A do-over on D.C. gun law

[Draggingtree]

Scotus: A do-over on D.C. gun law

By Lyle Denniston on Dec 16, 2015 at 8:57 am

 

Reaching back seventy-eight years to find a limit on the Chief Justice’s power to assign visiting judges, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday wiped out a judge’s ruling on the scope of gun rights under the Second Amendment. The ruling will require a new judge to conduct a new trial on the constitutionality of a District of Columbia gun law.

 

Under a federal law, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., has the authority to designate a judge from another city to rule on cases in a city that has an overloaded court docket. But, the D.C. Circuit ruled, that power lapses once the initial task has been performed.