The United States Supreme Court today accepted review of an appeal in which two federal judges quoted from and relied on the Court’s infamous decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393, 450 (1857).  The D.C. Circuit’s majority and dissenting opinions appear in Parker v. District of Columbia, 478 F.3d 370 (D.C. Cir. 2007).  Stories here, here, and here.

In March, Blawgletter marvelled at the repugnance of leaning on Dred Scott for any proposition — much less the idea that Americans ought to fear recognizing people of African descent as citizens for then they’d have individual rights (such as a right to pack heat).  We reported the possibility of a certiorari grant earlier this month.  According to www.scotusblog.com, the Court will consider the following question in District of Columbia v. Heller, No. 07-290 (U.S.):

Whether the following provisions — D.C. Code secs. 7-2502.02(a)(4), 22-4504(a), and 7-2507.02 — violate the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes?

The Court has never formally overruled Dred Scott, whose holding the fourteenth amendment abolished.  The time, we say, has at long last come.

Barry Barnett