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Return to “Summaries of Heller Amici Briefs”

by ELB
Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:25 pm
Forum: Federal
Topic: Summaries of Heller Amici Briefs
Replies: 14
Views: 1964

Re: Summaries of Heller Amici Briefs

If you clicked on the link to Dave Kopel's Amici summaries that I provided above wHen I first posted it, you may wish to do so again -- he has added several more summaries, and the same link will take you to the previous ones and the new ones, all on the same page. Here it is again:

http://volokh.com/posts/chain_1202366725.shtml

Of interest to me is a brief that Mr. Kopel wrote on behalf of a number of law enforcement groups. His summary lists some of them as:
The Independence Institute brief is joined by a broad coalition of law enforcement: the Maryland State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police (by far the largest rank-and-file police organization in Maryland), 29 of California’s District Attorneys, the San Francisco Veteran Police Officers Association, the Texas Police Chiefs Association, the Southern States Police Benevolent Association, and many others.

Notably, the lead amici in the brief are the two national organizations of police firearms instructors, the International Law Enforcement Educators & Trainers Association (ILEETA) and the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI). The brief explains how widespread civilian ownership of handguns contributes to the efficiency and success of police firearms training.
Hmmm, I don't see the International Association of Chiefs of Police or the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in the list. Strange that, hmmm? :lol:

I haven't read the brief myself yet, but I will be particularly interested in this section:
Part III relies on practical police experience to explain why handguns are the best arms for home defense, particularly in an urban area such as Washington, D.C.
elb

Update: I was just scanning through this brief when I noticed that the guy I got some excellent defensive handgun training from, John Farnam, is cited as an authority in the brief. Cool. elb
by ELB
Sun Feb 10, 2008 11:10 pm
Forum: Federal
Topic: Summaries of Heller Amici Briefs
Replies: 14
Views: 1964

Re: Summaries of Heller Amici Briefs

Mr. Kopel has another post up with a summary of and link to a brief filed by private security associations. The associations basically argue that the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department is so corrupt and incompetent that the only way citizens can hope to be safe is to defend themselves with firearms; and that those who for whatever reason can't or won't bear arms themselves, hire private security. Of course the mayor, thru the MPD, regulates the private security companies, and seems to delight in finding reasons to delay, deny, and even arrest private security officers.

Anyway, here is a quote from the brief describing the MPD:
According to the 2004 Uniform Crime Report,
on a per capita basis the District ranked first in
Murder, Violent Crime, Robbery, Aggravated Assault
and Motor Vehicle Theft. D.C. ranked second in
Property Crime, 16th in Forcible Rape, 21st in Burglary
and 22nd in Larceny-theft.
This from a department that has more officers per capita than any other.

This one really got to me:
Partially in response to the need to hire new
officers and partially in response to challenges to the
racial composition of the force, Mayor Marion Barry
abandoned any pretense of “quality over quantity�
and ordered sweeping changes to the academy entrance
process: the passing score on the police entrance
exam was lowered to 35 out of 80; rather than
filling the academy class roster according to who
scored highest on the entrance exam, the roster
would now be filled by lottery, without regard to exam
scores.21 In describing Mayor Barry’s and Human
Rights Director Anita Shelton’s hiring of police officers,
the Washington Post editorialized, “They are
confused and making bad decisions.�22
These bad decisions were compounded over the
next decade. Noting that police recruits scored poorly
in reading comprehension, the police academy instituted
a remedial reading class to rehabilitate the
recruits. Mayor Barry ordered the class terminated,
fearing it reflected badly upon the District’s school
system.23 English language classes for non-native
English speaking recruits were terminated.24 The
MPD leadership opposed national accreditation
standards for their department.25 Classes on Constitutional
and legal principals were taught not by a
lawyer but by a police officer who had not been in a
courtroom in a decade.26 Hours of instruction were
cut, and an academy designed to process 300 recruits
per year processed 1,500 in two years.27 Driving
instruction was cut in half or eliminated altogether.28
I've always known the D.C. city government was incredibly corrupt and incompetent, and by extension, the police, but to see it detailed like that...horrors.

elb
by ELB
Sun Feb 10, 2008 7:41 pm
Forum: Federal
Topic: Summaries of Heller Amici Briefs
Replies: 14
Views: 1964

Summaries of Heller Amici Briefs

At the Volokh Conspiracy, Dave Kopel has been summarizing the amici briefs submitted in support of Heller. So far he's done about half a dozen. If you go to the link* I supply below, you will get all of them on one webpage, and presumably as he summarizes more, they will be added to this link).

http://volokh.com/posts/chain_1202366725.shtml

Bob Leibowitz has also been providing summaries, so you may wish to check his blog also:

http://www.canticle4leibowitz.com/

Mr. Kopel gives more of an interpretive or narrative summary, i.e. he says in his own words what he thinks the brief says. Mr. Leibowitz uses lots of excerpts to illustrate what the briefs are about.

Enjoy.

elb

*The Volokh Conspiracy blog has a feature that links together related posts, and if you click on it, you get a page like the one I supplied the link to. If the link I supplied blows up for some reason, just go to the Volokh blog, find a David Kopel post about Heller, and look for the "Related Posts" link at the bottom of that post.

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