The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged right to bear arms

Gun Case Could Broaden Legal Basis for Wide Range of Rights

By | 10.02.09 | 4:38 pm

In announcing on Wednesday that it would review a case that asks whether individuals have a fundamental right to bear arms under the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court did more than just step into a heated debate over gun control. Although McDonald v. City of Chicago is on its face More…

SCOTUS to Hear Chicago Gun Ban Case

By | 09.30.09 | 2:19 pm

Maybe now we’ll finally get to find out where the high court’s newest justice, Sonia Sotomayor, really stands when it comes to whether the Second Amendment guarantees individual citizens a “right to bear arms.”

That was a contentious issue at her confirmation hearings, with Republican gun More…

Gun Debate Lingers Behind Sotomayor Confirmation

By | 08.04.09 | 3:47 pm

As the Senate begins deliberation today on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the outcome of the vote is pretty clear. As the Los Angeles Times points out, “the only remaining questions are whether the National Rifle Assn. can claim to have swayed votes against More…

Hatch, With a ‘Heavy Heart,’ Will Vote No on Sotomayor

By | 07.24.09 | 1:23 pm

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), a longtime member and former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today said he will vote against President Obama’s first Supreme Court pick, Sonia Sotomayor, because “her statements and record were too much at odds with the principles about the judiciary in which I deeply More…

Sessions: Considering Foreign Law Would Kill Second Amendment Rights

By | 07.21.09 | 11:49 am

Perhaps unintentionally, the written followup questions from Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor make a strong case that consideration of foreign law in the debate over the Second Amendment would doom Republican efforts to read a “fundamental right” to gun ownership into the Constitution.

As More…

No Voice for Gun Control at Sotomayor Hearings

By | 07.17.09 | 10:15 am

After I wrote my earlier posts about how the National Rifle Association opposes the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court and explaining the “incorporation” debate that dominated much of the Second Amendment discussion at the hearing, I got a note from the Brady Campaign to Prevent More…

A Quick Primer on ‘Incorporation’

By | 07.16.09 | 5:35 pm

What is “incorporation?”

Among the many legal terms mentioned over the last four days of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings, the term “incorporation,” when it comes to the Second Amendment right to bear arms, is probably the most confusing.

Incorporation in this context refers to whether the Bill More…

NRA Opposes Sotomayor Nomination

By | 07.16.09 | 3:15 pm

Although the National Rifle Association has — at least officially — stayed out of this fight until now (though judging from some senators’ heavy questioning on gun issues, it was clearly weighing in behind the scenes), this afternoon the group issued a statement saying it would oppose the nomination of More…

Lindsey Graham: Sotomayor Supporter?

By | 07.16.09 | 10:52 am

Despite asking some of the harshest and arguably most patronizing questions of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor over the past three days, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) appears to be leaning toward voting for her.

Although he just used his questioning time this morning to charge her with engaging in “identity More…

Republicans Remain Nervous About Sotomayor and Gun Rights

By | 07.15.09 | 11:49 am

Second Amendment rights remain high on the list of issues Republicans are still nervous about when it comes to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. But no matter how they try to over-simplify the still-undecided question of whether the Constitution actually grants individual citizens a fundamental right to bear arms, Sotomayor More…