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Great article on US v. Miller
Here, "The Peculiar Story of US v. Miller. I think it totally "writes out" the case. The author's research is incredible, tracing Miller's story in detail, and concluding that the district judge meant to set up a Supreme Court case that would get himself reversed (his opinion struck down the NFA, but in reality he was a supporter of federal gun laws who had laughed off the Second Amendment). He explains one reason Miller is so brief and terse: its author, McReynolds, wrote very short opinions. And why there was no input from the defense: Miller's attorney was involved in a very hot political fight at the time.
The conclusion is that Miller is what I've termed a hybrid rights case: the right to arms is an individual right, but only covers military-style arms. That sort of ruling became popular in the mid 1800s, when the issues were largely arms laws regulating daggers, brass knuckles, etc.
Hat tip to Joe Olson.
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Comments
Its surprising that the author doesn't focus more on the adequacy of counsel angle. How often has Supreme Court precedent been made where only one side of the case was argued. Even if Defense had been present to argue, to give the defense 16 days to prepare seems absurdly short; compounded by the fact that the Government's argument was not provided to counsel till after the case had been argued. Add to that fact that there is fairly blatant quid pro quo with respect to the actions of the Defense counsel (pushover lawyering for a seat in congress); saying Miller fairly decided anything is a farce.
Posted by: Jerry at June 22, 2007 11:40 AM
I finished reading the article last night. I'm surprised the author relied on Michael Bellesiles as a source (nn. 96 and 225).
I find the argument interesting that the Second Amendment does not protect the kinds of guns that gangsters and other criminals use - only guns that law-abiding citizens use. Seems quite circular to me.
Posted by: Bill at June 26, 2007 01:17 PM