Continuing Legal Education: Privileges or Immunities Clause in McDonald v. City of Chicago

This course examines the role of the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in the protection of individual rights and its application to state-imposed limits on the Second Amendment right to bear arms in McDonald v. City of Chicago.

The Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has long been relegated to the backstage of constitutional jurisprudence.  Justice Thomas’s concurring opinion in McDonald v. City of Chicago, however, brings the Privileges or Immunities Clause to center stage.  Is this simply a brief appearance for the constitutional clause or something more?

Professor Eric Claeys considers the role of the Privileges or Immunities Clause in the protection of individual rights, and reviews three leading theories on the interpretation of the Privileges or Immunities Clause.

Professor Joyce Malcolm provides a brief history of Second Amendment law, a critique of the Supreme Court opinions District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago, and a discussion about the competing standards for incorporation as well as Justice Thomas’s effort to return the Privileges or Immunities Clause to its original purpose.  

View the complete course agenda.

About Continuing Legal Education Courses Offered through the Mercatus Center:

Mercatus Center Capitol Hill Campus CLE courses are offered exclusively to and at no cost to Congressional, Federal Agency and Library of Congress attorneys and counsels.

This course has been approved for a maximum of two (2) general CLE credits by the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board and the Virginia Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board.  Application for approval of this course for a maximum of two (2) general CLE credits is PENDING with the Kentucky Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Commission.

Attorneys licensed in other jurisdictions may apply for credit subject to the rules of their states.  We provide a Certificate of Attendance to assist with this process.  In addition, some states, such as New Jersey and New York, allow for CLE credit reciprocity based on CLE approval issued by jurisdictions to which we have applied.

Please contact Robin Bowen at rbowen5@gmu.edu or if you have questions or need assistance with CLE credit.

Lunch will be provided.