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Magistrate holds statute unconstitutional under Heller
Posted by David Hardy · 12 January 2009 08:47 AM
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Gene Volokh notes a magistrate ruling. The magistrate refuses to follow a federal statute providing that giving up all guns shall be a condition of pre-trial release in child porn cases. Magistrate concludes that under Heller, disarming a person merely accused of an offense, and a nonviolent one at that, without an individualized finding of dangerousness, is deprivation of liberty w/o due process.
If the government decides not to appeal the federal magistrate's decision will the magistrate's decision establish precedence as would a district judge's decision or an appeals court decision?
How will this decision be viewed as far as Lautenberg cases or in protective order cases such as Emerson?