
Joseph Blocher
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About Joseph
Blocher teaches and writes about constitutional law, especially the First and Second Amendments. His recent work has focused on free speech and on the developing legal regime regarding gun rights and gun control, and has been cited by many federal courts. Before joining the faculty at Duke, he practiced in the appellate group of O’Melveny & Myers, where he assisted the merits briefing for the District of Columbia in District of Columbia v. Heller. He is also interested in the death penalty, and has worked with many organizations committed to providing adequate resources for capital defendants.
Contributions
How America's Tradition of Localism Could Help Gun Control
In the News
Publications
Explores implications of federal policy that places certain restrictions on gun ownership for veterans.
Analyzes over one thousand court opinions on the Second Amendment since the DC v. Heller case was decided in 2008. Establishes empirically the nature of legal opinion on the Second Amendment in a changing constitutional environment.
Summarizes and analyzes the history of constitutional theory behind the Second Amendment, in the aftermath of the 2008 DC v. Heller Supreme Court case.
Analyzes "gun neutral" law and cases in civil and criminal law where firearms are an incidental part of alleged conduct.
Analyzes the constitutional basis for "nonsense" speech acts in the context of First Amendment protections. Finds that meaningful and meaningless speech are intertwined, and that how words are used are important, not just how they relate to concepts beyond the words themselves.