United States v. Hill

Opinion

Case: 24-30677 Document: 71-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 09/03/2025

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ____________ United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

No. 24-30677 FILED September 3, 2025 ____________ Lyle W. Cayce United States of America, Clerk

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus

Donald Irving Hill, Jr.,

Defendant—Appellant. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana USDC No. 5:23-CR-172-1 ______________________________

Before Smith, Dennis, and Richman, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: * Donald Hill was convicted of possessing a firearm as a felon in viola- tion of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Hill, who has several predicate drug-trafficking felony convictions, contends that disarmament under § 922(g)(1) violates the Second Amendment facially and as applied. 1

_____________________ * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5. 1 Hill’s felony convictions include distribution of cocaine, distribution of counter- feit controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, and two convic- tions of attempted distribution of cocaine. Case: 24-30677 Document: 71-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 09/03/2025

No. 24-30677

Hill acknowledges—and we agree—that his facial challenge to § 922(g)(1) is foreclosed by United States v. Diaz, 116 F.4th 458, 471–72 (5th Cir. 2024), cert. denied, No. 24-6625, 2025 U.S. LEXIS 2453 (U.S. June 23, 2025) (mem.). The parties dispute whether Hill preserved his as-applied challenge. But United States v. Kimble, 142 F.4th 308 (5th Cir. 2025), forecloses Hill’s claim even if de novo review applies. There we decided the “novel question” of “whether a predicate drug-trafficking felony . . . justifies permanent dis- armament under (g)(1) even after the defendant has served his full sen- tence.” Id. at 312. We answered that question in the affirmative, so Hill’s as-applied claim is now squarely foreclosed: His “predicate convictions for drug trafficking convey that he belongs to a class of dangerous felons that our regulatory tradition permits legislatures to disarm.” Id. at 318. AFFIRMED.