Ali Hemani

Ali Hemani is a CLEAR client whose case before the Supreme Court of the United States could determine whether the federal government can criminalize firearm possession by people labeled “unlawful users” of controlled substances.

On March 2, the Court heard oral argument in U.S. v. Hemani, which challenges 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3)—a federal law that prohibits firearm possession by anyone considered an “unlawful user” of a controlled substance. After agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched Mr. Hemani’s home and found marijuana, prosecutors charged him under this law, even though his firearm was legally owned and safely stored.

Mr. Hemani asked the district court to dismiss the charge, arguing that applying the law to him violated the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The court agreed and dismissed the case, finding no evidence that he was intoxicated when he possessed the firearm. The government appealed, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

Mr. Hemani’s legal team argues that the statute is unconstitutionally vague and inconsistent with the nation’s history of firearm regulation. They also warn that laws without clear limits invite selective enforcement.

CLEAR has supported Mr. Hemani and his family since 2022, after it became evident that the federal government had targeted them in part because of their religious identity and practices as Shia Muslims.

The Court is expected to issue a decision by June 2026.

“The Second Amendment doesn't support disarming and prosecuting somebody for mere possession of a firearm if they happen to have used marijuana occasionally. If the court rules against Hemani, she says, "the statute could apply to anybody. It could apply to somebody who uses something like a marijuana sleep gummy.”