PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

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No. 19-1927

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JOHN DOE I; JOHN DOE II,

Appellants

v.

GOVERNOR OF PE NNSYLVANIA;
ATTORNEY GENERA L PENNSYLVANIA;
COMMISSIONER PENNSYLV ANIA STATE POLICE;
PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE

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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern Distri ct of Pennsylvania (D. C. Civil No. 2-16-cv-06039) District Judge: Honorable Joel H. Slomsky

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Argued on December 9, 2019

Before: RESTREPO, ROTH a nd FISHER, Circuit Judges

(Opinion filed: October 14, 2020)2 James W. Porter, III ( ARGUED ) Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
1819 Fifth Avenue North
One Federal Place Birmingham, AL 35203

Marc A. Nadone James P. Sweeney
Tara S. Woodward Bradley Arant Boult Cummings 1615 L Street, N.W.
Suite 1350 Washington, DC 20036

Counsel for Appellants

Claudia M. Tesoro ( ARGUED ) Office of Attorney General of Pennsylvania
1600 Arch Street
Suite 300 Philadelphia, PA 19103

Counsel for Appellees3 Adam J. Kraut
Joshua Prince
Prince Law Offices 646 Lenape Road Bechtelsville, PA 19505

Counsel for Amicus Appellants Allegheny County Sportsmens League; Firearms Owners Against Crime; Gun Owners Foundation; Second Amendment Organization

Peter A. Patterson David H. Tompson Cooper & Kirk 1523 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20036

Counsel for Amicus Appellant Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists

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OPINION

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ROTH, Circuit Judge

John Doe I and John Doe II were evaluated on an emergency basis pursuant to Pennsylvania Mental Health4 Procedures Act (MHPA) Section 302 and were found in need of inpatient treatment. Secti on 6105(c)(4) of the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act (PUFA) prohibits “[any] person who
has been . . . committed to a ment al institution for inpatient care and treatment under [MHPA] [S]ection 302” from possessing
firearms. The Does cha llenge PUFA § 6105(c)(4)’s constitutionality on its face. They argue that it deprives those,
who are certified committable un der MHPA § 302, of their Second Amendment rights without procedural due process. For the reasons below, we hold that the Does have failed to raise a proper challenge to Penns ylvania’s statutory scheme. We will therefore affirm the judgment of the District Court.

I.

A very brief sketch of the fa cts is necessary to provide
context for the Does’ claim. Doe I was certified committable in 2011 after he became depre ssed and his mother took him to an emergency room for an emer gency evaluation. Doe II was
certified committable in 1996 af ter police brought him to a hospital upon learning that he had threatened to harm himself.
Both Does’ commitmen t certification records were reported to
and recorded in the Pennsylvania Instant Check System and the
National Instant Criminal Background Ch eck System databases. As a result, they were prohibited from purchasing firearms when they later attempted to do so.

The Does filed this action in the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylv ania, alleging that PUFA § 6105(c)(4) is facially unconstitutional beca use it deprives all those, who are committed under MH PA § 302, of their Second Amendment rights without procedural due process. The District Court denied the Does’ Motion for Summary5 Judgment and granted summary judgment to the Pennsylvania
defendants. It held that although those committed under MHPA § 302 have a protected liber ty interest in the right to bear arms, PUFA § 6105(c)(4) provides sufficient procedural protections before depriving th em of their Second Amendment rights. The Does appealed. 1

II.

Because the Does mount a facial, rather than an asapplied challenge, we begin with the relevant statutes.

MHPA § 301(a) defines thos e who may be required to undergo involuntary emergenc y examination and mental health treatment. It provides that “[w]henever a person is severely mentally disabled and in need of immediate treatment,” he “may be made su bject to involuntary emergency
examination and treatment.” 2 This section further provides that a “person is severely ment ally disabled wh en, as a result of mental illness, his capacity to exercise self-control, judgment and discretion in the c onduct of his affairs and social relations or to care for his own personal needs is so lessened that he poses a clear and present danger of harm to others or
to himself.” 3

1 The District Court had jurisd iction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, and we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review grants of summary judgment de novo. Foehl v. United
States , 238 F.3d 474, 477 (3d Cir. 2001).

