Are Hunters a Constitutionally-Protected Group? A New York Judge Says Yes

"Professor Michael Dorf comments on a recent decision by a New York State trial judge. As Dorf explains, the decision was based on the U.S. Supreme Court case of Batson v. Kentucky, which held that when trial attorneys use their peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors, they cannot do so in a discriminatory way. It has long been clear that Batson applies when peremptory challenges are based on race or sex, but in this case, as Dorf notes, the judge ruled that Batson applied because the attorney at issue had been excluding hunters from the jury. Dorf contends that, while this extension of Batson may seem far-fetched, the judge's ruling may actually have been the correct one, for hunters are exercising their constitutional right to bear arms."

I'm sure I do not agree with Professor Dorf's conclusions. Yet it is a great piece encapsulating the evolution of the Batson Rule in New York and how gun owners and more specifically "hunters" may now have the status of "Protected Group."

Are Hunters a Constitutionally-Protected Group? A New York Judge Says Yes