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Second Amendment as a teaching tool
I was just reviewing the wonderful piece The Second Amendment as Teaching Tool in Constitutional Law Classes and memories of law school came back.
Back then (1972-75) we were on the end of the Warren Court decisions. Con law was full of fascinating issues. 14th Amendment incorporation, with Justices Black and Douglas filing separate opinions calling for complete incorporation, and Harlan, if I remember, holding for the pre-Warren tests. Was this right or that fundamental? How far does Miranda extend, and was it rightly decided? Freedom of speech, obscenity, fighting words. Stop and search, informant reliability, you name it.
Today ... the First Amendment is, what, hundred page opinions on election laws. Criminal procedure is ... apart from death penalty cases, pretty settled. The right to arms really is about the only place where there is anything interesting going on. As the authors suggest, it can be used to highlight originalism, 14th Amendment incorporation, methods of constitutional analysis, almost anything.
Comments
We used Prof. Erwin Chemerinsky's Con Law text a couple years ago and his first chapter uses the 2A as a teaching tool to examine the various issues in Con Law (original intent v. present public policy preferences, etc.). It was rather well done and quiet neutral.
C.A.G.
Posted by: Christopher A. George at July 18, 2006 09:50 PM