People v. McCorkle

Summary

The Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District, affirmed the dismissal of Arnez McCorkle’s section 2-1401 petition challenging his aggravated unlawful use of a weapon conviction. The court held that the challenged provision prohibiting firearm possession by a person previously adjudicated delinquent for an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult was constitutional on its face and as applied under the Second Amendment analysis of New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen. A specially concurring justice agreed with the judgment but would have applied a different Bruen analysis concerning whether the defendant was protected by the Second Amendment.

Holdings

1. Section 24-1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(D) is facially constitutional under the Second Amendment because the State established that the prohibition on firearm possession by persons adjudicated delinquent for acts that would have been felonies if committed by adults is consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.
2. Section 24-1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(D) is constitutional as applied to McCorkle, whose prohibition was based on a prior juvenile adjudication for an act that would have been a felony if committed by an adult.
3. The defendant was not entitled to section 2-1401 relief because his petition was filed nearly six years after judgment and he did not establish that the voidness exception to the two-year filing limitation applied.

Questions Presented

1. Whether section 24-1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(D) of the Illinois AUUW statute is facially unconstitutional under the Second Amendment after New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen.
2. Whether section 24-1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(D) is unconstitutional as applied to a person whose firearm prohibition is based on a prior juvenile delinquency adjudication for an act that would have been a felony if committed by an adult.
3. Whether the defendant could obtain relief from judgment through a section 2-1401 petition despite filing it more than two years after judgment.

Disposition

affirmed