Dru Stevenson, Professor of Law

In honor of one of my first academic heroes, here is Richard Posner's scathing 2008 essay about the Second Amendment (#2A) case District of Columbia v. Heller : https://newrepublic.com/article/62124/defense-looseness.  Richard Posner passed yesterday : https://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/senior-lecturer-richard-posner-law-and-economics-pioneer-and-former-federal-appellate-judge

 As mentioned in previous posts from last summer, I have been undergoing treatment for Stage IV colon cancer. The first course of immunotherapy infusions last summer did not work, so I had surgery in late August (colon resection). They removed the large tumor in the colon, 55 surrounding lymph nodes (a few had cancer on them), and a smaller tumor on my omentum. Recovery in September was rough. IN early October, I began a new course of immunotherapy infusions, different drugs this time (a combination), and more frequent. The infusions make me very weak and exhausted for a week or more after each one. I have a writing sabbatical next semester from my school.  

  Webinar Announcement on LinkedIn Firearms in Vehicles: Examining Storage Practices, Theft Risks, and Prevention Efforts Seminar Overview Today, November 10, 2026, the UConn ARMS Center and Yale School of Public Health hosted an "On Target Virtual Seminar" addressing vehicle-based firearm theft. This session featured Alexander Testa, PhD, Associate Professor and holder of the Blair Justice, Ph. D. Professorship in Mind-Body Medicine and Public Health at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. The primary topic of discussion was "Firearms in Vehicles: Examining Storage Practices, Theft Risks, and Prevention Efforts. " Q&A Insight: Subsidizing Vehicle Firearm Storage During the Q&A segment, I asked the following question regarding legal solutions: "What about state subsidies for car safes for guns? Or combining subsidizing the purchase price of the safe with a legal requirement to have them?" The presenters noted that the most popula...

  U.S. Supreme Court Paper Title: United States v. Hemani: A Narrow Holding Full of Problems Author: Dru Stevenson (Vinson & Elkins Research Professor of Law, South Texas College of Law Houston) Repository Link: SSRN Abstract 7217658 Forthcoming In: Cato Supreme Court Review (2026) Abstract: In United States v. Hemani (2026), a unanimous Supreme Court held that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) violates the Second Amendment when applied to regular marijuana users without proof of individual dangerousness. While purporting to issue a narrow holding, Hemani inflicts severe administrative and doctrinal damage. Critically, the Court completely ignored governing ATF narrowing regulations (27 C.F.R. § 478.11) and relied on outdated empirical data while creating operational chaos for the FBI’s NICS background check system. Beyond the majority opinion, concurrences reveal deeper structural rifts: Justice Thomas questioned Congress’s Commerce Clause authority over local gun possession, while...

Every year, tenure-track and tenured professors at my institution serve on a variety of faculty committees, which are an essential component of faculty governance for a law school. The committees have meetings (either in person or by Zoom), and the number of meetings depends on the workload of the committee, which varies considerably. At these meetings, academic policies are discussed, debated, and adopted by vote, after which they are committed to writing as formal policy proposals, which then go to the full faculty for a vote. Some committees, like those making tenure decisions, admissions, or financial aid, must vote on individual cases or candidates. My committee assignments for the coming year are administrative (general policies). I created a page on this blog with a table of all my previous committee assignments (past years): Public Service & Advisory Roles: Professor Dru Stevenson Professor Dru Stevenson: 2026–2027 Faculty Committee Assignments at South Texas College of Law...

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been undergoing treatment for colon cancer this summer. The good news is that the oncology team is optimistic and recommended I start a regimen of immunotherapy infusions every three weeks, which I will undergo for several months. Statistically, based on my test results, immunotherapy is 80-90% likely to eradicate all the cancer and make surgery unnecessary, but if it doesn't work, then I will have surgery to remove the tumor.   My anemia from the internal bleeding (tumor) overshadowed the entire month of June for me - many days I was too weak and groggy to function. It was a very unproductive month for me, though I was able to read several good books while resting. The two books I enjoyed the most in June were The End of Violence  by Gary Slutkin and The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome: A History of the Ptolemies,  by Guy de la Bedoyere . Another book I read part of in June (but haven't finished) is Killing and Christian E...

Webinar Attendance: June 2, 2026 Today I attended the live webinar " Place Matters: How Neighborhoods Shape Patterns of Gun Violence ," hosted by the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government . Core Tracking Data Event Source: Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium (Rockefeller Institute of Government) Panelists: Bryce Hruska (Syracuse University), Margaret Formica, and Jaclyn Schildkraut Focus Area: How the built environment and local infrastructure changes—specifically the ongoing I-81 Viaduct Project in Syracuse, New York—intersect with gun violence risks and prevention strategies. Participation: I participated in the live session, where the panelists addressed two policy and infrastructure questions I submitted during the Q&A. I asked how this research overlapped or differed from Jens Ludwig's "Unforgiving Places" model, which was focused on Chicago, not Syracuse. The panelists were unfamiliar with this...