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June 26, 2024
"Guns, Judges, and Trump"
The title of this post is the title of this notabe new article authored by Rebecca Brown, Lee Epstein and Mitu Gulati. Here is its abstract:
This Essay reports data on the impact of Bruen and its predecessor, Heller, on gun rights cases. Put mildly, the impact was significant, increasing not only the number of cases in the courts but also the partisanship displayed in the application of Bruen. And that partisanship increase was particularly large on the part of Trump-appointed judges. The Supreme Court has now decided Rahimi, its first opportunity to apply Bruen. While the Court's new decision blunted some of the sharpest concerns raised by Bruen, it did not eliminate the key concern, recommitting itself to a test that places considerable unguided discretion in judges, inviting partisan bias. Thus, the revolution that the Court has wrought through Bruen and Heller seems only to have just begun.
June 26, 2024 at 09:11 PM | Permalink
Comments
While many academics and practitioners are focused on the effect of Bruen on the Federal gun laws, 18 U.S.C. sec. 922(g), the readers should also realize than in many state courts, defense counsel is using Bruen and its Federal progeny to seek to get state gun laws declared unconstitutional. In Kentucky, one Circuit Judge has declared Kentucky's "felon in possession of a handgun" statute unconstitutional. A second Circuit Judge has declared unconstitutional the Kentucky law that prohibits possession of a firearm on school property, for which there is definitely no historical precedent between 1791 and 1984. What are the readers seeing in their states, in terms of using Bruen to get state gun laws declared unconstitutional?
Posted by: Jim Gormley | Jun 27, 2024 8:01:39 AM
https://reason.com/2024/06/27/he-faced-a-terrorism-probe-went-to-jail-on-a-gun-charge-and-now-is-charged-with-drug-possession/
Might be something your readers are interested in . . . .
Posted by: federalist | Jun 27, 2024 9:57:24 AM
