Robert A. Levy (Author at The Cato Institute)

The Bailout: Expensive, Yet Unconstitutional (Daily Podcast)

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

In Opposition to Looseness (Commentary)

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Federal appellate judge Richard A. Posner, from the Seventh Circuit, recently wrote in The New Republic ("In Defense of Looseness," August 27, 2008) that the Heller decision striking down the D.C. gun ban constituted inappropriate judicial activism. Another conservative-leaning appellate judge, the ...

The Second Amendment makes a comeback in 2008. (Weekly Video)

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

How the Supreme Court came to find an individual right to keep and bear firearms in the Second Amendment.

Is the Bailout Constitutional? (Commentary)

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

In the current crisis, bank runs and other forms of financial panic could lead to the collapse of the country's or even the world's economic edifice. Extraordinary measures might be in order. In extremis, it may seem quixotic to question the constitutionality of the federal bailout-but it's essentia...

How Much for the Heller Case Lawyers? (Commentary)

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Prevailing parties in civil rights cases are entitled to a "reasonable" attorney's fee. We are the attorneys who represented Dick Heller in the landmark Supreme Court case striking down Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban on Second Amendment grounds, and we have asked the court to award us $3.5 million f...

Judicial Appointments: What's on Tap from Obama or McCain? (Commentary)

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Privacy, wartime executive power, racial preferences, abortion, property rights, cloning, gay marriage, school choice, the death penalty, gun control — just a few of the hot-button issues that the federal courts will likely address over the next four years. That's why judicial nominations are ...

What Next for D.C.'s Gun Laws (Commentary)

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The Supreme Court ruled in June that provisions of Washington, D.C.'s gun laws are unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the city has responded with new regulations that are a flagrant attempt to circumvent the court's decision. It's time for Congress to use the power granted to it in the Constitution...

Cato Scholar Comments on Bill to End Local Handgun Control in D.C. (Scholar Comments)

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The Supreme Court ruled in June that three provisions of Washington, D.C.'s gun laws are unconstitutional. The city has responded with new regulations -- one of which is a flagrant end-run around the Court's opinion, and others of which are clear violations of the spirit, if not the letter.

The Constitution gives Congress plenary power over all legislative matters in the federal city. Most of that authority has since been delegated to the D.C. government. But home rule is not a license to violate the Constitution, as the D.C. city council clearly has done. It is now time for the U.S. Congress to get into the act. Over the years, our elected representatives have adopted a court-centric view of the Constitution -- a view that decisions about constitutionality are properly left to the judiciary. But members of Congress also swear to uphold the Constitution. Congress can make good on that oath by restoring the right of Washington, D.C. residents to possess functional firearms in their homes.

Robert A. Levy and William Mellor parse The Dirty Dozen. (Weekly Video)

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Alexander Hamilton wrote that "the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution." If only that were true. Sadly, the Supreme Court has also handed down many destructive decisions on cases you probably never learned about in school. In The Dirty Dozen, Robert A. Levy and William Mellor shed light on the twelve worst cases, which allowed government to interfere in your private contractual agreements, curtail your rights to criticize or support political candidates, arrest and imprison you indefinitely (without charges) and seize your private property without compensation. They spoke at the Harvard Club in New York City July 15.

Robert A. Levy details what's next in the fight for Second Amendment rights. (Weekly Video)

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The Supreme Court's Heller decision is the opening salvo in a series of litigations that will ultimately resolve what weapons and persons can be regulated and what restrictions are permissible. But because of Thursday¹s decision, the prospects for reviving the original meaning of the Second Amendment are now substantially brighter. Cato Institute Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies, Robert A. Levy, details what's next for the gun rights fight.

District of Columbia v. Heller: What’s Next? (Commentary)

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

In District of Columbia v. Heller, the final opinion of the Supreme Court’s 2007-08 term, Justice Antonin Scalia re-wrote Second Amendment jurisprudence. With a 5-4 majority, Scalia held unequivocally for Mr. Heller on two central questions: First, the Second Amendment protects an individual righ...

Robert A. Levy evaluates District of Columbia v. Heller. (Weekly Video)

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court rediscovered the Second Amendment. More than five years after six Washington, D.C. residents challenged the city¹s 32-year-old ban on all functional firearms in the home, the Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller that the law is unconstitutional. Cato Institute Senior Fellow Robert A. Levy comments on the ruling and what was notable about the opinion authored by Justice Antonin Scalia.

Congress Should Reclaim Authority From Agencies (Commentary)

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The Supreme Court recently turned down environmental groups that sought to stop Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff from ignoring laws that might impede construction of a border wall. That cleared the way for Chertoff to act as a super-legislature with unprecedented powers granted to him...

Habeas Half-Truths (Commentary)

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

In a key decision at the close of its term, the Supreme Court held that 270 detainees at Guantanamo Bay have a constitutional right to habeas corpus, by which they can petition a federal court for a hearing to challenge their detentions. Regrettably, that narrow holding has been misinterpreted and e...

Second Amendment - No Longer Embarrassing (Commentary)

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

"The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." That's the operative clause of the Second Amendment - nearly erased from the Constitution in 1939 by a muddled and confusing Supreme Court opinion in United States v. Miller. Last week, apparently embarrassed by seven decades wi...

What's Next in the Gun Rights Fight? (Daily Podcast)

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Cato Scholar Comments on D.C. Gun Ban Decision (Scholar Comments)

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On Thursday, the Court rediscovered the Second Amendment. More than five years after six Washington, D.C. residents challenged the city's 32-year-old ban on all functional firearms in the home, the Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller that the law is unconstitutional.

Heller is merely the opening salvo in a series of litigations that will ultimately resolve what weapons and persons can be regulated and what restrictions are permissible. But because of Thursday's decision, the prospects for reviving the original meaning of the Second Amendment are now substantially brighter.

Second Amendment Haze (Commentary)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

This month, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide District of Columbia v. Heller, the most important Second Amendment case in the court's history. More than five years ago, six Washington, D.C., residents challenged the constitutionality of the city's 32-year ban on all functional firearm...

Money, Politics and the Supreme Court (Commentary)

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Wouldn't it be great if politicians lived up to the limits and demands they placed on the rest of us? The McCain-Feingold bill, now codified as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, specifies that individuals may contribute a maximum of $4,600 per election campaign to a presidential candidate. The...