By a vote of 272 to 154. (The vote on the motion to recommit was 161 to 263). On the final vote, 44 Democrats voted in favor, and 7 Republicans voted against. H.R. 822 now goes to the Senate. In the previous Congress, a broader bill on interstate carry was narrowly defeated by a filibuster […]
Author Archive | David Kopel
Book review, “Election 2012: The Battle Begins”
Back in the olden days, readers interested in the history of a presidential race would have to wait until the year after the election to read a book about it. Theodore White created the genre of presidential campaign books with The Making of the President 1960. It was published in 1961. White wrote three more […]
Bleg: The American Revolution as a guide to modern law
The American Revolution took place because of various abuses of the rights of Americans by the British government. So when we seek to understand the rights of citizens in the nation that was created by that Revolution, one useful guide is looking at the negative example of what the Americans were revolting against. For example, […]
What are the most influential law school casebooks of all time?
One way to judge might be to consider which casebooks played a mjor role in getting their particular subject widely adopted as a class in American law schools. Among the top contenders might be: Ernst Freund, Cases on Administrative Law (1911); and Richard W. Jennings & Harold Marsh, Securities Regulation: Cases and Materials (1963). Ranking […]
President: “I do not believe in the Divinity of Christ.”
The President also said that he did not believe “in the literal truth of the creed as it is recited in the orthodox evangelical churches.” He did, however, believe that Jesus had set forth an outstanding system of moral precepts. Although the general views above were shared by Thomas Jefferson, the President quoted above was William Howard […]
Arizona Sheriffs call for special prosecutor in Fast & Furious
Ten of Arizona’s 15 county sheriffs, including Democrats and Republicans, have called for the appointment of a federal special prosecutor in the Fast & Furious scandal.
A quarter century of civil rights progress: Spread of the right to carry
An excellent graph at No Lawyers, Only Guns and Money, shows the story. We’ve come a long way, baby. And there’s still a long way to go. In Illinois, the right to carry is completely forbidden by law. In eight other states, handgun carry licensing laws are highly arbitrary. With a few exceptions (e.g., upstate […]
Crime plummets in Chicago and DC after handguns re-legalized
So explains John Lott, in an opinion column for Foxnews.com. Not a surprising result. The McDonald v. Chicago amicus brief I wrote for the International Law Enforcements Educators & Trainers Association (and other law enforcement organizations, and criminologists) showed that after Chicago enacted its handgun ban, its violent crime rate rose sharply. Pre-ban, Chicago had […]
What Should the Supreme Court do with the Obamacare Case?
By David Kopel on October 3, 2011 1:07 pm in Commerce Clause, Constitutional Law, Health Care, Individual Mandate
That’s the question posed today over at Scotusblog. It’s the premiere of the Scotusblog Community, which aims to encourage discussions by Scotusblog readers. To start the ball rolling, Scotusblog solicited short comments (up to 2 paragraphs) from Erwin Chemerinsky, Dawn Johnsen, Ilya Shapiro, Stephen Presser, Adam Winkler, and me, among others. My answer to what […]
Right to bear arms lawsuit in Illinois: Professors’ amicus brief
Currently before the Illinois Supreme Court is People v. Aguilar, which raises the question of whether Illinois can, consistently with the Second Amendment, prohibit the carrying of firearms for lawful self-defense in public places. Illinois is the only state with such a blanket prohibition. Illinois state law bans open and concealed carry, and has no procedure […]
New law school textbook on the Second Amendment and firearms regulation
Very early next year–in time for 2d semester classes in the 2011-12 academic year–Aspen Publishers will publish the first law school textbook on the the Second Amendment. The title is Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy. The co-authors are Nicholas Johnson (Fordham), Michael O’Shea (Oklahoma City), George Mocsary (Connecticut), and me. […]
Congressional hearing on interstate handgun carry reciprocity
By David Kopel on September 14, 2011 10:21 pm in Congress, Federalism, Fourteenth Amendment, Guns, McDonald v. City of Chicago, Right to carry
On Tuesday I testified before the U.S. House subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, regarding H.R. 822, which would set up a national system of interstate reciprocity for concealed handgun carry permits. My 24-page written testimony is here. The video of the subcommittee hearing is about and hour and 45 minutes. Nearly all members […]
Why the Obamacare penalty is not a “tax”
Rob Natelson explains it all in his latest blog post. Short answer: if the purpose of the tax is raising revenue (e.g., the Stamp Act), it’s a tax. If the purpose is the regulation of commerce (e.g., a prohibitive tariff on imported French clothing; a shipping tax dedicated to paying for harbor improvements), then it’s […]
Does requiring the people of a state to vote on tax increases violate the Republican Form of Government guarantee?
By David Kopel on September 8, 2011 8:32 pm in Congress, Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Democracy, Election Law, Supreme Court
That’s the question raised by a lawsuit in Colorado’s federal district court, in the case of Kerr v. Hickenlooper. In an amicus brief, I suggest that the answer is “no.” The brief relies heavily on the scholarship of my Independence Institute colleague Rob Natelson, who happens to be the leading scholarly expert on the Guarantee […]
Who wants to provoke a constitutional crisis over abortion?
Today South Carolina Republican Senator Jim Demint hosted a forum at which five Republican presidential candidates spoke. The transcript is here. Each candidate appeared one at a time, and the format allowed for in-depth questions and answers. Among the questioners was Princeton University’s Robert George. Prof. George asked each candidate if he or she would support […]