Note sull'episodio
Dist. of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
Full notes and cites: https://opinion-of-the-court.pages.dev/ep/025-district-of-columbia-v-heller
Official text (U.S. Reports, Library of Congress): https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep554/usrep554570/usrep554570.pdf
Full text of the opinions, AI-narrated (Kokoro-82M, voice af_heart). Original introduction; opinion text is public domain. Not legal advice.
Washington, D.C. banned handguns in the home and required other firearms to be kept unloaded and disassembled or trigger-locked. Dick Heller, a special police officer who carried a gun on duty at a federal building, applied to keep a handgun at home and was refused.
Justice Scalia, for a five-to-four majority, held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, unconnected to service in a militia, and that the handgun ban and the trigger-lock rule violated it. His opinion is a long study of the Amendment's text and its eighteenth-century meaning, treating the prefatory clause about a well-regulated militia as announcing a purpose without limiting the right.
Justice Stevens dissented with his own historical reading, focused on the militia. Justice Breyer dissented separately, arguing that even an individual right should yield to the city's interest in reducing gun violence. The clash of originalist histories is the heart of the case.
Citations: reporter citations were shortened or left out of the audio; every citation is listed on the website.
Cases named aloud
- Parker v. District of Columbia, 311 F.Supp.2d 103 (2004) at 109 [as printed: Parker v. District of Columbia, 311 F. Supp. 2d 103, 109 (2004); Opinion of the Court (Justice Scalia)] (episode link pending)
- Parker v. District of Columbia, 478 F.3d 370 (2007) at 401 (case below) [as printed: Parker v. District of Columbia, 478 F. 3d 370, 401 (2007) (case below); Dissent (Souter)] (episode link pending)
- United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. 259 (1990) at 265 [as printed: United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U. S. 259, 265 (1990); Opinion of the Court (Justice Scalia)] (episode link pending)
- Muscarello v. United States, 524 U.S. 125 (1998) [as printed: Muscarello v. United States, 524 U. S. 125 (1998); Dissent (Justice Stevens)] (episode link pending)
- United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1876) [as printed: United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U. S. 542 (1876); Dissent (Justice Stevens)] episode
- Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706 (1999) at 715 [as printed: Alden v. Maine, 527 U. S. 706, 715 (1999); Dissent (Justice Stevens)] (episode link pending)
- United States v. Williams, 553 U.S. 285 (2008) [as printed: United States v. Williams, 553 U. S. 285 (2008); Opinion of the Court (Justice Scalia)] (episode link pending)
- United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939) at 178 [as printed: United States v. Miller, 307 U. S. 174, 178 (1939); Dissent (Souter)] episode
- Robertson v. Baldwin, 165 U.S. 275 (1897) at 281 [as printed: Robertson v. Baldwin, 165 U. S. 275, 281 (1897); Opinion of the Court (Justice Scalia)] (episode link pending)
(+42 more named aloud; see the website)
Full list of 397 citations not read aloud: https://opinion-of-the-court.pages.dev/ep/025-district-of-columbia-v-heller