SCOTUSblog by Stephen Wermiel 8/29/2019
Mootness is not often the stuff of headlines. But a current dispute over Second Amendment rights and a New York City gun regulation has put mootness in the spotlight.
Last January, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition, 18-280, by the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association challenging New York City’s curb on transporting licensed handguns outside the home. The New York regulation, which allowed handguns to be transported only to specified shooting ranges within the city, was upheld by a federal district judge in New York and by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. The lower courts rejected claims that the city regulation violates the Second Amendment, that it interferes with interstate commerce and that it impedes the right to travel.
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case marked the first time since 2010 that the justices have agreed to tackle a dispute over the scope of gun rights. Although gun-rights groups have filed numerous briefs urging the court to expand Second Amendment rights, the court had so far declined to take up the issue. Commentators have suggested that the replacement of Justice Anthony Kennedy with Justice Brett Kavanaugh last fall may have given the court a majority favoring strengthened rights of gun owners.
In the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, the court ruled for the first time that the Second Amendment confers a right of individuals to possess guns, at least in their homes for purposes of self-defense. Since then, gun-rights groups have hoped to expand the right beyond the home and beyond self-defense; gun-regulation advocates have pressed to limit gun rights or even to overrule the Heller decision. The issues have divided communities, political parties and the nation.
Soon after the court agreed to hear the New York City case, perhaps because of the prospect of a ruling that might expand the scope of Second Amendment rights, New York City officials moved to amend the challenged regulation and then asked the justices to dismiss the case as moot.
What is mootness and when does it apply? As a general matter, a case becomes moot when the parties no longer have an interest that can be resolved by the court’s decision.
More:
https://www.scotusblog.com/2019/08/scotus-for-law-students-battling-over-mootness/#more-288879
