United States v. Games-Perez

On 24 July 2009, a judge had told Games-Perez, when he was pleading guilty to armed robbery, "Here is what will happen today, if I accept your plea today, hopefully you will leave this courtroom not convicted of a felony and instead granted the privilege of a deferred judgment, which means you will be supervised by the Department of Probation for a period of two years."

Less than one year later, on 9 May 2010, Games-Perez was caught by members of the Denver police force in possession of a loaded Hi-Point .380 caliber pistol with an obliterated serial number.

The court ruled that "regardless of whatever else Mr. Games-Perez may have thought, it was pellucidly clear to him that he could not violate his probation, by possessing a firearm, and escape the consequences of his felony conviction." Neil Gorsuch, in his concurrence, wrote, "Our duty to follow precedent sometimes requires us to make mistakes. Unfortunately, this is that sort of case."[1] In response to this, Pete Ambler, executive director of Americans for Responsible Solutions, claimed, "Judge Gorsuch's views are so outside the mainstream that he has gone out of his way to side with felons over public safety."[2]