2 50 Pa. C.S. § 7301(a).

3 Id. (emphasis added).6 “Clear and present danger” is determined in accordance with MHPA § 301(b). Under that provision, a clear and present danger to others exists if, within the past thirty days, the person being evaluated has “inflicted or attempted to inflict serious bodily harm on another” and is reasonably likely to do so again. 4 Clear and present danger can also be established if a person is a danger to himself. Such a danger exists if any of
three situations has arisen within the past thirty days: (1) the person has been unable to care fo r himself such that, absent adequate treatment, “death, seri ous bodily injury or serious physical debilitation would ensu e within 30 days”; (2) the person “has attempted suicide” a nd, absent adequate treatment, is reasonably likely to commit suicide; or (3) the person has engaged in substantia l actual or attempted self-mutilation and, absent adequate treatment, actual self-mutilation is reasonably probable. 5

MHPA § 302 authorizes emergency examinations “at a treatment facility upon the certific ation of a physician stating
the need for such ex amination,” upon a wa rrant issued by the county mental health administrator, or “upon application by a physician or other authorized person who has personally observed conduct showing the ne ed for such examination.” 6 A person taken to a facility for th is purpose “must be examined by a physician within two hour s of arrival” to determine whether he “is severely mentally disabled . . . and in need of
immediate treatment.” 7 Only individuals who are found by an examining physician to be “severely menta lly disabled” and to

4 Id. § 7301(b)(1).

5 Id. § 7301(b)(2).

6 Id. § 7302(a).

7 Id. § 7302(b).7 pose a “clear and present danger of harm” to themselves or others can be involuntarily committed pursuant to MHPA §
302. 8

Once a person is certified committable under MHPA § 302, section 6105(c)(4) of PUFA automatically prohibits him from owning or possessing firearms . This restriction under Pennsylvania law also applies to deprive individuals of their gun rights under federal law. 9 Pennsylvania does, however, provide three post-deprivation remedies to those who seek recovery of their firearm rights: (1) a determination by a court that an applicant is not a risk to himself or others, 10 (2) a challenge to the accuracy of the mental health record, 11 and (3) an expungement of the commi tment record because of
insufficient evidence. 12

III.

The Does argue that they a nd all others, who have been prohibited from possessing firear ms under PUFA § 6105(c)(4) and MHPA § 302, have been st ripped of a protected liberty
interest under the Fourteenth Amendment: their Second Amendment right to bear ar ms. The Second Amendment

8 Id . § 7301(b)(a).

9 18 Pa. C.S. § 6105(c)(4); 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4).

10 Id. § 6105(f)(1). Relief under this statute would also result
in restoration of firearm rights under federal law. See U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF Form 321012, Certification of Qualifying Relief from Disabilities Program (March 2016).

11 18 Pa. C.S. § 6111.1(e).

12 Id. § 6111.1(g)(2).8 states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” 13 In District of Columbia v.
Heller , the Supreme Court determined that at the “core” of the Second Amendment is the right of “law-abiding, responsible
citizens to use arms in de fense of hearth and home.” 14 The
Court in Heller emphasized, however, that there are “presumptively lawful regulatory measures” that can restrict that right, and that the Court was decidedly not “cast[ing] doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill.” 15

We have consistently hewed to the exceptions that
Heller preserved. 16 As we stated in Beers v. Att’y Gen. United States, 17 to determine whether a category of people is excluded
from the Second Amendment under Heller , “we look at the historic, traditional justifications for barring a class of individuals from possessing guns.” In Beers , we held that the plaintiff lacked a right to bear arms because he was part of “the

13 Id. amend. II.

14 554 U.S. 570, 635 (2008). And the right applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. See McDonald v. City of Chicago , 561 U.S. 742, 791 (2010).

