Word: legalism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Breaking the Habit The writers of The Wire are wrong to advocate jury nullification as civil disobedience in America's war on drugs [March 17]. These men say they would acquit any drug defendant, regardless of the evidence, if the crime did not involve violence. Their position undermines the legal system - society would collapse if everyone applied this principle for his own social grievance. And it is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between "nonviolent" and "violent" drug offenses. The seeds of violence - shattered lives, shattered bodies, broken homes - are sown every time illegal drugs "peacefully" pass from hand...
...appeals court ruling, however, doesn't necessarily square with legal precedent. In the 1939 case, U.S. v. Miller, the Supreme Court ruled, "We cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear" arms. So while many Americans have long argued the Second Amendment extends to them, that belief has never been unequivocally grounded...
Outside the court Tuesday, advocates for both sides hoisted signs inscribed with political slogans. Some camped out overnight in hopes of becoming among the few admitted to witness the Court in action at a landmark moment. Anticipation in the legal community was no less fevered, with dozens of parties filing briefs on both sides. Inside, the argument before the Court hinged on the justices' interpretation of the 27-word sentence that has been scrutinized all the way down to its puzzling syntax. The critical question for the justices was whether the language confers an individual right...
...forth with the district's lawyer, former solicitor general Walter Dellinger, Chief Justice John Roberts scoffed at the D.C. ban's sweeping restrictions. "What is reasonable about a total ban on possession?" he asked. Justice Samuel Alito joined his colleagues, pointing out that the ban's provision - that legal rifles or shotguns be kept unloaded, with the trigger locked - neutralized its self-defense purposes. If an intruder materialized, he asked, could the weapon be readied in time? Both he and Justice Clarence Thomas appear certain to embrace the individual rights argument...
...Court's verdict, which could be issued in June, will reshape the legal landscape for this hot-button issue. "An entire provision in the Bill of Rights is really at stake in this case," says Nelson Lund, a professor of constitutional law at George Mason University School of Law, referring to the first 10 amendments to the constitution. If the Court determines that the right to bear arms is conferred only upon state militias and not individuals, Lund says, "The Second Amendment would become, essentially, a dead...