Thomas J. McNamara
Thomas J. McNamara was a judge for the Albany Court of Claims in Albany County, New York. He was appointed to this position by Governor George Pataki in 1995 and was reappointed in 2004. He also served as an acting justice of the Albany County Supreme Court in the 3rd Judicial District.[1][2]
Education
McNamara attended the University of Chicago for his undergraduate degree and the Albany School of Law for his J.D.[3][4]
Noteworthy cases
Challenge against gun law dismissed
On April 16, 2014, Judge McNamara dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the 2013 SAFE Act, a law that increases restrictions on guns in New York. Specifically, the law bans the sale of high-capacity magazines, many semiautomatic guns and requires current owners to register such firearms.
Robert Schulz led the charge, bringing the lawsuit along with over 1,000 other plaintiffs. They argued that the law unconstitutionally violated the Second Amendment. They also claimed that Gov. Cuomo inappropriately rushed the law through the Legislature, bypassing the usual waiting period.
Judge McNamara wrote, regarding the Second Amendment:
| “ | The right is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.[5] | ” |
| —Acting Justice Thomas McNamara[6] | ||
After the ruling, Schulz said the judge misinterpreted his argument. He said:
| “ | [Judge McNamara] said that we were arguing that the Second Amendment protects our right to carry or own any weapons. That’s not what we argued. We argued that the Second Amendment protects our right to own weapons that are in common use.[5] | ” |
| —Robert Schulz[7] | ||
See also
- New York Supreme Court 3rd Judicial District
- Albany Court of Claims, New York
- Albany County, New York
- Courts in New York
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ NY Courts.gov, "3rd Judicial District Assignments," 2013
- ↑ New York Senate, "2013 Annual Report, New York State Senate Judiciary Committee," 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio - ↑ Martindale, "Thomas J. McNamara - Lawyer Profile," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The New York Times, "Cuomo’s Passage of Gun Law Was Legitimate, Judge Rules," April 16, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Fox 23, "Attorney going to Court of Appeals in SAFE Act case," April 17, 2014
