United States v. Howard

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Decided: April 29, 2025
• Docket: 23-10920
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Case: 23-10920 Document: 84-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/29/2025

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED April 29, 2025 No. 23-10920 Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

United States of America,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus

Jonathan R. Howard,

Defendant—Appellant. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas USDC No. 4:23-CR-84-1 ______________________________

Before Higginbotham, Jones, and Oldham, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: * Jonathan R. Howard argues that his statute of conviction, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), violates the Second Amendment on its face and as applied to him in light of New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022). He also contends that § 922(g)(1) violates the Commerce Clause, but he

_____________________ * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5. Case: 23-10920 Document: 84-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/29/2025

No. 23-10920

correctly concedes his argument is foreclosed. See United States v. Diaz, 116 F.4th 458, 462 (5th Cir. 2024). His facial Second Amendment challenge is also foreclosed. See United States v. Contreras, 125 F.4th 725, 729 (5th Cir. 2025). His unpreserved as- applied challenge fails on plain error review because he has not shown that applying § 922(g)(1) based on his prior drug-trafficking felonies amounts to clear or obvious error. See United States v. Jones, 88 F.4th 571, 573-74 (5th Cir. 2023), cert. denied, 144 S. Ct. 1081 (2024); United States v. Cisneros, 130 F.4th 472, 476-77 (5th Cir. 2025). AFFIRMED.