Here in Massachusetts a defendant charged with certain crimes (referred to a “predicate offenses”) can be deemed “dangerous” and detained for up to 120 days without the right to bail.
The statute allowing such a detention is G.L. c. 276, Sec. 58A which most lawyers refer to simply as “58A.”
(For more on 58A detentions, see my post Criminal Pretrial Detention: “Dangerousness” and 58A Motions.)
In 2022 the SJC concluded that unlawful gun possession–under G.L. c. 269, Sec. 10(a)–can be a “constitutional predicate offense” which justifies a 58A detention. See Vega v. Commonwealth, 490 Mass. 226.
Shortly after that decision, the U.S. Supreme Court in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen significantly strengthened gun owners’ rights–concluding, in part, that “the constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.”
Citing Bruen, a defendant–held pursuant to 58A–petitioned the SJC to reconsider whether unlawful possession of a firearm can, in fact, be a “constitutional predicate offense.”
The question is interesting and the defendant’s argument is sound.
Alas, due to the glacial pace of the judiciary, the defendant was released before the question came before the justices.
Accordingly, they refused to consider the issue, claiming that the matter is now moot.
Nevertheless, it seems likely that–given the right circumstances–the issue may be raised again in a more timely manner.
The text of the SJC’s decision is attached.