V. Conclusion
U.S. prison populations are the highest per capita in the world, and the racial make-up of the prison population is very disproportionate. If we seek to understand this disturbing phenomenon, we must look at underlying causes and laws that allow for this occurrence. One source of this disproportionality is federal gun control laws. “Felon in possession” laws criminalize the status of being a felon, rather than harmful behavior. Given the slight evidence necessary to prove possession, as well as certain presumptions about possession, these laws are harsher than it would seem on their face. These laws are disparately enforced against Black defendants, and federal initiatives that charge offenders in the federal rather than state system target Black communities.
Due to the history of gun laws, the ways in which “felon in possession” laws have been drafted, interpreted, and enforced are not surprising. Since the first group of Africans were kidnapped and enslaved in this country, the state and federal governments established laws to disarm Black individuals in order to suppress rebellions, and later, movements for civil rights. The ghost of these past eras indeed does not lurk in the past. Gun control regimes--together with the colonial militia system-began as a way to preserve the slavery system, and have morphed over the centuries into a way to preserve the hyper-criminalization and over-incarceration of Black communities.
Evidently, “felon in possession laws,” and their disparate effect on Black communities, are only a continuation of centuries of laws and law enforcement tactics enacted and employed to disarm Black people. This is distressing, and even more so knowing that legal challenges to this disparate treatment are time and time again rejected by federal courts. It is also seemingly insurmountable. However, by identifying specific areas of law that contribute to the over-incarceration and hyper-criminalization of Black communities, we are one step further to understanding where legal challenges and increased efforts of defense are necessary. Moreover, by understanding the history of gun laws, and how these laws have progressed and have been altered to respond to shifts in legal initiatives and landscapes, we are better equipped to predict the ways in which gun laws may be crafted to further criminalize Black communities, rather than implemented to protect all communities against increasing gun violence. Finally, with this two-pronged understanding--in tandem with an understanding of how past legal challenges have failed--we are further enabled to amend these challenges in new and creative ways, so these challenges can finally be successful.
Emma Luttrell Shreefter is a Staff Attorney at the Office of the Appellate Defender.
