Professor Jacob Charles Cited in United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Case, Dominic Bianchi v. Anthony G. Brown

Professor Jacob D. Charles is cited in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit case, Dominic Bianchi v. Anthony G. Brown. Professor Charles's law review article,  "The Dead Hands of a Silent Past: Bruen, Gun Rights, and the Shackles of History," 73 Duke L.J. 67, 129–45 (2023) (SSRN), is cited in Chief Judge Diaz's concurring opinion in the en banc decision upholding Maryland's assault weapons ban.

Excerpt from Dominic Bianchi v. Anthony G. Brown:

But if courts are to apply and replicate precedent consistently, then either the Bruen framework is failing, or we are. And if the cacophony of decisions we’ve seen post-Bruen is any indication,5 then confusion isn’t simply a bug of the framework—it’s a feature, even if unintended. Hewing true to our oaths, we’ve done our best to apply Bruen faithfully, but the law shouldn’t work like this. 

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5See, e.g., Jacob D. Charles, The Dead Hands of a Silent Past: Bruen, Gun Rights, and the Shackles of History, 73 Duke L.J. 67, 129–45 (2023) (describing common obstacles courts face in implementing Bruen and the “divergent conclusions” those courts have reached).

The complete case may be found at Dominic Bianchi v. Anthony G. Brown