Gun Rights Expert Discusses Controversial Case

03/09/2010 

Robert Spitzer, a distinguished service professor and chair of the SUNY Cortland Political Science Department, will discuss the pending Supreme Court case of McDonald v. City of Chicago at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31, at Main Street SUNY Cortland, 9 Main St.

A panelist for the Ivory Tower Half Hour on WCNY PBS in Syracuse and author of three books and numerous articles on the Second Amendment, Spitzer will discuss “Gun Rights to the States: Incorporation and the McDonald Case.”

The talk is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served and a question-and-answer period will follow Spitzer’s presentation.

On March 2, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that raises the question of whether the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms will, for the first time in history, apply to the states. Spitzer, who has co-authored an amicus brief in the case, will discuss its background, implications, likely outcome, and the basis for “incorporating” newfound gun rights. 

“This case revives the idea of applying parts of the Bill of Rights to the states, a process that effectively ended in 1969,” said Spitzer. “I will discuss the irony of this revival of interest in the doctrine called 'incorporation' and how it might change American law.”

The SUNY Cortland Political Science Association and Political Science Department are sponsoring the event.