Beers v. A.G.—civil / constitutional—affirmance—Roth

A man who was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility in 2005 after telling his mother he was suicidal and put a gun in his mouth. He had no mental health treatment after 2006. After a doctor opined in 2013 that he was able to handle firearms safely without risk of harm to himself or others, the man filed a Second Amendment as-applied challenge to the federal statute barring persons who had been committed to a mental institution from possessing guns. The district court dismissed the suit, and today the Third Circuit affirmed: ” Even though he claims to be rehabilitated, Beers cannot distinguish himself from the
historically-barred class of mentally ill individuals who were excluded from Second Amendment protection because of the danger they had posed to themselves and to others.”

Joining Roth were Shwartz and Rendell. Arguing counsel were Michael Gottlieb of Vangrossi & Recchuiti for the challenger and Tyce Walters of the DOJ Civil Division for the government.

Fan v. Stonemor Partners LP—civil / securities—affirmance—Restrepo

The Third Circuit affirmed dismissal of a securities-fraud suit against a company that sold funeral services to living people (“pre-need sales”), which evidently leads to accounting issues. The court held the company’s financial disclosures were sufficient to render various alleged misrepresentations immaterial.

Joining Restrepo were Smith and McKee. Arguing counsel were David Goldsmith of New York for the plaintiffs and Michael Holmes of Texas for the company.