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Mcdonald V. Chicago, Self-Defense, The Right To Bear Arms, And The Future, Richard Aynes
Mcdonald V. Chicago, Self-Defense, The Right To Bear Arms, And The Future, Richard Aynes
Richard L. Aynes
This article examines the opinion of the Court in McDonald v. Chicago and its implications for the future. The author participated as a party-amicus in the case and an article he authored in 1993 was cited by the Court. Using a concept that others have applied in other situations, this paper suggests that Chicago was a “outlier” and that this case simply involved reigning in a maverick outlier. While the paper finds Justice Thomas’s concurring opinion (with the exception of dicta on the establishment clause) being the most faithful to the meaning, intention, and public understanding of the 14th Amendment, …
Mcdonald V. Chicago, The Fourteenth Amendment, The Right To Bear Arms And The Right Of Self-Defense, Richard L. Aynes
Mcdonald V. Chicago, The Fourteenth Amendment, The Right To Bear Arms And The Right Of Self-Defense, Richard L. Aynes
Richard L. Aynes
The Supreme Court of the United States has granted certiorari in the case of McDonald v. City of Chicago to consider this question: "Whether the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is incorporated as against the States by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges or Immunities or Due Process Clauses." This case follows and seeks to build upon District of Columbia v. Heller which held that the Second Amendment protects both the right to self-defense and what has been termed an individual right to bear arms. Of course, Heller’s application is limited to the federal government and has no direct …
Enforcing The Bill Of Rights Against The States: The History And The Future, Richard Aynes
Enforcing The Bill Of Rights Against The States: The History And The Future, Richard Aynes
Richard L. Aynes
This article traces, in broad strokes, the history of the disputes about whether or not the Bill of Rights can be enforced against the states. It begins with pre-Fourteenth Amendment claims and recounts the actions of the 39th Congress: The Freedman’s Bureau, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the Fourteenth Amendment. Several speeches on the Amendment from the Congressional elections of 1866 are utilized, including those of Section 1 author John Bingham, Congressmen Columbus Delano, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Wilson, James Garfield, and Senator John Sherman, as well as Democrats who participated in what has been termed the most …
Ink Blot Or Not: The Meaning Of Privileges And/Or Immunities, Richard Aynes
Ink Blot Or Not: The Meaning Of Privileges And/Or Immunities, Richard Aynes
Richard L. Aynes
This article examines the meaning of the terms privileges and immunities as used in Article IV of the U.S. Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment. It begins by tracing the American use of the terms to April 10, 1606 in the first Charter of Virginia. Building upon the work of other scholars and citing original documents, it concludes that these words has a well-established meaning as “rights” well before the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted. The article notes that in Justice Miller’s decision in the Slaughter-House Cases he refers to the privileges and immunities of Corfield v. Coryell as “those rights which …
39th Congress (1865-1867) And The 14th Amendment: Some Preliminary Perspectives, Richard Aynes
39th Congress (1865-1867) And The 14th Amendment: Some Preliminary Perspectives, Richard Aynes
Richard L. Aynes
The 39th Congress (1865-1867) was one of the important Congresses in our history. It passed more legislation than any other Congress up to that time. This preliminary examination of the 39th Congress begins with a look it composition. One of the critical factors was that while the 38th Congress contained a majority of unionists, the 39th Congress contained a super-majority which meant not only that they could override a Presidential veto, but also that they did not need to take the Democratic opposition seriously. This article also identifies the leadership of the 39th Congress. The 38th Congress was composed of …
Self-Defense, The 2nd Amendment, And The U.S. Supreme Court, Richard Aynes
Self-Defense, The 2nd Amendment, And The U.S. Supreme Court, Richard Aynes
Richard L. Aynes
No abstract provided.
Unintended Consequences Of The Fourteenth Amendment And What They Tell Us About Its Interpretation, Richard L. Aynes
Unintended Consequences Of The Fourteenth Amendment And What They Tell Us About Its Interpretation, Richard L. Aynes
Richard L. Aynes
The Fourteenth Amendment has been compared to “second American Constitution.” Indeed, it is said that more litigation is based upon the Fourteenth Amendment or its implementing statutes than any other provision of the Constitution. As one would imagine for such an important charter of government, there is a substantial—and some might say overwhelming—body of scholarship on the “intent,” “meaning,” and “understanding” of the Fourteenth Amendment. Much of the literature, understandably, seeks to find out what the framers of the amendment or the ratifiers of the amendment “intended.” What did they want to accomplish by adopting this amendment? This article treats …
The Continuing Importance Of Congressman John A. Bingham And The Fourteenth Amendment, Richard L. Aynes
The Continuing Importance Of Congressman John A. Bingham And The Fourteenth Amendment, Richard L. Aynes
Richard L. Aynes
Lead article in a symposium issue. In the now-famous 1830s chronicle of a visit to America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that in America every political issue is ultimately a legal issue in the courts. For Americans who lived through the antislavery and abolitionist era as well as the crisis of the war of 1861-1865, the military victory of the Union forces on the field of battle still left open large political issues. These issues were attempted to be resolved through the political process that produced a legal solution: a constitutional amendment that we currently identify as the Fourteenth Amendment. The …
Charles Fairman, Felix Frankfurter, And The Fourteenth Amendment, Richard L. Aynes
Charles Fairman, Felix Frankfurter, And The Fourteenth Amendment, Richard L. Aynes
Richard L. Aynes
The scope of the Fourteenth Amendment determines, in large measure, the allocation of responsibility and power between the states and the government of the United States. It has been characterized as “the most significant [[[Amendment] in our history” and a “second American Constitution.” It is therefore not surprising that some of the most important disputes in the United States Supreme Court have been over the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment and that the disputes have involved some of the most important legal thinkers of our times. In the twentieth century, one of the most familiar articulations of differing views occurred …
Constricting The Law Of Freedom: Justice Miller, The Fourteenth Amendment, And The Slaughter-House Cases, Richard L. Aynes
Constricting The Law Of Freedom: Justice Miller, The Fourteenth Amendment, And The Slaughter-House Cases, Richard L. Aynes
Richard L. Aynes
The Slaughter-House Cases are simultaneously unremarkable and extraordinary. They are unremarkable because the matter at issue -- whether butchers can be required to ply their trade at a central, state-franchised facility -- has long since ceased to be a matter of concern. They are extraordinary because in spite of the fact that three of the Court's significant legal conclusions have been rejected and “everyone” agrees the Court incorrectly interpreted the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the conclusion that the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment had no meaningful place in our constitutional scheme continues to live on. Even those …