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Gun Law Update - The Heller Case
by Alan Korwin, Co-Author
Supreme Court Gun Cases
June 25, 2008
Chief Justice John Roberts announced less than an hour ago that the
Supreme Court would release its three remaining decisions tomorrow,
Thu., 6/26/08, beginning at 10 a.m., Eastern time.
This includes D.C. v. Heller, the Washington, D.C. gun-ban case that is
examining the meaning of the Second Amendment, and whether a complete
ban on any operable gun in a private home violates the constitutional
rights of individual citizens.
I plan to have a quick review of the highlights of the case within
three hours of its release. A more detailed review is planned before the
end of June.
Every news outlet on the planet is expected to cover the case in some
fashion. Typically, "news" reports on gun issues have errors, spin,
editorial mixed in with fact, and should be taken with at least a grain
of skepticism until detailed analysis is available. The decision could
be lengthy (perhaps 100 pages according to one knowledgeable party), and
will take a while to digest in its entirety.
The other two remaining cases are Davis v. FEC (campaign finance), and
American Electric Power (energy contracts).
The law firm of Akin Gump is predicting with a high degree of
confidence that Justice Scalia will be the author of the principle
opinion in the Heller decision.
My firm Bloomfield Press is preparing a book on the Heller case, as a
supplement to "Supreme Court Gun Cases" by Kopel, Halbrook and Korwin,
released in 2003. It will contain extensive background, commentary by
numerous leading experts, summaries of all 96 gun-related cases that
have been heard by the High Court, and complete text of Heller with key
elements highlighted throughout. Advance orders will be taken when we
know what the page count will be, hopefully within 30 days of the
decision.
That's it for now.
See you tomorrow.
Alan Korwin.