Legal Commentary

Awaiting the Supreme Court's Second Amendment Decision

By Jeralyn

Will today be the day the Supreme Court issues its long-awaited opinion in D.C. v. Heller, deciding the constitutionality of D.C.'s handgun ban and settling the question of whether the Second Amendment conveys an individual right to bear arms?

Several court watchers think so. Concurring Opinions believes it will be authored by Justice Anton Scalia, who has yet to write an opinion in the March sitting cases. Heller is also the only case remaining among the March sitting cases. [Hat tip Instapundit.]

Court-watchers have noticed that, with the issuance of yesterday's opinion by Justice Souter in the right-to-counsel case of Rothgery v. Gillespie County, the only case left from the Supreme Court's March sitting is D.C. v. Heller, and the only Justice who hasn't written any majority opinions from that sitting is ... Justice Antonin Scalia. Tom Goldstein thinks it's "exceptionally likely" that Scalia was assigned to write the Court's lead opinion in the most important Second Amendment case in American history.

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What could that mean for the decision in Heller? As I'll explain, I think a Scalia-authored opinion would be great news for those who are mainly concerned with the Second Amendment as a limit on federal gun control, but somewhat ambiguous news -- at least in the short term -- for those who hope for the incorporation of the Second Amendment as a check on state and municipal governments.

Scotus Blog will be live-blogging the opinions, using the same live-blogging software we used on primary election nights and during the presidential debates. I'm glad to see another blog picking up on it. It's a great way to reduce server load because constant refreshing of the page isn't required.

Goldstein of Scotus Blog believes if Scalia authors the opinion:

So, that’s a good sign for advocates of a strong individual rights conception of the Second Amendment and a bad sign for D.C.

TalkLeft is a strong supporter of the view that the Second Amendment conveys an individual right to bear arms. I don't believe in relinquishing any constitutional right. After all, the Second Amendment is only one away from the Fourth (considering the practical irrelevancy of the Third Amendment since the Revolutionary War.)

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 25, 2008 (boomark / email).