15 Heller, 554 U.S. at 626.

16 See, e.g

., Binderup v. Attorney General United States of America , 836 F.3d 336, 347-48 (3d Cir. 2016) (en banc); United States v. Marzzarella

, 614 F.3d 85, 89-92 (3d Cir. 2010).

17 927 F.3d 150, 153 (3d Cir. 2019), vacated on other grounds

, Beers v. Barr , No. 19-864, 2020 WL 2515441 (U.S. May 18, 2020).9 historically-barred class of me ntally ill individuals who were excluded from Second Amendment protection.” 18 In configuring the “historically-barred class,” we concluded that
it consists of “individuals who were considered dangerous to the public or to themselves.” 19

As to who is vested with authority to determine that one is a danger to oneself or the pu blic, and on what grounds that person may do so, we now make explicit what was implicit in
Beers , that we defer to the rele vant statute’s reasonable standards and designations. The relevant statute in Beers was 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4), which prohibits firearm possession in
instances where one has been de termined “a danger to himself
or others” “as a result of . . . mental illness.” 20 In Beers we deferred to § 922(g)(4) and to MHPA §§ 302–04, under which the plaintiff had been involunt arily committed, in concluding that he was a danger to himself or others as a result of mental
illness. 21

In the case at bar, PUFA § 6105(c)(4) and MHPA § 302
are the relevant statutes for dete rmining that an individual is a danger to himself or others as a result of mental illness; it is to these statutes that we defer. We find no reason to second-guess the adequacy of Pennsylvania’s requirement under MHPA § 302 that a physician determine th at one is a danger to himself
or others as a result of mental illness and is “severely mentally
disabled . . . and in need of immediate treatment.” Thus, once a person has been involuntarily committed under MHPA § 302,

18 Id . at 157.

19 Id

. 20 Id.

21 Id.10 that person has joined the cla ss of those historically without Second Amendment rights.

Left without a Second Amen dment right, the Does can make only two challenges. Th ey can challeng e MHPA § 302 on procedural due process groun ds—that is, that MHPA § 302 provides inadequate procedure before involuntarily temporarily committing someone. Or they can challenge PUFA § 6105(c)(4) on subs tantive Second Amendment grounds—that is, that involunt ary temporary commitment does
not fall under Heller ’s mental illness exception and therefore PUFA § 6105(c)(4) is substan tively unconstitutional. The Does have made it expressly clear that they are br inging neither challenge. 22 In presenting an appeal, parties must formulate the correct challenge on their own and brief us accordingly. “[W]e will not manufacture arguments [for them].” 23

IV.

For the above reasons, we will affirm the order of the District Court, granting defe ndants’ Motion for Summary Judgment.

22 Pet. Br. 17, 20-21.

23 Guatay Christian Fellowshi p v. Cty. of San Diego , 670 F.3d 957, 987 (9th Cir. 2011) (first alteration “[w]” in original; the change to “[W]” is added here.) (quoting Greenwood v. FAA

, 28 F.3d 971, 977 (9th Cir. 1994)).1 John Doe I, et al. v. Governor of Pennsylvania, et al. , No. 19-
1927

