Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 18:46:52 -0700 From: Jeff Chan To: Akhil Amar Subject: Thanks for speaking with me at conference, comments Hello Professor Amar, It was a pleasure to get a chance to speak with you at the Second Amendment Conference today, if however briefly. I apologize for not introducing myself properly. I feel a bit awkward attending events such as these essentially as an interested lay person who has done some personal research. I'm not sure if you were trying to contact me before you departed, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for participating. I certainly found your comments interesting. The idea that a libertarian view of rights is a relatively recent development while the founders may have been more "conservative" is intriguing. It does seem that proponents of a broad view of individual rights seem to have (re)ascended in the academic and legal conscience in the 20th century. For example first, fourth and fifth amendment cases the ACLU backed come to mind. That said, it's clear that issues at liberty were of significant interest to the founders. I think it's fair to say that freedom from religious persecution, self-incrimination, censure of political speech, and so on were lively issues prior to Independence. If anything these issues of freedom may have been fresher to the colonists who experienced them first hand. If we had become complacent about them after they had been enshrined in the Bill of Rights and allowed them to erode, then perhaps it's healthy that the ACLU and others reminded us of their relevance more recently, especially in protecting views in the minority. I wonder if this might explain a return to the ideas of liberty? I'm glad to see that the Second Amendment is finally seeming to at least become an acceptable topic of discussion. Professor Levinson's characterization of our attitudes towards it are entertaining because they're pretty accurate. Being a libertarian, I find it consistent to take a broad view of all rights, including the right to arms, especially as a balance to the tremendous expansion of government power throughout our nation's history. (I believe this perspective could also be categorized as classically liberal.) I hope that a similarly broad view of the Second Amendment becomes possible. Again, it was a pleasure to hear you speak in person. Sincerely, Jeff Chan -- Jeff Chan http://www.jeffchan.com/