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Lyman Trumbull: Author Of The Thirteenth Amendment, Author Of The Civil Rights Act, And The First Second Amendment Lawyer, David B. Kopel
Lyman Trumbull: Author Of The Thirteenth Amendment, Author Of The Civil Rights Act, And The First Second Amendment Lawyer, David B. Kopel
David B Kopel
Illinois Senator Lyman Trumbull is not well-known today, but he is one of the "Founding Sons" who transformed the nation and the Constitution before, during, and after the Civil War. He wrote the Thirteenth Amendment, the first Freedmen's Bureau Bill, and the Civil Rights Act. He sponsored the first federal statutes which actually freed slaves. As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and later as a civil rights attorney, he did more to protect Second Amendment rights--including taking a test case to the U.S. Supreme Court (Presser v. Illinois)--than did any other lawyer or legislator in the century after Jefferson …
The Posse Comitatus And The Office Of Sheriff: Armed Citizens Summoned To The Aid Of Law Enforcement, David B. Kopel
The Posse Comitatus And The Office Of Sheriff: Armed Citizens Summoned To The Aid Of Law Enforcement, David B. Kopel
David B Kopel
Posse comitatus is the legal power of sheriffs and other officials to summon armed citizens to aid in keeping the peace. The posse comitatus can be traced back as least as far as the reign of Alfred the Great in ninth century England. The institution thrives today in the United States; a study of Colorado finds many county sheriffs have active posses. Like the law of the posse comitatus, the law of the office of sheriff has been remarkably stable for over a millennium. This Article presents the history and law of the posse comitatus and the office of sheriff …
The First Amendment Guide To The Second Amendment, David B. Kopel
The First Amendment Guide To The Second Amendment, David B. Kopel
David B Kopel
How courts do and should use First Amendment doctrines when deciding Second Amendment cases.
How The British Gun Control Program Precipitated The American Revolution, David B. Kopel
How The British Gun Control Program Precipitated The American Revolution, David B. Kopel
David B Kopel
Abstract: This Article chronologically reviews the British gun control which precipitated the American Revolution: the 1774 import ban on firearms and gun powder; the 1774-75 confiscations of firearms and gun powder, from individuals and from local governments; and the use of violence to effectuate the confiscations. It was these events which changed a situation of rising political tension into a shooting war. Each of these British abuses provides insights into the scope of the modern Second Amendment.
From the events of 1774-75, we can discern that import restrictions or bans on firearms or ammunition are constitutionally suspect — at least …