MoProBono - Spring 2018 Update

15 MoProBono Spring 2018 An ordinary school day in Parkland, Florida. A country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. A Saturday evening of dancing at The Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. A Sunday service at a small Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. A mid-December morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. These names, places, and events have unfortunately become synonymous with some of America’s most deadly and horrifying mass shootings. As the country copes with the aftermath of these seemingly endless gun violence tragedies, our own lawyers are taking bold steps to support efforts to limit the damage from gun violence in our society. Morrison & Foerster, along with several other leading law firms, has joined the Firearms Accountability Counsel Taskforce (FACT) to work collaboratively with the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Brady Center, and the nation’s other premier gun violence prevention organizations to reduce the scourge and impact of gun violence. In particular, our teams have recently filed amicus briefs in cases addressing issues that the Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs shootings have raised, focusing specifically on high-capacity ammunition magazines (defined as those containing more than 10 bullets) and bans on firearms for convicted domestic violence offenders. A bicoastal team of lawyers featuring Jamie Levitt and Meghan Dwyer in New York and James McGuire and Elizabeth Patterson in California filed an amicus brief on behalf of Equality California and other LGBTQ rights groups in support of a California law banning possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines. The possession ban reinforces a ban passed in 2000 on sales of such magazines. The ban’s intent is to limit the lethality of mass shootings by forcing a shooter to pause to reload after every 10 shots, giving potential victims a chance to escape. This decision is pending. A team of lawyers from our San Francisco and San Diego offices represented the Giffords Law Center in an amicus brief to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. It sought affirmation of an earlier decision that dismissed a Second Amendment challenge brought by a man who was barred by a 1997 domestic violence conviction from ever buying firearms. On January 4, the court upheld the conviction, ruling that the federal law imposing the firearms ban did not violate the Second Amendment. James McGuire again led the effort, with associates Samuel Cortina and departed associate Joanna Simon. GUN VIOLENCE As the country copes with the aftermath of these seemingly endless gun violence tragedies, our own lawyers are taking bold steps to support efforts to limit the damage from gun violence in our society.