Showing papers by "Nelson Lund published in 2015"
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TL;DR: The National Constitution Center asked two professors to discuss the meaning of the Second Amendment as discussed by the authors, one nominated by the Federalist Society and the other by the American Constitution Society, and they agreed on the principal points of agreement between the two contributors.
Abstract: The National Constitution Center asked two professors — one nominated by the Federalist Society and one nominated by the American Constitution Society — to discuss the meaning of the Second Amendment. The exchange, which appears on the Interactive Constitution web site, begins with a co-authored statement that articulates the principal points of agreement between the two contributors. It is followed by individual statements addressing several issues on which the contributors disagree.
9 citations
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TL;DR: O'Scannlain and Sykes as discussed by the authors argued that one of them is better than the others, at least for purposes of adjudication under the Second Amendment, and argued that Judges Diarmuid O'ScANNlain and Diane Sykes have shown that the right way to decide cases in this nascent area of constitutional law.
Abstract: In Heller v. District of Columbia, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to keep and bear arms for self-defense. In McDonald v. City of Chicago, the Court held that this right is also protected from infringement by the states under the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, many important decisions about the reach of government’s regulatory authority will henceforth come from the federal courts. The scope of the Second Amendment right, however, has not yet been clarified, either by the Supreme Court or by a consensus of the lower courts.This short symposium contribution sketches out several possible approaches to defining the scope of the right, and argues that one of them is better than the others, at least for purposes of adjudication under the Second Amendment. The essay argues that Judges Diarmuid O’Scannlain and Diane Sykes have shown — more clearly than the Supreme Court has yet done — the right way to decide cases in this nascent area of constitutional law.
1 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, a short comment suggests that we may have witnessed an important cultural shift that was driven in part by public policy experiments at the state level, and that the shift is likely to endure because those experiments proved successful and because of subsequent developments in constitutional law that are consistent with changed public attitudes.
Abstract: Gallup polling data going back to 1959 shows a dramatic decline in public support for bans on handguns. This short comment suggests that we may have witnessed an important cultural shift that was driven in part by public policy experiments at the state level. The shift is likely to endure because those experiments proved successful and because of subsequent developments in constitutional law that are consistent with changed public attitudes.
1 citations
TL;DR: Balkin and Calabresi as discussed by the authors argue that the marriage will leave originalism in much the same position as the legal death that married women experienced under the old rules of coverture.
Abstract: In a brilliant theoretical maneuver, Professor Jack Balkin has proposed to marry originalism and living constitutionalism. His move resembles President Jefferson’s appeal to Americans, in his First Inaugural Address, to accept that “we are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.” If Balkin’s goal is to send originalism to the same fate as the Federalist Party, he has already made substantial progress.This short essay begins with a summary of the core features of Balkin’s theory. It then turns to the recent work of Professor Steven G. Calabresi. A founder of the Federalist Society who clerked for Judge Robert Bork and Justice Antonin Scalia, Calabresi was also a special assistant to Attorney General Meese and a speechwriter for Vice President Quayle. He went on to become one of the most frequently cited academic originalists of his generation, but he has now fully converted to Balkin’s “living originalism.”Calabresi’s conversion suggests that wedding bells are ringing pretty loudly for Balkin’s union of two theories that were once thought to be irreconcilable. This essay argues that the marriage will leave originalism in much the same position as the legal death that married women experienced under the old rules of coverture.
1 citations