The DC Gun Ban Case

Among the most anxiously-awaited decisions of the Supreme Court this term is that in Washington DC v. Heller, a challenge to the constitutionality of the district's handgun ban. Given that I enjoy, and have some understanding of, con law, but am no expert, I'll shy away from analysis and mostly just go link happy. The usually far-left Lawrence Tribe has a more nuanced view of the Second Amendment, and writing in the Journal a few days ago, advocates the most narrow possible ruling.

The peerless folks over at SCOTUSBlog penned a rather lengthy dissertation on the meaning of the right of self defense, but it's worthwhile and touches on the apparent feelings of many of the justices. My reading of what they have to say is that if we see a narrow, vintage Roberts ruling here, it may be as strong as 6-3 in favor; such a narrow ruling might win over both Kennedy and Breyer. Of course I also looking forward to the dissents of the other three...

They've also pulled together links to a bunch of coverage both in the media and the legal world in the wake of the arguments in two posts; one is just straight coverage, while the other includes links to the audio files of the hearings.

One blogger they link to echoes my predicted decision above, but takes a more nuanced approach with Breyer writing a separate concurrence in part and dissent in part (have your cake and eat it too while wearing a long black robe!) in which Ginsburg might join; such a 5-2-2 split would leave Stevens and Souter dissenting, and depending on what Breyer says, could be interpreted as a victory for 2nd Amendment activists.