Second Amendment

Supreme Court Ruling Offers Hope to an Iowa Marijuana User Who Got 4 Years for Owning Guns

The Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Hemani could open the door to relief for cannabis consumers convicted of illegal gun possession.

Jacob Sullum | 6.24.2026 4:18 PM

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Alexander Ledvina (Mark Ledvina/Envato)

Last week in United States v. Hemani, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the government may not strip people of their Second Amendment rights or prosecute them for illegal gun possession simply because they are marijuana users. That decision was good news for Alexander Ledvina, an Iowa cannabis consumer who received a four-year prison sentence because he owned guns.

Ledvina, who was 26 when he was arrested in June 2023, has been incarcerated since then. In a recent letter from the federal prison in Memphis, which he wrote on the same day that the Supreme Court decided Hemani but before he knew the outcome, Ledvina reports that he is scheduled to be released on July 15, six days before his 30th birthday, thanks to the expanded "good conduct" and "earned" time credits authorized by the FIRST STEP Act of 2018. Hemani therefore won't figure in Ledvina's time behind bars. But it improves his chances of overturning his conviction, which could restore his Second Amendment rights and remove the other lifelong burdens associated with a felony record.

Ledvina's situation illustrates the potential impact of Hemani. The decision not only constrains future prosecutions but also opens the door to relief for people previously convicted under 18 USC 922(g)(3), which makes it a felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, for an "unlawful user" of "any controlled substance" to possess a firearm. Many of those convictions will now be subject to challenge, since the Supreme Court said Section 922(g)(3) prosecutions are unconstitutional when they are based on nothing beyond the elements specified by the statute.

The Supreme Court case involved Ali Hemani, a Texas man who admitted he owned a pistol and used marijuana a few times a week. Although that would have been enough to convict him of violating Section 922(g)(3), the Court said the Second Amendment requires more.

Writing for the majority in Hemani, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that the decision leaves open the possibility that gun-owning drug users can be........

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