Second Amendment Legal Update, March 2026

A monthly update, prepared for the Schuyler County Chapter of S.C.O.P.E. NY, a statewide 501(c)4 organization dedicated to preserving the 2nd Amendment rights for the residents of New York State. For a complete copy of this month’s report, click here.

Second Amendment Legal Update, April 2023

A monthly update, prepared for the Schuyler County Chapter of S.C.O.P.E. NY, a statewide 501(c)4 organization dedicated to preserving the 2nd Amendment rights for the residents of New York State. For a complete copy of this month’s report, click here.

Second Amendment Legal Update, November 2022

A monthly update, prepared for the Schuyler County Chapter of S.C.O.P.E. NY, a statewide 501(c)4 organization dedicated to preserving the 2nd Amendment rights for the residents of New York State. For a complete copy of this month's report, click here.

Martin Luther King Day

Ronald Reagan:

"Each year on Martin Luther King Day, let us not only recall Dr. King, but rededicate ourselves to the Commandments he believed in and sought to live every day: Thou shall love thy God with all thy heart, and thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. And I just have to believe that all of us -- if all of us, young and old, Republicans and Democrats, do all we can to live up to those Commandments, then we will see the day when Dr. King's dream comes true, and in his words, "All of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning. . . land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

(President Reagan, Coretta Scott King, Bob Dole and others at the signing ceremony for HR 3706 making the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a national holiday. 11/2/1983)

New York Courts Seek Comment on Proposal to Amend Non-discrimination Rules

The New York State Administrative Board of the Courts is seeking public comment on a proposal to amend various rules of the Unified Court System to prohibit discrimination based on "gender identity" and "gender expression."

The proposal seeks to amend the following rules:

• Attorney Rules of Professional Conduct (22 NYCRR Part 1200);
• Rules of Judicial Conduct (22 NYCRR Part 100);
• UCS Code of Ethics for Nonjudicial Employees (22 NYCRR Part 50);
• Rules of the Chief Judge, Career Service (22 NYCRR Part 25).

The Request for Public Comment includes the relevant rules, as well as a memorandum by the Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Courts, Hon. Lawrence Marks, which claims that the current non-discrimination policies are "not inclusive of all the members of the LGBTQ communities," and "[e]xtending these provisions to include 'gender identity' and 'gender expression' will aid in the public efforts to institutionalize the Judiciary's commitment to eradicating discrimination and bias against all persons regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression."

Persons wishing to comment on the proposed amendments should e-mail their submissions here or write to:

John W. McConnell, Esq., Counsel
Office of Court Administration
25 Beaver Street, 11th Fl.
New York, New York 10004.

Comments must be received no later than Feb. 2, 2018.

Happy birthday, 19th Amendment

Ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle, which began in Seneca County, New York.

The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. It advertised itself as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman." Held in Seneca Falls, New York, it spanned two days over July 19–20, 1848.

Several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. Finally, when Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, it passed its final hurdle of obtaining the agreement of three-fourths of the states.

Legal links of interest for the week ending November 8

Steven Getman, attorney, reports on some news stories about lawyers and the law in the past week:

Bill to ban job bias against gays clears Senate hurdle: A measure that would outlaw workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity overcame a significant obstacle as seven Republicans voted to begin debate on the bill.

In Bond v. U.S., the Supreme Court will decide if a treaty trumps state police powers: Carol Bond concedes that she spread a toxic chemical on the car and mailbox of a friend who had an affair with her husband. Federal prosecutors intervened in what would normally be a state criminal case to charge Bond with violating the chemical-weapons convention that the Senate ratified in 1997.

Domestic violence alerts available in New York: Victims of domestic violence can now sign-up for SAVIN-NY alerts at www.nyalert.gov by clicking on “Orders of Protection.”

D.C. Circuit rules against Obamacare contraceptive mandate: the D.C. Circuit ruled November 1 that two brothers who own and operate a food-supply company are entitled under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to a preliminary injunction against imposition of the HHS mandate on contraception and abortifacients.

Judge upholds Rochester's red light camera program: A state court justice found the red light camera laws do not infringe upon a fundamental right

Legislative prayer gets Supreme Court review: The case argued at the court Wednesday involves prayers said at the start of town council meetings in Greece, N.Y., a Rochester suburb.

New York State warns residents of STAR application scam: New homeowners have received letters offering to enroll them in the STAR Program for a substantial fee; however enrollment in the the program is actually free.

For more on each of these stories, click on the links above.