A Series of Faculty Talks:
Understanding the Work of the U.S. Supreme Court
A Lunchtime Series of Informal Faculty Talks
12:45 PM in Room 138
District of Columbia v. Heller: Interpreting the Second Amendment
A discussion with Professor Thomas Crocker.
Tuesday November 11, 2008
District of Columbia et al. v. Heller, 554 US ___, 128 S.Ct. 2783(2008)
Questions Presented:
- Whether the Second Amendment forbids the District of Columbia from banning private possession of handguns while allowing possession of rifles and shotguns.
Held:
- the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms;
- statutes banning handgun possession in the home violated Second Amendment; and
- statute containing prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for purpose of immediate self-defense violated Second Amendment.
Opinion
Merit Briefs
Amicus Briefs
- Brief for Members of Congress in Support of Reversal
- Brief for Violence Policy Center and the Police Chiefs for the Cities of Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Seattle in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Major American Cities, the United State Conference of Mayors and Legal Community Against Violence in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Jack N. Rakove, Saul Cornell, David T. Konig, William J. Novak, Lois G. Schwoerer et al. in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for American Public Health Association, American College of Preventive Medicine, American Trauma Society, and American Association of Suicidology in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the City of Chicago and the Board of Education of the City of Chicago in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Medicine, the Childrens Defense Fund, Women Against Gun Violence, and Youth Alive! in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Support of Petitioners
- Brief for the American Bar Association in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Major Cities Chiefs, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association, National Black Police Association, the National Latino Peace Officers Association, School Safety Advocacy Council, and the Police Executive Research Forum in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for New York, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Puerto Rico in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the Pink Pistols and Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty in Support of Respondent
- Brief for the National Rifle Association and the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund in Support of Respondent
- Brief for the States of Texas, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming in Support of Respondent
Transcript of Oral Argument
Commentary
- Overview of Heller, with summaries and analysis of the petition for certiorari, oral arguments, and court opinion (Scotuswiki.com).
- Adam Liptak, “Ruling on Guns Elicit Rebuke from the Right”, New York Times, October 20, 2008.
- Posner, Richard A. In Defense of Looseness, The New Republic, August 27, 2008.
- Sunstein, Cass. Second Amendment Minimalism: Heller as Griswold. Harvard Law Review forthcoming. This paper can be downloaded free of charge from the Social Science Research Network.
- Wilkinson, J. Harvie, III. Of Guns, Abortions, and the Unraveling Rule of Law. Virginia Law Review, forthcoming. This paper can be downloaded free of charge from the Social Science Research Network.
- Winning the D.C. Gun Ban Case: The Attorneys Discuss (video). Hosted by Patton Boggs Foundation, July 25, 2008, Washington, D.C. Lead attorneys Walter Dellinger (for the District of Columbia) and Alan Gura (for Heller) discuss the case.
- Burkett, Maxine. Much Ado about … Something Else: D.C. Heller, the Racialized Mythology of the Second Amendment, and Gun Policy reform, University of Colorado Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 08-11.
- “Justices Rules for Individual Gun Rights”, Linda Greenhouse, New York Times, June 27, 2008.
- “Court: A Constitutional Right to a Gun”, Lyle Denniston, Scotusblog, June 26, 2008.
- Heller Discussion Board, Scotusblog.
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