Consider the Source

It is rare to see a discussion of the substantive merits of a Supreme Court decision in the op-ed columns of the Roanoke Times. The new Second Amendment decision, District of Columbia v. Heller, has spawned such a discussion. On July 6th the Roanoke Times published a column critical of the decision by Professor Erwin Chemerinsky. (Oddly, the article is no longer available on the RT website; here is a link from the LA Times. ) I don't know much about Chemerinsky's politics, but when I was in law school his treatise on Federal Jurisdiction was considered to be the finest, clearest and best piece of legal writing available anywhere. The book read like a novel, and not like Ulysses or Finnegan's Wake-- more like The Firm or The DaVinci Code. You could read it and know the material in a way that is rarely experienced by a lawyer or a student. Today the book is in its fifth edition and if you believe the Amazon reviews it is still excellent. The man is an incredibly gifted writer. Anyway, today's paper has the thoughts of Stephen Williams, "a rising sophomore at Patrick Henry College" on Professor Chemerinsky's column. Here is a link to his piece. Mr. Williams is to be commended for taking on one of the premier legal minds of his era; however, he may want to reconsider his "half-hearted chuckle" in light of Chemerinsky's qualifications.