Bully Boy of Bayonne...
Three Chicago residents and an association of Illinois firearms dealers brought this suit against the City of Chicago (Mayor Rahm Emanuel is sued in his official capacity, which is the same as suing the City), challenging the constitutionality of City ordinances that ban virtually all sales and transfers of firearms inside the City’s limits.1 R. 80, Second Am. Compl. The ban covers federally licensed firearms dealers; even validly licensed dealers cannot sell firearms in Chicago. The ban covers gifts amongst family members; only through inheritance can someone transfer a firearm to a family member. Chicago does all this in the name of reducing gun violence. That is one of the fundamental duties of government: to protect its citizens. The stark reality facing the City each year is thousands of shooting victims and hundreds of murders committed with a gun. But on the other side of this case is another feature of government: certain fundamental rights are protected by the Constitution, put outside government’s reach, including the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense under the Second Amendment. This right must also include the right to acquire a firearm, although that acquisition right is far from absolute: there are many long-standing restrictions on who may acquire firearms (for examples, felons and the mentally ill have long been banned) and there are many restrictions on the sales of arms (forexample, licensing requirements for commercial sales). But Chicago’s ordinance goestoo far in outright banning legal buyers and legal dealers from engaging in lawful acquisitions and lawful sales of firearms, and at the same time the evidence does not support that the complete ban sufficiently furthers the purposes that the ordinance tries to serve. For the specific reasons explained later in this opinion, the ordinances are declared unconstitutional.
Well, Marissa Alexander simply can't bring her self to abide by the orders of a court, according to a story from First Coast News (FCN), Florida. The last time she was out on bail, and under a restraining order to stay away from her estranged husband,...
A man missing since Wednesday was located in Washington, D.C., after his photo appeared in a Rochester, N.Y., edition of USA TODAY. Nicholas A. Simmons, 20, was last seen leaving his home in Greece, a suburb of Rochester, on New Year's Day. Family members began a search for him by contacting local news media and posting on Facebook. In a strange twist, family members told local police they saw a man in a photograph published by USA TODAY in Sunday's Democrat and Chronicle who looked like Simmons. The Associated Press photo ran with coverage of cold weather sweeping across the country. The caption identified a homeless man named "Nick" wrapped in a blanket just blocks from the U.S. Capitol on Saturday. Sunday night, Greece police said they contacted police in Washington, who located Simmons.
Note: You may reprint this cartoon provided you link back to this source. To see more Legal Insurrection Branco cartoons, click here. Branco’s page is Cartoonist A.F.Branco...
It took several decades but an American hero in Commerce City has finally been recognized. Army Sgt. Alfred Hurtado served in Europe during World War II. In 1943 he was severely injured and placed with wounded German prisoners by accident. His fellow soldiers thought he had died. On Saturday the chairman of the Forgotten Heroes campaign presented Hurtado with three Purple Hearts, a Combat Infantryman Badge, and nine other medals.https://twitter.com/CBS4Mark/status/419586658032304129 https://twitter.com/CBS4Mark/status/419588019687915520
Liz Cheney is ending her campaign for Senate in Wyoming, citing health concerns in her family. The news was reported by CNN late Sunday night and confirmed in a statement Monday. From CNN: Liz Cheney, whose upstart bid to unseat Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi sparked a round...
It is so bad that even New York is now trying to poach businesses from the Golden State. ...
The spread of the quenelle - an antisemitic salute - is a testament to growing anti-Semitism tied to hatred of Israel, particularly in Europe.....
Janet Napolitano, former secretary of Homeland Security, said during a segment on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she is opposed to the idea of clemency for Edward Snowden. From NBC News/Meet the Press: Former Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano flatly rejected the idea of clemency for Edward...
According to a study of the Medicaid expansion program in Oregon, giving people Medicaid appears to increase their ER use, rather than decreasing it as Obamacare proponents had predicted. Why on earth would this be any sort of surprise? I know, I know: the idea was...
...2. Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana use -- perhaps the most talked-about new law of 2014 -- starting on Jan. 1. While Colorado stores have already begun selling marijuana, it isn't the only state with new drug laws. Washington has also legalized recreational marijuana use, and Illinois has legalized medical marijuana. 3. Illinois passed a law that prohibits drone-use that interferes with hunters or fisherman. This law was passed after PETA called for the use of "Air Angel" drones to monitor "hunters engaging in illegal activity." Another new law in the state prohibits state law enforcement from using drones to gather information without a warrant. 4. There's now a bigger fine for planning violent flash mobs on social media in Illinois. 5. In Oregon, it's now legal for mothers to take their placentas home from the hospital after childbirth. 6. It's now illegal to sell, distribute or possess shark fins in Delaware.Colorado's rule change has already had some unintended consequences: Colorado 2-Year-Old Tests Positive For Pot (via Tammy Bruce).
Backlash ensued and Melissa Harris-Perry later apologized online in a series of tweets.
On her program today, Harris-Perry again made an apology for that segment, while fighting back tears. Below is an excerpt from that apology. Video is after the jump.
Now given my own family history, I identify with that picture and I intended to say positive and celebratory things about it, but whatever the intent was, the reality is that the segment proceeded in a way that was offensive. And showing the photo in that context, that segment, was poor judgment. So without reservation or qualification, I apologize to the Romney family. Adults who enter into public life implicitly consent to having less privacy. But their families, and especially their children, should not be treated callously or thoughtlessly. My intention was not malicious, but I broke the ground rule that families are off-limits, and for that I am sorry. Also, allow me to apologize to other families formed through transracial adoption, because I am deeply sorry that we suggested that interracial families are in any way funny or deserving of ridicule. On this program we are dedicated to advocating for a wide diversity of families. It is one of our core principles, and I am reminded that when we are doing so, it must always be with the utmost respect.(h/t to Newsbusters for the transcript; and to TheRightScoop for staying on the story)
“This was a historic event,” Paul McKinley of V.O.T.E. (Voices of the Ex-Offender) and former 2nd Congressional District GOP nominee to replace Jesse Jackson, Jr. told Breitbart News..... McKinley told the room, “Stop blaming just anybody for the violence in the city of Chicago. Blame the right people, not just white people, but the right people. Because it’s not just white folks a part of this, but it is on the fifth floor. The fifth floor took your schools, the fifth floor just took your jobs that he said that he gave to the ex-offender… and every single alderman was a part of this criminal process.”The video will delight fans of schadenfreude:
