This is the California case that, from April 20th until today, had incorporated the Second Amendment to apply to the States within the Ninth Circuit's bounds: California, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
While many of the readers of the Law and Civil Rights forum on Firing Line Forums won't care for it, this means that, technically, "[there is] no longer a circuit split on the subject." *
This is because the Ninth Circuit said "The three-judge panel opinion shall not be cited as precedent by or to any court of the Ninth Circuit." Ergo, the lower courts in the Ninth Circuit no longer have an incorporation ruling in effect which they must follow.
I recommend reading this blog post by Prof. Eugene Volokh, a generally pro-Second Amendment law scholar who has published extensively on Second Amendment legal matters, before commenting further on this forum thread.
Oral argument of the case before the entire Ninth Circuit court is scheduled for the week of September 21, 2009.
And I hope I won't offend any of the fine folks on Firing Line by suggesting that we try to keep this post to a serious discussion of the decision and our perception of the implications, while trying to avoid the vitriol that can sometimes surface when court decisions don't go our way.
* quotation from Prof. Volokh, this evening, July 29, 2009.
While many of the readers of the Law and Civil Rights forum on Firing Line Forums won't care for it, this means that, technically, "[there is] no longer a circuit split on the subject." *
This is because the Ninth Circuit said "The three-judge panel opinion shall not be cited as precedent by or to any court of the Ninth Circuit." Ergo, the lower courts in the Ninth Circuit no longer have an incorporation ruling in effect which they must follow.
I recommend reading this blog post by Prof. Eugene Volokh, a generally pro-Second Amendment law scholar who has published extensively on Second Amendment legal matters, before commenting further on this forum thread.
Oral argument of the case before the entire Ninth Circuit court is scheduled for the week of September 21, 2009.
And I hope I won't offend any of the fine folks on Firing Line by suggesting that we try to keep this post to a serious discussion of the decision and our perception of the implications, while trying to avoid the vitriol that can sometimes surface when court decisions don't go our way.
* quotation from Prof. Volokh, this evening, July 29, 2009.