[We were alerted to this symposium by Legal Scholarship Blog. While we're at it, we'll note the publication of The Second Amendment on Trial: Critical Essays on District of Columbia v. Heller, ed. Saul Cornell and Nathan Kozuskanich (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2013), even though its authors and editors apparently have had nothing to do with the Connecticut Law Review's symposium. The volume "brings together some of the best scholarship on the Heller case, with essays by legal scholars and historians representing a range of ideological viewpoints and applying different interpretive frameworks,” including, in addition to the editors, Nelson Lund, Joyce Lee Malcolm, Jack Rakove, Reva B. Siegel, Cass R. Sunstein, Kevin M. Sweeney, and J. Harvie Wilkinson III.]
“A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
— U.S. Const. amend. II
At the time this language was ratified in 1791, it was relatively uncontroversial. Over two centuries later, however, the debate over the regulation of firearms is in full force in our halls of government. The Supreme Court in 2008 sought to define the scope of gun rights in its landmark Heller decision by looking to the original intent of its drafters, but since that time recent tragedies across the nation have breathed new life into this issue as courts and elected officials struggle with the various competing policy considerations in an effort to set forth a workable solution that protects the rights of law-abiding individuals while simultaneously protecting the public at large.
Volume 46 of the Connecticut Law Review is proud to present its 2013 Symposium, Up in Arms: The Second Amendment in the Modern Republic, on November 15. Esteemed scholars and practitioners from across the country will explore the history of the Second Amendment, current legal trends in the area of gun rights, recent legislative initiatives, litigation of gun control cases, the intersection with mental health concerns, and other facets of the larger discussion. By bringing leading voices together on this timely matter, the Connecticut Law Review hopes that a robust exchange of ideas will encourage policymakers everywhere to engage in a meaningful dialogue over where to go from the senseless events of recent years.
Keynote Address: Richard M. Aborn, President of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City
Distinguished Participants:
Madelon Baranoski PhD, MSN, Yale University School of Medicine, Law and Psychiatry Division
Josh Blackman, South Texas College of Law
J. Richard Broughton, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
Clayton E. Cramer, College of Western Idaho
Linda Frisman PhD, University of Connecticut School of Social Work
David T. Hardy, attorney and author
Peter Kochenburger, University of Connecticut School of Law
Patrick A. Luff, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University
George A. Mocsary, Southern Illinois Univerisity School of Law
Michael A. Norko MD, MAR, Yale University School of Medicine, Law and Psychiatry Division; Director of Forensic Services, CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
Michael P. O’Shea, Oklahoma City University School of Law
Maura Murphy-Osborne, Assistant Attorney General, CT Office of the Attorney General
Mary Margaret “Meg” Penrose, Texas A&M University School of Law
Fredrick Vars, University of Alabama School of Law
Please join us November 15 in this important conversation.
General questions should be directed to (860) 570-5331. If you require reasonable accommodations for a disability, please contact Jane Thierfeld Brown at (860) 570-5132 at least two weeks in advance.
