Short Circuit 396 | Voting and Carrying in History
Podcast (short-circuit): Play in new window | Download
Two opinions that dig into history, one on voting rights the other on gun rights, and both from the Fourth Circuit. First, Dan Nelson of IJ tells us of a challenge to a North Carolina law that criminalizes voting by felons, even when the voter legitimately thinks they are eligible to vote. The statute was passed back during Reconstruction for racist reasons and hasn’t materially changed since. Does that still matter all these many years later? It turns out it does, and the court ruled it unconstitutional. IJ’s Dylan Moore then tells us a tale of a man who bought a gun in Arizona and brought it to Maryland. Unfortunately, he was under a felony indictment back home. That fact plus traveling with the gun violated federal law. But does that law violate his Second Amendment rights? The court doesn’t think so but it has to do a few historical twists and turns before arriving at that cross-country destination.
Recent Episodes
Short Circuit 447 | How Constitutional Are Your Claims?
We focus on a district court case that has appellate court explanatory power. As our special guest Professor Robert Steinbuch says, if you reside in […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 446 | SWAT Teams at the Supreme Court
Say a gaggle of police with military-grade toys fire a boatload of tear gas into a home and then run in and break a bunch […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 445 | Crazytown
Time for The Big One. So many have so many takes on the Ninth Circuit that, as part of our #12Months12Circuits series, we at IJ […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 444 | Recording the Police with Facebook Immunity
Another circuit recognizes a there’s a First Amendment right to record the police. In this case, a “First Amendment auditor” stood on a public sidewalk […]
Listen Now