The Supreme Court increasingly relies on legal scholarship in Second Amendment cases, a trend that emerged following the landmark rulings in 2008 and 2010. In the recent case United States v. Rahimi, justices cited 25 law review articles, significantly higher than the average of four in other cases, indicating a noteworthy judicial embrace of academic insights.
This shift towards “judge–scholar collaboration” stems from the Second Amendment’s evolving legal landscape, where judges often look to academia for guidance amid a lack of established precedent. Notably, the incorporation of originalist scholarship showcases how the conservative legal movement influences the Court’s understanding of constitutional rights, positioning Second Amendment cases as a unique focal point for legal scholarship’s impact.
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