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Shelly Parker, et al. v. District of Columbia, et al.
This case has been renamed to DC v. Heller, as Parker was dismissed from the suit for "lack of standing".
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| Update 3/19/2008: Oral Arguments heard before the Supreme Court |
| D.C. Court of Appeals: Opinion | Dissent |
This is one of the most important 2nd Amendment cases to come along since US v. Miller.
This ruling was made by the D.C. Court of Appeals, and absolutely establishes the 2nd Amendment as a fundamental, individual right. The deciding judges include a lot of scholarship on the 2nd Amendment and really did a good job of covering the history and real purpose of the amendment better than just about anything else I've seen.
Here's the money quote:
To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedient for the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, to placate their Antifederalist opponents. The individual right facilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not be barred from keeping the arms they would need when called forth for militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second Amendment's civic purpose, however, the activities it protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the militia.
Updates:
The District of Columbia petitioned for an en banc hearing on 4.9.2007. The petition is here.
On 1.4.2008, the District of Columbia submitted it's brief to the Supreme Court.
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| The State of Georgia, versus Brailsford, et al. |
| Commentary |
This is an interesting case concerning Jury Nullification that took place on 28th of January, 1794.
The Supreme Court had appointed a special jury to hear this case, which involved
debts owed to several parties in different states with a British citizen.
The money quote:
Gentlemen, to remind you of the good old rule, that on questions of fact, it
is the province of the jury, on questions of law, it is the province of the
court to decide. But it must be observed that by the same law, which recognizes
this reasonable distribution of jurisdiction, you have nevertheless a right to
take upon yourselves to judge of both, and to determine the law as well as the
fact in controversy.
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| U.S. v. Miller |
| Opinion |
| This decision, made in 1938 is the last time that the Supreme Court ruled
substantially and specifically on the Second Amendment. It is the most quoted, and
misquoted of all Supreme Court rulings that I've ever seen. The above has only one
link, but the document linked to above has an amazing wealth of information about
the case in question. |
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U.S. v Stewart 9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
| Opinion |
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Castillo v. United States (99-658) 179 F.3d 321, reversed and remanded. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [Breyer] |
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United States v. Dalton
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals |
| Opinion |
| This is one of the most important, though little known appellate court decisions
concerning the second amendment in recent years. This decision basically struck down
the 1934, 1968 and 1986 gun control acts. It was not appealed by FedGov, I assume because
a loss of this magnitude at the Supreme Court level would be devistating to all federal gun
control laws. See also Emerson below. |
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United States v. Rock Island Armory
No. 90-40025. United States District Court,
C.D. Illinois, Rock Island Division |
| Opinion |
Similar to the Dalton case above, this case would be
extremely important to gun owners if only people knew about it. It held that the National Firearms
Act was "originally passed as a taxing statute". Since Fedgov is not allowing citizens to purchase
weapons covered under the act (machine guns and the like) because they will not allow them to
purchase new tax stamps for them, they have effectively removed the 'tax nexus' from the act,
which is what made it constitutional in the first place. Therefore, the entire house of cards of
gun control at the federal level is struck down. That would include the 1934, 1968, and 1986
gun control acts. Why hasn't the NRA informed you of something this important? |
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United States v. Emerson
U.S. District Court for the
Norther District of Texas |
| Opinion(html) |
Opinion(pdf) |
Here's a brief quote from the ruling:
Defendant Timothy Joe Emerson ( Emerson ) moves to dismiss the Indictment against him, claiming
that the statute he is prosecuted under, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), is an unconstitutional
exercise of congressional power under the Commerce Clause and the Second, Fifth, and Tenth
Amendments to the United States Constitution. For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS
Emerson's Motion to Dismiss. |
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Chuck Klein vs.Simon L. Leis, Sheriff
First Appellate District of Ohio |
| Opinion(html) |
| This is an excellent Appellate-level decision concerning the concealed carry in Ohio. The court did not rule specifically on the 2nd amendment, because it was deemed that the Ohio state constitution itself secured the right to keep and bear regardless of what the U.S. Constitution says. |
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| U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments - Bush v. Gore |
| Transcript |
| This is the transcript of the oral arguments as heard before the U.S. Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore. |
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| Text of Supreme Court Stay |
| Transcript |
| Text of the order issued Saturday (12.9.2000) by the U.S. Supreme Court to stop manual
recounts in Florida. Accompanying the order, which came by a 5-4 vote, are statements
by Justice Antonin Scalia, who voted with the majority, and Justice John Paul
Stevens, who dissented. |
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Albert Gore, et al, v. Katherine Harris, et al,
Leon County, Florida Circuit Court |
| Transcript |
| This is a transcript of Judge Saul Sanders ruling. |
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Albert Gore, et al, v. Katherine Harris, et al,
Leon County, Florida Circuit Court |
| Transcript |
| This is a transcript of Judge Saul Sanders ruling. |
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United States v. Banks (02-473)
282 F.3d 699, reversed. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [ Souter ] |
| This case was decided on 12-03-2003. Apparently the supreme court believes that cops don't have to have the common decency to wait more than twenty seconds before busting down somone's door. Apparently "Drugs" is the root passphrase to the Constitution. |
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Knowles v. Iowa (97-7597) 569 N. W. 2d 601, reversed and remanded. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [ Rehnquist ] |
| This case concerns "stop" and search rules. |
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Illinois v. Wardlow (98-1036)
183 Ill. 2d 306, 701 N. E. 2d 484, reversed and remanded. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [ Rehnquist ] |
Other [Stevens] |
| This case concerns "stop" and search rules. |
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Florida v. White (98-223) 710 So. 2d 949, reversed and remanded. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [Thomas] |
Concurrence [Souter] |
Dissent [Stevens] |
| This case concerns search and siezure. |
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Indianapolis v. Edmond (99-1030) 183 F.3d 659,
affirmed |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [O'Connor] |
Dissent [ Rehnquist ] |
Dissent [Thomas] |
| This case concerns vehicular stops, search and siezure. |
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Kyllo v. United States (99-8508) 190 F.3d 1041, reversed and remanded. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [ Scalia ] |
Dissent [ Stevens ] |
| This case concerns using survellance aircraft to look at houses to
see if agents of the state can detect heat signatures that might indicate possible indoor
marijuanna cultivation. |
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Indiana v. Gerschoffer
Court of Appeals of Indiana |
| Opinion |
This is a state court decision of the kind that would not normally
be posted here. However, it was such a wonderful read, that it must be included.
