Document Type
Article
Publication
Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc
Year
2024
Citation Information
Pratheepan Gulasekaram, Second Amendment Immigration Exceptionalism, 77 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 51 (2024), available at https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/faculty-articles/1633.
Abstract
This Essay critiques the decision to uphold federal gun restrictions on unlawfully present noncitizens on the basis of "immigration exceptionalism." It argues that courts should avoid applying bespoke constitutionalism to criminal laws, including gun laws, simply because the law regulates noncitizens. This Essay shows why such exceptional modes misapprehend long-decided Supreme Court cases and well-established legal doctrine. Further, it warns that an exceptional approach to Second Amendment claims by unlawfully present noncitizens cannot be cabined to either firearms or the unlawfully present. Rather, it portends a wider gulf in constitutional protections for all noncitizens across a variety of fundamental criminal and civil rights.
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