FISHER, Circuit Judge , concurring in the judgment. The majority affirms the District Court’s opinion on the basis that the Does have failed to raise a proper challenge to Pennsylvania’s statutory scheme. To come to that conclusion, my colleagues hold that “once a person has been involuntarily committed under MHPA § 302, that person has joined the class of those historically without Se cond Amendment rights.” Maj. Op. III. However, I believe that the issue of whether Section
302 committees retain their Second Amendment right to possess firearms is a close ques tion. Because we do not need
to reach this issue in order to de cide the case before us, it is, as a matter of judicial restraint, best left for another day. Therefore, I respectfully disagree with the majority’s reasoning and concur in the judgment only. I would affirm the District Court on less contentious ground s: that, assuming without deciding that Section 302 co mmittees retain their Second Amendment right to possess firearms—and thus have a protected liberty interest—there is no Fourteenth Amendment
violation because the State’s post-deprivation procedures provide Section 302 committees adequate due process. The Does argue that PUFA § 6105(c)(4) is facially unconstitutional because it depr ives them, and all other similarly situated individuals, of the right to bear arms without due process of law. They sou ght a declaration that PUFA § 6105(c)(4) violates Fourteenth Amendment procedural due process as to those whose only disqualifying event is that they
were certified committabl e under MHPA § 302. We use a two-pronged analys is to evaluate whether a
law violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
The court must ask whether there is a protected life, liberty, or2 property interest at stake, a nd if so, whether the procedures afforded amount to “due process of law.” Robb v. City of Philadelphia , 733 F.2d 286, 292 (3d Cir. 1984) (citing Bd. of Regents of State Colls. v. Roth , 408 U.S. 564, 569-72 (1972)). Therefore, we would normally begin our analysis by evaluating the asserted protected liberty interest. However, the Supreme
Court has warned that when confronted with difficult questions, we should “confine our selves to deciding only what is necessary to the dispositio n of the immediate case.”
Whitehouse v. Ill. Cent. R.R. Co ., 349 U.S. 366, 373 (1955); see also Lyng v. Nw. Indian Cemetery Protective Assn ., 485 U.S. 439, 445 (1988) (“A fundamental and longstanding principle of judicial restrain t requires that courts avoid reaching constitutional questions in advance of the necessity of deciding them.”); Ashwander v. Tenn. Valley Auth. , 297 U.S. 288, 347 (1936) (Brandeis, J., c oncurring) (“It is not the habit
of the court to decide questions of a cons titutional nature unless absolutely necessary to a decision of the case.” (citation omitted)). Because Pennsylvania’s post- deprivation procedures provide Section 302 committees with adequate due process, regardless of whether the Does have a protected liberty interest, we need not decide in this case whether they retain a Second Amendment right to possess firearms. Assuming, then, that the Does have a protected liberty interest, the question becomes wh ether the procedures afforded amount to “due process of law.” Robb , 733 F.2d at 292. The Does first contend that they are entitled to pre-deprivation procedures before being permanen tly deprived of their Second Amendment rights. However, such procedures are not constitutionally required in ever y case. “[T]he Supreme Court ‘has recognized, on many occasions, that where a State must act quickly, or where it would be impractical to provide3 predeprivation process, postdep rivation process satisfies the requirements of the Due Process Clause.’” Nat’l Amusements Inc. v. Borough of Palmyra , 716 F.3d 57, 62 (3d Cir. 2013) (quoting Gilbert v. Homar , 520 U.S. 924, 930 (1997)). In
Gilbert , for example, the Court he ld that a police officer arrested on drug charges wa s not entitled to notice and a hearing prior to being suspended without pay because of the state’s significant interest in the officer’s immediate suspension. 520 U.S. at 932-34. To determine what procedur es the Constitution requires in a particular case, including whether pre-deprivation procedures are required a nd whether post-deprivation procedures are constitutionally ad equate, a court must consider
three factors: First, the private interest that will be affected by the official action; second, the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards; and finally, the Government’s interest, including the function involved and the
fiscal and administrative burdens that the
additional or substitute procedural requirement
would entail.

Mathews v. Eldridge , 424 U.S. 319, 335 (1976). As noted, I assume, under the first factor, that a Section 302 committee has a protected liber ty interest in the right to bear arms. The other factors, however, weigh in favor of finding that pre-deprivation pr ocedures are not necessary in
this case. As to the second fact or, risk of erroneous deprivation
is low because a S ection 302 committee had to have posed a “clear and present danger” to hims elf or others at the time of4 his commitment. A physician would have had to examine the individual, and only if the phys ician makes this determination
is the individual committed unde r Section 302. Furthermore, additional pre-deprivation safe guards have little value here. The District Court aptly observed, for example, that “[n]othing in [PUFA § 6105(c )(4)] suggests that only Section 302 committees on the more dangerous or severe end of the mental health spectrum are subject to the firearms prohibition. Thus, a hearing to determine where a Section 302 committee falls on that spectrum is not relevant to the statutory scheme and has no value.” J.A. 38. Finally, the third factor also weighs against the necessity of a pre-deprivatio n hearing. Pennsylvania has a prevailing interest in public safety and ensuring that potentially dangerous individuals are not permitted to own deadly

