Second Amendment (Goldstein)
Additional Information
Skills Training
Drafting Legal Documents
Expository Writing
Grading
20% Participation,
80% Paper
With Permission of Instructor
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- Class sessions are regularly recorded. If you are absent due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can send you an email with instructions for accessing the recording for the class session(s) you missed.
- If you are absent, due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can ask for volunteers among your classmates to share their notes with you.
- If you are absent due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can make PowerPoint slides or other class materials available to you.
Meeting Times/Location
R 4:30PM - 6:20PM
Tanenbaum Hall 145
Category
Upper-Level
Credits
2.0
There are few topics in emerging Constitutional law with more white space than the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.
This course will provide an overview of modern 2nd Amendment jurisprudence from Heller through McDonald, N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Association and Bruen. The course will review tension that currently exists between Circuits in several areas including magazine capacity restrictions, so called "assault weapons" bans and certain age related restrictions on firearms ownership.
A number of open questions provide ample pedagogical opportunities including 1) the limits of time, place and manner restrictions on the Second Amendment; 2) the standard of review required when considering government imposition on the Second Amendment; 3) the extent to which the Second Amendment protects conduct outside the home; and, 4) the degree to which the Second Amendment is implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.
Students can learn from an active practitioner in this space how the contours of the Second Amendment are being shaped through litigation and legislation across the United States. The instructor’s own work in this area will be supplemented through guest lectures from an array of prominent litigators and intellectuals from across the ideological spectrum.
Constitutional Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of constitutional law; Perform legal analysis in the context of constitutional law; Communicate effectively on topics related to constitutional law; Demonstrate an understanding of constitutional law affects other areas of law.
Criminal Law and Procedure Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of criminal law and procedure; Perform legal analysis in the context of criminal law and procedure; Communicate effectively on topics related to criminal law and procedure; Demonstrate an understanding of the role criminal law and procedure play in society and their impact on other areas of law and society.
Perspectives on the Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.
Administrative and Regulatory Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of administrative and regulatory law and the administrative process, including the role of statutory authorization and work of administrative agencies; Perform legal analysis in the context of administrative and regulatory law; Communicate effectively on topics related to administrative and regulatory law; Demonstrate an understanding of the role administrative and regulatory law play in our legal system and in society as a whole.
Public Interest Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of the varied legal aspects of public interest law; Perform legal analysis in the context of public interest law; Communicate effectively on topics related to public interest law; Demonstrate an understanding of how public interest law is connected to and affected by a wide variety of legal and regulatory structures and doctrines.
Textbooks
"Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy" by Nicholas J. Johnson, David B. Kopel, George A. Mocsary, Michael P. O'Shea |