ROY LUCAS

 
Roy Lucas passed away in November of 2003. He will be missed sorely, both as a friend and an unparalleled expert in our fight to restore the free exercise of our right to keep and bear arms. Fortunately, he completed most of the key work on the Silveira v. Lockyer case, which we will be able to use most effectively in this case and in any future gun rights case.

Endorsements of Roy Lucas and his Second Amendment Work

DON KATES
-- Writer, Constitutional Scholar, 2nd Amendment Attorney:

"Roy Lucas is phenomenal. A distinguished legal scholar and historian with a fine background as a litigator in the federal courts, he is also a committed liberal who has never owned a firearm. Yet he has exhaustively researched the Second Amendment and recognized that it unquestionably guarantees an individual right to possess guns for all lawful purposes, especially the right to defend your home and family from criminal attack. It bears emphasis that these are rights that all true liberals should support, and Lucas does with impressive writing. Had Lucas just wanted money he could have done far better supporting the anti-gun lobby which is incredibly rich, with contributions from numerous millionaires and rich liberal foundations. But Lucas is too honest to prostitute himself. His contribution is unique and uniquely valuable. It deserves the financial support of every American who is interested in the truth about the constitutional right to arms."

DAVID T. HARDY 
-- 2nd Amendment Attorney and Scholar:

"Roy Lucas' work for (and not merely on) the Second Amendment is stunning, absolutely stunning. His investigation of the Supreme Court's Miller decision (based on original research in the National Archives) puts that ruling in an entirely new -- and unflattering -- light. More important, he functions as a Supreme Court "insider," which no other Second Amendment advocate (myself included) is. He knows the tactical and personal details of crafting a brief or petition for that Court, when the rest of us just know the published rules. When the Supreme Court does finally take a Second Amendment case, he's got my vote, not just to be on the gun owners' legal team, but to lead it."

CLAYTON CRAMER 
-- Constitutional Scholar and Historian:

"I am impressed with the research that Roy Lucas is currently doing with respect to U.S. v. Miller (1939). Other scholars have examined this decision, focusing on the constitutional issues. Roy Lucas has been doing some very useful and interesting research into the facts of the case, as well as the personalities and motivations of the participants in this fateful decision. These are important and valuable additions to the existing body of work that has already been done on this crucial decision."

Roy Lucas Projects We Are Funding

(1) Writing a model petition to grant certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, applicable to Silveira v. Lockyer 

(2) Finalizing a law review article titled Miller Revisited; an in-depth, devastating critique of this flawed Second Amendment case - a positive development for our side. (See Second Amendment attorney Dave Hardy's assessment of Mr. Lucas' Miller revelations.) 

(3) A law journal article critiquing the Ninth Circuit Court's flawed Silveira v. Lockyer ruling. 

(4) Assembling materials for a model brief, applicable to Silveira v. Lockyer 

(5)  A book (now partially completed) to be titled The Individual Right to Bear Arms. The book will contain the Miller Revisited article, the Silveira v. Lockyer article, and other original material that can be used by every federal judge in the U.S., by Supreme Court justices, and by attorneys engaged in Second Amendment cases. 

6) Model Second Amendment materials, comprising essential arguments, cases, quotes, and an anthology of the major articles useful to the Court in developing a favorable Second Amendment decision. (One such compendium compiled for a case by Mr. Lucas was 477 pages long; in its favorable opinion, the Court cited fifteen articles contained in the compendium.)

Roy Lucas – Legal Career

During his career Roy Lucas has handled over 50 reported cases in 33 states. This included 11 of the 12 US Courts of Appeals. He has argued cases in the highest courts of eight States, and has argued successful jury trials from South Dakota to Virginia. That is remarkable experience, requiring considerable versatility in adapting to local idiosyncrasies.

Most recently, Mr. Lucas wrote a major brief for the Screen Actor's Guild, Gavin de Becker, and a member of Congress on privacy in the case of Reno v Condon (US 2000, No. 98-1464). This was to protect individual privacy in DMV records following the murder of actress Rebecca Schaefer and other murders. Two US Courts of appeal had previously denied such privacy rights and even thrown out the protective Act of Congress. The Supreme Court unanimously accepted the arguments Mr. Lucas made, in an opinion written by Chief Justice Rehnquist. Mr. Lucas succeeded in getting every justice’s vote – 9 to 0.

In terms of innovation, Mr. Lucas wrote a brief for the lawyers in Kirstein v Rector (ED Va) to halt sex discrimination in the Virginia public universities.

Mr. Lucas’ initial Supreme Court brief was for the First Amendment, successfully representing the AAUP and National Student Association in the black arm band speech case, Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School District (US 1969).

What distinguishes Mr. Lucas from other Supreme Court scholars and litigators is that, for the past two years he has spent untold hours in the Library of Congress and National Archives studying the private papers, letters, and unpublished opinions of some fifteen Justices, comprising thousands of pages of personal thoughts on the law that are generally unseen by others. Such study has given him innovative approaches and insights into what is necessary to win Second Amendment cases.

Roy Lucas and Roe v. Wade

There is an issue regarding Mr. Lucas which some may attempt to use to undermine our support of his crucial and groundbreaking Second Amendment work. 

Mr. Lucas is credited with devising the “right to privacy” argument that prevailed in the abortion rights Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. In fact, he wrote the first article on privacy and abortion as a law student in 1966-67. Former ACLU National Director and Soros Foundation President Aryeh Neier says in his new book, Taking Liberties (2003): 

"I had heard of him even while he was a student from ... Robert McKay, professor and subsequent Dean of NYU Law School. Bob told me one of his pupils have written a brilliant paper on abortion. Lucas's theories ... laid the groundwork for Roe v Wade a few years later." 

The Court that ruled on Roe v. Wade followed that analysis quite thoroughly, Justice Blackmun citing the string of privacy cases going back to the 1890’s that were mentioned in the article.

The only brief the Court cited in the two abortion cases, Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton, was the one Mr. Lucas wrote for the American College of Obstetricians/Gynecologists in Doe v Bolton.

We realize that people have very strong opinions on Roe v. Wade, on moral, constitutional, social, and even logical grounds. We respect these opinions and have our own as well. However, we are Second Amendment rights organizations, and we are focused on winning back the free exercise of our right to buy, own, and use firearms. In Roe v. Wade, Mr. Lucas utilized remarkable insight into the thinking of the Supreme Court justices of that time. Viewed dispassionately, he did his job. He got results. He won. He moved on.

To achieve a positive Supreme Court ruling on the Second Amendment, we are looking solely at Mr. Lucas' past performance with the Supreme Court, his experience in arguing cases, and the self-motivated and ingenious work he has already done in analyzing - to our benefit - the 1939 Miller v. U.S. case, which was the last pure 2nd Amendment case to reach the Supreme Court.

We also find it extremely beneficial to be partnered with someone who is considered by some to be a liberal and who does not even own a firearm – someone with a greater chance to receive a fair hearing from Justices with liberal inclinations. In short, we are committed to winning a Second Amendment case in the Supreme Court and we have found someone uniquely qualified in numerous ways to help make that happen. 

YOU CAN HELP ensure that the best possible Second Amendment case is made by donating to Citizens Of America right now, while we have the most time available to properly prepare.

Roy Lucas' work is being used to help fight a Second Amendment lawsuit.  Click here for details.