The following is a direct swipe from the state court at the lengths SCOTUS will go
to emasculate the constitution:
Some courts have invoked "great public concern" about the
danger of intoxicated drivers on our roadways as an excuse to manufacture new rules
which have eroded the Fourth Amendment. See Garcia, 500 N.E.2d at 161-62; see also
Sitz I, 596 U.S. at 451; Brown, 443 U.S. at 50. But our judiciary has no license to
authorize the systematic violation of individual rights in the name of "great
public concern," a theory of federal search and seizure law that finds no basis
in the text, history, or well-settled interpretation of the Indiana Constitution. We
will not sacrifice the rights guaranteed under Article I, Section 11 for an
indeterminate social agenda of "great public concerns."
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Bernstein v. USDOJ
U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals |
| Opinion |
Concurring |
Dissent |
| This case concerned the export of encrypted software, classified as a 'munition'
by FedGov. |
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Idaho v. United States (00-189)
210 F.3d 1067, affirmed. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion
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Dissent [ Rehnquist ] |
| This case concerns a State versus Federal land issue. |
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Federal Election Commission v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Commission (00-191)
213 F.3d 1221, reversed. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [Souter] |
Dissent [Thomas] |
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This case concerns contributions to federal election campaigns.
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New York Times Co. v. Tasini (00-201) 206 F.3d 161, affirmed. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [ Ginsburg ] |
Dissent [Stevens] |
| This case concerns a writer for the NYTimes who was not compensated by the company
when his articles where included in a database of NYTimes articles.
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Florida v. Thomas (00-391) Certiorari dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Reported below: 761 So. 2d 1010. |
Syllabus
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Opinion [ Rehnquist ] |
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This case concerns when the Supreme Court can have jurisdiction over a case.
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Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly (00-596) 218 F.3d 30, affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [O'Connor] |
Concurrence [ Kennedy ] |
Concurrence [Thomas] |
Other [Souter] |
Other [Stevens] |
| This case has to do with federal pre-emption. |
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Reno v. Condon (98-1464) 155 F.3d 453, reversed. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [ Rehnquist ] |
| This case concerns the "Drivers License Protection Act". |
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Department of Commerce v. United States House (98-404) No. 98-404, 11 F. Supp. 2d 76, appeal dismissed; No. 98-564, 19 F. Supp. 2d 543, affirmed. |
Syllabus |
Opinion [O'Connor] |
Concurrence [Scalia] |
Dissent [Stevens] |
Dissent [ Ginsburg ] |
Other [Breyer] |
| This case concerns the census and whether FedGov can use statistical sampling. |
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GOOD NEWS CLUB v. MILFORD CENtrAL SCHOOL (99-2036) 202 F.3d 502, reversed and remanded. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [Thomas] |
Concurrence [Scalia] |
Concurrence [Breyer] |
Dissent [Stevens] |
Dissent [Souter] |
| This case involves a school that attmpted to refuse use of school property to an
organization because it was Christian. |
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Eldred v. Reno D.C. Cir. Opinion |
| Opinion |
| This case concerns copy right law. It is, in my opinion, a big loss for all of it as it
has direct negative influence on the volume of works that are in the public domain. |
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Zadvydas v. Davis (99-7791) 185 F.3d 279 and 208 F.3d 815, vacated and remanded. |
| Syllabus |
Opinion [ Breyer ] |
Dissent [ Scalia ] |
Dissent [ Kennedy ] |
| This case, while not the normal type of case I would post here is important nonetheless
because it concerns conditions where a person not charge with a crime can be held in detention
by FedGov. |
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State of Idaho v. Horiuchi, 9830149
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Idaho |
| Opinion |
Dissent |
| For those who are unaware, Lon Horiuchi is the FBI agent who shot
a woman in the head while she was armed only with her baby. This particular case goes to
prove that Orwell was right: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others |
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William Jefferson Clinton, Petitioner
v.
Paula Corbin Jones |
Opinion [ Stevens ] |
Concur [ Breyer ] |
Syllabus |
| As you might guess from the title, this is the Supreme Court opinion
concerning ex-president Clinton and Paula Jones |
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