Two Conservative U.S. Appeals Judges Criticize Scalia’s Gun Opinion
Two federal appeals judges known for their conservative philosophies are taking aim at Justice Antonin Scalia’s majority opinion finding a constitutional right to own guns at home for protection.
The two judges are J. Harvie Wilkinson of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Richmond, Va., and Richard Posner of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Chicago, the Associated Press reports.
Writing in an article to be published next year in the Virginia Law Review, Wilkinson said elected officials should decide on gun laws rather than the courts. He compared Scalia’s opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller to the abortion decision Roe v. Wade, the story says. He referred to Scalia’s dissent to a 1992 decision reaffirming the right to abortion. Scalia wrote then that the court was “foreclosing all democratic outlet for the deep passions this issue arouses.” By “continuing the imposition of a rigid national rule instead of allowing for regional differences, the court merely prolongs and intensifies the anguish,’” Scalia wrote.
Wilkinson said Scalia’s gun opinion could be similarly criticized.
Posner issued his criticism in an article published last month in The New Republic, the story says. “The decision … is evidence that the Supreme Court, in deciding constitutional cases, exercises a freewheeling discretion strongly flavored with ideology,” he wrote. Posner said the justices should exercise “judicial modesty” and avoid putting a gloss of history on opinions that reflect their policy preferences, according to the AP account.
