that made the legal argument unavailable. The court found that he had not. Bruen was argued before the Supreme Court in November 2021 and decided in June 2022, before Jackson’s January 2023 sentencing, and other relevant Second Amendment decisions were also available by then. The court concluded that Jackson could have raised the argument at sentencing or on direct appeal.

Constitutionality of § 922(g)(1)

The court alternatively denied the motion on the merits. It held that § 922(g)(1) is constitutional on its face, meaning generally, and as applied to Jackson in particular. Relying on Second Circuit precedent, including United States v. Bogle and Zherka v. Bondi, the court stated that the statute survives Bruen and may constitutionally apply to a broad range of people convicted of felonies.

The court also rejected Jackson’s as-applied challenge. It found that the facts described at sentencing supported treating Jackson as belonging to a category of people perceived to be dangerous. According to the opinion, on March 21, 2021, Jackson, dressed in black and wearing a mask, fired at least eight rounds from a firearm inside a moving car toward two people on a sidewalk and adjusted his aim as the car passed them. The sentencing court had made findings of specific intent to kill and attempted murder when calculating the applicable guidelines recommendation. Based on those facts, the court held that § 922(g)(1) was constitutional as applied to Jackson.

Disposition

The court denied Jackson’s petition to vacate his conviction under § 2255. It did not issue a certificate of appealability because Jackson had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied. The court also certified that an appeal from the judgment on the merits would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying court fees for purposes of an appeal. The clerk was directed to close the specified entries in the criminal and civil cases and to close the civil case.