People v. Scott CA1/3, A168721

Orville Marquis Scott was convicted in California of possessing a firearm as a felon (Penal Code § 29800) following an attempted residential robbery in San Francisco.
Scott’s predicate felony convictions came from Missouri (various forms of theft and delivery of a controlled substance).
He filed a pretrial motion to dismiss the charge of possession of a firearm by a felon, claiming it violated his rights under both the Equal Protection Clause and the Second Amendment.
The trial court denied his motion; the jury convicted him of the firearm possession and one count of assault with a firearm, but deadlocked on other counts.
On appeal, Scott challenged the constitutionality of § 29800 as applied to him as a nonviolent felon, and also argued that its distinction between federal and out-of-state convictions violated equal protection.

Issue	Scott's Argument	State's (People's) Argument	Held
Second Amendment challenge to § 29800 as-applied	Prohibiting Scott (as nonviolent felon) from firearm possession violates the Second Amendment post-Bruen.	The statute is consistent with historical tradition and longstanding precedent upholding the ban on felons possessing firearms.	Court found Scott's as-applied challenge forfeited, and even if not, prohibition is constitutional for both violent and nonviolent felons.
Equal Protection (federal vs. state felonies)	Section 29800(c) treats those with non-California state convictions differently than those with federal convictions without sufficient justification.	Distinctions are rational because assessing out-of-state felonies would be overly burdensome for courts; rational basis review applies.	No equal protection violation; rational basis supports the legislative distinction.
Facial Second Amendment challenge	Prohibition on all felons possessing firearms is unconstitutional on its face.	Longstanding precedent holds such prohibitions "presumptively lawful."	Section 29800 is constitutional on its face.
Facial Equal Protection challenge	Statute is invalid for all similarly situated persons.	Same as above.	Failures as-applied defeats facial attack; statute upheld.

District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) (Second Amendment guarantees individual right but allows longstanding prohibitions on possession by felons)
McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010) (incorporated Second Amendment against the states, reaffirming felon prohibitions)
New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022) (clarified analytical framework for Second Amendment challenges, maintaining felon prohibitions as valid)
Heller v. Doe, 509 U.S. 312 (1993) (articulates rational basis review in equal protection cases)
People v. Turnage, 55 Cal.4th 62 (Ca. 2012) (broad legislative discretion in classifications under rational basis review)