Essay

NRA v City of Chicago: Does the Second Amendment Bind Frank Easterbrook?

Richard A. Epstein

James Parker Hall Distinguished Professor of Law, The University of Chicago Law School; The Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution; and Visiting Professor of Law, New York University School of Law.

I would like to thank Nelson Lund for helpful comments on an earlier draft, and Caroline Van Ness, NYU School of Law Class of 2011, for her excellent research assistance in preparing this Essay.

There is little doubt that Frank Easterbrook will go down as one of the great appellate judges in the history of the United States. As those of us who know him well can testify, he is a judge who brings his immense intelligence and fierce dedication to his judicial work. Easterbrook also produces opinions that are always a pleasure to read— short and incisive, without pointless verbiage. One can disagree with their conclusions. But it is impossible to mistake their meaning. I agree wholeheartedly with just about everything he writes on a wide range of issues that deal with antitrust, contracts, corporations, and securities law. I have had more disagreements on his approach to constitutional law. Easterbrook does not like, nor does he need, praise. So I shall write about constitutional law.

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