U.S. Supreme Court
Two Conservative U.S. Appeals Judges Criticize Scalia’s Gun Opinion
Posted Sep 29, 2008, 07:07 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Two federal appeals judges known for their conservative philosophies are taking aim at Justice Antonin Scalia’s majority opinion finding a constitutional right to own guns at home for protection.
The two judges are J. Harvie Wilkinson of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Richmond, Va., and Richard Posner of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Chicago, the Associated Press reports.
Writing in an article to be published next year in the Virginia Law Review, Wilkinson said elected officials should decide on gun laws rather than the courts. He compared Scalia’s opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller to the abortion decision Roe v. Wade, the story says. He referred to Scalia's dissent to a 1992 decision reaffirming the right to abortion. Scalia wrote then that the court was “foreclosing all democratic outlet for the deep passions this issue arouses.” By “continuing the imposition of a rigid national rule instead of allowing for regional differences, the court merely prolongs and intensifies the anguish,'" Scalia wrote.
Wilkinson said Scalia’s gun opinion could be similarly criticized.
Posner issued his criticism in an article published last month in The New Republic, the story says. "The decision ... is evidence that the Supreme Court, in deciding constitutional cases, exercises a freewheeling discretion strongly flavored with ideology," he wrote. Posner said the justices should exercise “judicial modesty” and avoid putting a gloss of history on opinions that reflect their policy preferences, according to the AP account.
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Comments
Posted by J.D. - 3 months, 1 week, 3 days, 6 hours, 51 minutes ago
“Policy preferences”?? Uh, check out the 2nd Amendment, your honor.
Localities cannot chose to support or deny the 2nd Amend. any more than they can erase the 1st Amend. These rights are guaranteed by the Constitution.
Abortion, meanwhile, is not in the Constitution, and therefore CAN be regulated by state and local officials or denied altogether… (at least until the Court got involved and legislated from the bench).
The comparison is ridiculous.
Posted by associate - 3 months, 1 week, 2 days, 6 hours, 38 minutes ago
Someone is putting their reputation on this position?
One issue is specifically addressed in the Constitution; one is not. What a waste of time and unnecessary desctruction of your reputation.
Posted by k. galica - 3 months, 1 week, 2 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes ago
J.D. and associate got it exactly right on the issues.
Posted by P.D. - 3 months, 1 week, 2 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes ago
Thankfully Wilkinson and Posner are not sitting on the Supreme Court. Perhaps they should go back to law school to learn that the 2nd Amendment constitutes federal law, not local law.