Eric Ruben
Biography
Professor Ruben’s research and teaching interests include criminal law, professional responsibility, and the Second Amendment. He is a prominent commentator on the right to keep and bear arms, publishing articles in the California Law Review (forthcoming), Duke Law Journal, Yale Law Journal Forum, and Journal of Law and Contemporary Problems, as well as popular outlets such as The Atlantic, New York Times, Vox, Jurist, and various legal blogs. Prior to joining SMU, he was a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice and an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law. Before that, Professor Ruben worked as a criminal defense attorney at Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello, P.C. and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Julio M. Fuentes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He received his J.D. from NYU School of Law, where he was an Articles Editor for the NYU Law Review, and his B.A. from Dartmouth College, where he graduated magna cum laude.
Areas of Expertise
- Criminal Law
- Professional Responsibility
Education
J.D., NYU School of Law
Courses
Articles
An Unstable Core: Self-Defense and the Second Amendment, 108 California Law Review __ (forthcoming 2020)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Scholar
You Can Lead a Horse to Water: Heller and the Future of Second Amendment Scholarship, 68 Duke Law Journal Online 1 (2018) (with Joseph Blocher)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Scholar
From Theory to Doctrine: An Empirical Analysis of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms After Heller, 67 Duke Law Journal 1433 (2018) (with Joseph Blocher)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Scholar
- cited in Mance v. Sessions (5th Cir. 2018) (Higginson, concurring)
Justifying Perceptions in First and Second Amendment Doctrine, 80 Law & Contemporary Problems 149 (2017)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Scholar
Preface: The Second Generation of Second Amendment Law & Policy, 80 Law & Contemporary Problems 1 (2017) (with Darrell A. H. Miller)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Scholar
Firearm Regionalism and Public Carry: Placing Southern Antebellum Case Law in Context, 125 Yale Law Journal F. 121 (2015) (with Saul Cornell)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Scholar
- cited in Young v. Hawaii (9th Cir. 2018)
Other Publications
Edited Volume
Second Generation of Second Amendment Law and Policy, 80 Law & Contemporary Problems 1 (2017) (with Darrell Miller)Selected Publications
The Second Amendment Allows for More Gun Control Than You Think, Vox.com (May 2018) (with Joseph Blocher)
There Is No Constitutional Bar to Further Gun Control, N.Y. Times (June 2016)
Exaggerated Claims of “Judicial Nullification” in Gun Cases, The Jurist (May 2016)
Justice Scalia, the Second Amendment, and Judicial Conservatives, Casetext.com (February 2016)Don’t Expect the Supreme Court to Overturn Assault Weapon Bans, ACSBlog (October 2015)
The Slave-State Origins of Modern Gun Rights, The Atlantic (September 2015) (with Saul Cornell)
Presentations
The Second Amendment and Self-Defense
Hastings School of Law
San Francisto, CA (January 2019);
New York University School of Law
New York, NY (April 2018); and
University of New Hampshire School of Law
Concord, NH (April 2018)
Guns and Free Speech
New York University School of Law
New York, NY (November 2017)
Justifying Perceptions in First and Second Amendment Doctrine
Guns in a Civil Society Summit
Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility
Seattle, WA (November 2017) and
Symposium on Second Generation of Second Amendment Law & Policy
New York University School of Law
New York, NY (April 2016)
Preemption and Firearms Law
Constitutional Governance Practicum
Columbia Law School
New York, NY (September 2017)
The Second Amendment: A Discussion
Fordham Law Chapter of the American Constitutional Society
Washington, DC (September 2017)
Discussion on Second Amendment Jurisprudence and Advocacy
NYU Law Chapter of the American Constitution Society
New York, NY (March 2016)
An Introduction and Discussion on the Second Amendment
Cardozo Law Chapter of the American Constitution Society
New York, NY (March 2016)
The Second Amendment: Gun Rights in America
John Jay College
New York, NY (November 2015)
Selected Presentations
The Gun Shop
Fulbright Film Series Panel Discussion
(February 2018)
The Second Amendment and Gun Laws:
A Primer for Advocates
New York Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society
(October 2017)
When the First and Second Amendment Collide
League of Women Voters Gun Safety Committee
(September 2017)
Binderup and the Future of As-Applied Second Amendment Challenges
Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy
(February 2017)
2nd Amendment - Protecting Rights, Protecting People
The Liberty Series
Union League of Philadelphia
(January 2017)
Media
Selected Media Appearances
Jennifer Mascia, What to Know About the Supreme Court’s First Gun Case in 9 Years, The Trace (April 2019)
A Historic Ruling on Guns, Ten Years Later, 1A, NPR (June 2018) (radio interview)
Jon Schuppe, Low-Crime Village Bans Military-Style Guns, Citing Parkland and Other Mass Shootings, NBCNews.com (April 2018)
Andrew Wong, Why the US Is So Different From the UK and Australia When It Comes to Gun Control, CNBC.com (March 2018)
Kiran Alvi, US: Most Mass Shootings not Committed by Mentally Ill, AlJazeera.com (November 2017)
Jared Keller, Is The End of the Assault Rifle Nigh?, Pacific Standard (February 2017)
Does the Second Amendment Leave Any Room for Gun Control Laws?, Take Two, KPCC (Southern California Public Radio) (June 2016) (radio interview)
Guns in the Spotlight: Do Americans Really Need an Assault Weapon to Protect Themselves?, Paul Henry Show, TV3 (New Zealand) (June 2016)