[In response to: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dorf/20030205.html 

 "Why A Recent Supreme Court Copyright Ruling May Have Important 
  Implications for Second Amendment Gun Rights As Well" ]


Jeff Chan - 02:28am Feb 6, 2003 (2285. 4281/4281) *

Rights outclass powers

Dorf misses a major difference between any Second Amendment 
questions and Eldred in that powers granted to Congress to 
regulate copyrights and trade pale in comparison to rights. 
Rights are placed outside the reach of the "democratic process" 
of "Congress" precisely in order to prevent a tyranny of the 
majority. The Bill of Rights expressly proscribes Congress, 
as in "Congress shall make no law...", so that potentially 
unpopular or minority views cannot be encroached by the 
political process as the Founders had predicted and feared. 
Dorf is correct that Eldred and Second Amendment cases have 
some fundamental differences, but those differences lie in 
the far greater scope of rights versus powers.