Here's a great article on the background behind the recent Supreme Court case of D.C. v. Heller, in which the Supreme Court (finally) affirmed that the Second Amendment protects and individual right to keep in bear arms, unrelated to militia service.
http://www.reason.com/news/show/129991.html
It's a pretty good look at how civil rights cases are brought before the Court in modern times, how the NRA tried to derail the case at every turn (until the Court granted cert.), and why it's important to pick your plaintiff, if you can.
DC v. Heller - what really happened
DC v. Heller - what really happened
Good article. Who would have thought that the mindless filling out of an application that he knew would be denied would be the catalyst for one of the most monumental SC decisions of my life time. Impressive job by that team.
I am the law, bitches!
DC v. Heller - what really happened
I think you'll find that most monumental cases are "manufactured" by a special interest.
Rosa Parks, for example, didn't become a civil rights icon by accident. She was active in the civil rights movement, a secretary for her NAACP chapter. Although she claimed that she wasn't put up to it, the NAACP had been hanging their hat on a 15-year-old girl who was arrested prior to the Parks bus incident. The 15-year-old became pregnant and the powers that be decided she wasn't the best candidate to challenge segregation on Montgomery buses.
Another good example is the lead plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, Norma McCovey ("Jane Roe"). McCovey was hand-picked by her attorneys because she claimed to have been raped (she has since become an anti-abortion activist and claims that she lied about being raped at the behest of her attorneys).
Interestingly, the Court did not hear argument until after McCovey had given birth - which is significant when you consider the issue of standing. In Heller, all but one of the plaintiffs were found not to have standing, and the Supreme Court did not address that issue. But in Roe, they decided that her standing didn't matter because the issue was "capable of repetition, yet evading review."
Rosa Parks, for example, didn't become a civil rights icon by accident. She was active in the civil rights movement, a secretary for her NAACP chapter. Although she claimed that she wasn't put up to it, the NAACP had been hanging their hat on a 15-year-old girl who was arrested prior to the Parks bus incident. The 15-year-old became pregnant and the powers that be decided she wasn't the best candidate to challenge segregation on Montgomery buses.
Another good example is the lead plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, Norma McCovey ("Jane Roe"). McCovey was hand-picked by her attorneys because she claimed to have been raped (she has since become an anti-abortion activist and claims that she lied about being raped at the behest of her attorneys).
Interestingly, the Court did not hear argument until after McCovey had given birth - which is significant when you consider the issue of standing. In Heller, all but one of the plaintiffs were found not to have standing, and the Supreme Court did not address that issue. But in Roe, they decided that her standing didn't matter because the issue was "capable of repetition, yet evading review."
DC v. Heller - what really happened
Manufactured or not, they did their homework. Bravo to them.
I am the law, bitches!