With the Supreme Court’s new term beginning in October, it will hear disputes over semiautomatic rifles, voter registration, and climate change.
asserted
it → begin → rifles
The subjects have little in common, but each presents a question at the heart of originalism.
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each → have → originalism
Will the justices apply the Constitution and laws as written, or reshape them to reach a preferred result?
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justices → apply → result
As a public-interest law firm marking 50 years of advancing an originalist interpretation of the Constitution, Landmark Legal Foundation has seen the issues before the court change many times.
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issues → mark → court
The court’s duty has not.
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duty → have → ?
Three cases this term will test whether the court does exactly that.
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court → test → that
In Viramontes v. Cook County, the court will consider bans on AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles.
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court → consider → AR-15s
Under District of Columbia v. Heller and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, courts must examine the Second Amendment’s text and the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
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courts → examine → regulation
If a weapon qualifies as a protected “arm,” the government must demonstrate that its restriction is consistent with that tradition.
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restriction → qualify → tradition
The 7th Circuit concluded that AR-15s are not protected “arms,” likening them to military M16s rather than firearms used for individual self-defense.
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Circuit → conclude → defense
That allowed the court to bypass Bruen’s historical inquiry entirely.
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court → allow → inquiry
Another lower court acknowledged that the rifles are bearable arms but nevertheless found historical support for banning them.
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rifles → acknowledge → them
That support included 19th-century restrictions on Bowie knives and trap guns.
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support → include → knives
But those laws generally regulated concealed carry, sales to minors, or criminal misuse, or prohibited rigging a firearm to discharge without anyone present.
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laws → regulate → anyone
They are not historical equivalents of a categorical ban on possessing an entire class of commonly owned rifles.
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They → possess → rifles
The court should hold that these rifles are protected arms and that the historical record does not justify banning their possession.
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record → hold → possession
Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota presents a different problem.
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Committee → present → problem
Arizona enacted voter-registration laws requiring applicants who use the state’s registration form to provide documentary proof of citizenship and directing election officials to identify and remove noncitizens from the voter rolls.
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who → enact → rolls
Challengers contend that the provisions conflict with the federal National Voter Registration Act and a 2018 consent decree involving Arizona election officials.
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provisions → contend → officials
Those objections rest on two distinct legal claims, neither of which justifies setting aside Arizona’s law.
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neither → rest → law
The NVRA does not prohibit Arizona from requiring documentary proof of citizenship from applicants using the state’s own registration form.
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NVRA → prohibit → form
The court should apply the statute as Congress wrote it and uphold Arizona’s requirement.
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Congress → apply → requirement
The consent decree raises a separate question.
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decree → raise → question
A friendly agreement negotiated by state officials should not permanently prevent a legislature from enacting and enforcing a valid superseding law.
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agreement → negotiate → law
The earlier agreement cannot preempt legislation or impose a restriction that federal law does not require.
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law → preempt → restriction
Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County tests a different limit on governmental authority.
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Energy → test → authority
Can a local government reach beyond its borders and effectively make policy for the nation?
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government → reach → nation
Boulder County, Colorado, seeks damages from energy companies for alleged local harm connected to global climate change.
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County → seek → change
The question is not whether Boulder faces costs or whether climate change matters.
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change → face → costs
It is whether state-law claims may be used to seek relief for the alleged effects of interstate and international greenhouse-gas emissions.
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claims → use → emissions
Assuming the court determines it has jurisdiction to hear the case in the first place, it should rule that they may not.
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they → assume → place
Energy production, emissions, and their alleged effects extend far beyond Colorado.
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production → allege → Colorado
The energy products at issue were extracted, produced, sold, and consumed across the country and around the world.
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products → extract → world
The resulting emissions did not stop at state lines.
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emissions → result → lines
Allowing localities to impose damages for that activity would invite courts to establish climate and energy policy.
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localities → allow → policy
A patchwork of judgments and settlements could regulate lawful conduct far beyond the jurisdiction in which a lawsuit was filed.
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lawsuit → regulate → which
The Constitution’s limited grant of authority leaves states substantial room to address genuinely local concerns.
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grant → leave → concerns
It does not permit one locality to govern economic activity throughout the country.
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It → permit → country
Justice Antonin Scalia explained that originalism gives the Constitution “the meaning that its words were understood to bear at the time they were promulgated.”
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they → explain → time
That same commitment to the text constrains the judicial role.
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commitment → constrain → role
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