weapons. Thus, as two of the three Mathews factors weigh against the Does, in my view the Dist rict Court correctly concluded that Section 302 committees’ due process right does not require pre-deprivation procedures. The Does next argue that, even if pre-deprivation remedies are not constitutionally required here, the available post-deprivation remedies ar e constitutionally inadequate. There are three post-deprivation procedures available to an
individual who seeks to lift th e firearm restriction imposed by PUFA § 6105(c)(4) as a result of a Section 302 commitment. First, an individual can file a petition in the Court of Common Pleas, asserting that he is no lo nger mentally ill and should be allowed to own a gun. 18 Pa. Cons. Stat . § 6105(f)(1). Both state and federal firearm right s are restored “if the court determines that the applican t may possess a firearm without risk to the applicant or any other person.” Id. This process
allows for a full evid entiary hearing in the Court of Common5 Pleas at which both parties have the right to pr esent evidence
and cross-examine witnesses. The predominant thrust of the Does’ argument was that there is no meaningful due pr ocess because PUFA § 6105(f)(1) cannot undo the federal firearms disqualification. However, since July 1, 2019, relief under this provision also results in restoration of firearm rights under federal law. See U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF Form 321012, Certification of Qualifying Relief from Disabilities Program (March 2016). Second, an individual can s eek to have his Section 302 commitment expunged by “petition[ing] the court to review the sufficiency of the evidence upon which the commitment was
based.” 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 6111.1(g)(2). Successful expungement under this section results in the restoration of both state and federal firearms rights. Third, an individual can submit a challenge to the Pennsylvania State Police that co ntests the accuracy of his or
her mental health record. 18 Pa . Cons. Stat. § 6111.1(e). “If the challenge is ruled invalid,” the individual has “the right to appeal the decision to the Attorney Genera l” of Pennsylvania, at which point an Administ rative Law Judge will hold a hearing de novo. Id. § 6111.1(e)(3). Th e Administrative Law Judge’s decision may be app ealed to the Pennsylvania
Commonwealth Court. Id. § 6111.1(e)(4). Where a state provides adequate post-deprivation remedies, it does not violat e the Due Process Clause. Parratt v. Taylor , 451 U.S. 527, 538–39 (1981), overruled on other grounds by Daniels v. Williams , 474 U.S. 327 (1986). PUFA’s three post-deprivation remedies are adequate because they satisfy the Mathews test. A Section 302 committee’s lib erty interest (which is assumed for my purposes here) must be weighed against the6 state’s strong interest in public safety and, hence, in proceeding cautiously before permitting indi viduals who once “pose[d] a clear and present danger” to reac quire firearms. 50 Pa. Stat. § 7301(a). Given that the risk of erroneous deprivation is low and that the value of additional proced ural safeguards is negligible in this case, the balance weighs against the Does. The risk of erroneous deprivation can still be low even if not every questioned deprivation is undon e—there may be real reasons for not restoring every Sec tion 302 committee’s firearms rights. According to Pennsylvani a State Police statistics, fortyone Section 302 committees pursu ed restoration through one of the three available post-depriv ation procedures in 2017. Of that number, seventeen individual s were successful. It is also no longer the case that a succe ssful PUFA § 6105(f) petitioner cannot have his federal rights restored. See ATF Form 321012. Thus, there is nothing “perma nent” about PUFA § 6105(c)(4), as the Does suggest. Appellants’ Br. 40. As the District Court correctly determined that the three post-deprivation procedures satis fy due process, there is no Fourteenth Amendment violation, and I would affirm on that
basis. For these reasons, I concur in the judgment affirming
the District Court.