The Center’s September 2022 Symposium with the NYU Law Review

On September 23, 2022, the Center co-hosted a symposium in New York, in coordination with the New York University Law Review, on the theme of Gun Rights and Regulation after Bruen.  

The symposium was a tremendous success and the Center would like to thank all those who participated, attended in person, and tuned into the live stream.  The keynote discussion regarding the racial justice implications of gun law enforcement post-Bruen featured Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie, Steven Wu, Chief of Appeals for the Manhattan DA’s Office, and Aimee Carlisle of the Bronx Public Defenders.  The discussion, moderated by Professor Vincent Southerland of NYU, was witnessed by a standing-room-only audience on Friday morning to kick off the symposium.  The scholarly panels similarly produced high-quality conversation and debate about the Bruen decision and how courts will implement its new historical test.  The essays produced as part of the symposium will be published in an upcoming volume of the New York University Law Review.

Audio recordings of the symposium panels are available on YouTube at the links below, and a few pictures from the event are also included here.  Thank you to our partners at the NYU Law Review and to everyone who helped make the event a success!

Panel 1 –  Keynote Discussion:  Criminal Justice and Prosecutorial Discretion in the Wake of Bruen - Vincent Southerland (NYU); Alvin Bragg (Manhattan District Attorney); Aimee Carlisle (The Bronx Defenders); Zellnor Myrie (New York State Senator); Steven Wu (Chief of Appeals, Manhattan DA’s Office)

Panel 2 – Bruen’s Methodology and Practical Consequences for Legislation and Criminal Law - Mark Tushnet (Harvard); Eugene Volokh (UCLA); Eric Ruben (SMU)

Panel 3 – Sensitive Places and the Challenges of Applying Bruen in the Lower Courts - Jamal Greene (Columbia); Joseph Blocher (Duke);  Darrell Miller (Duke); Jake Charles (Pepperdine); Adam Samaha (NYU)

Panel 4 – After Bruen: Implications for Law Enforcement, Stare Decisis, and Supreme Court Legitimacy - Sanford Levinson (Texas); Brandon del Pozo (Rhode Island Hospital); Mary Anne Franks (Miami); Barry Friedman (NYU); Haley Proctor (Missouri)

Center Co-Director Joseph Blocher provides opening remarks and welcomes symposium attendees.

A packed audience watches the first panel discussion, featuring Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie, Steven Wu, Chief of Appeals for the Manhattan DA’s Office, and Aimee Carlisle, Senior Attorney at The Bronx Defenders, and moderated by Vincent Southerland of NYU. 

Center Co-Directors Joseph Blocher and Darrell Miller, along with former Executive Director Jake Charles (now at Pepperdine) and NYU’s Adam Samaha, participate in a panel discussion of sensitive places post-Bruen moderated by Jamal Greene of Columbia.

Panel 4, featuring Brandon del Pozo (Rhode Island Hospital), Barry Friedman (NYU), Mary Anne Franks (Miami), and Haley Proctor (Missouri), moderated by Sanford Levinson (Texas).