I’m proud to say I’m good friends with Mr. Baker:

http://www.mountainstateslegal.org/legal_cases.cfm?legalcaseid=224

Go get ‘em, buddy! :)

MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin prosecutor said he won’t enforce a host of state weapons laws after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week Americans have a right to own a gun for self-defense.

Jackson County District Attorney Gerald R. Fox said in a statement he will no longer prosecute Wisconsin’s prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons, transporting uncased or loaded guns in vehicles, carrying guns in public buildings and taverns and carrying switchblades and butterfly knives. He said the Supreme Court’s ruling renders those statutes unconstitutional.

…

Fox, a Democrat with self-described Libertarian leanings, faces re-election in 2012. He said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press but if the Brady Campaign wants to mount a recall drive, the organization should “bring it on.”

“If a majority of people want me to move on, that’s the price for standing up and saying ‘this is what I believe,’” Fox said.

There are some really lulzy quotes in there from a mentally defective police chief, so go read the whole thing. I’d really like to know if the predicted hogleg rush came to pass, hurr… I’m going to guess not.

Fox’s whole press release can be read here.

“These so-called “public safety” laws only put decent law-abiding citizens at a dangerous disadvantage when it comes to their personal safety, and I for one am glad that this decades-long era of defective thinking on gun issues is over.”

OH MY GOSH JUST GO READ IT.

Maybe I’m a nerd, but this makes me positively giddy. I really want to email Mr. Fox and thank him for his badassery. Right now all I have is, “Dear Mr. Fox, you’re fantastic. Love, Me” so I should probably wait until I stop swooning.

I’m on the iPhone and haven’t read the decision yet, but had to make a brief post to join in the McDonald celebration.

We win!!!

I also saw someone quicker-witted than I changed the Brady Campaign’s Wikipedia page to label them, by definition, a hate group – due to their stated opposition to an established constitutional right. Love. It.

As several commenters pointed out, the problem with the death penalty is bigger than the death penalty. It’s the justice system, which is broken.

Because of stories like Cory Maye’s, I will never support the idea that sentencing a man to death is as simple as two credible witnesses (credible like… police officers?), or that we should execute someone before they can run the gamut of appeals (through appeals, Cory was removed from death row and granted a new trial).

The Case of Cory Maye – read it (again), please.

I believe to the core of my soul that it is better to let undeniably guilty men languish in prison for life, instead of facing death, than it is to execute even one innocent man. And, so long as the definition of murder can bend based on the last name of the person you kill or the color of your jury, I don’t see how it’s possible to have that sort of perfection.

So, what does this have to do with the case of the guy in Utah, who was a repeat offender, obviously guilty? Give the state the power to kill him, and you give the state the power to kill Cory.

From the NRA on H.R. 5175:

We have never said we would support any version of this bill. To the contrary, we clearly stated NRA’s strong opposition to the DISCLOSE Act (as introduced) in a letter sent to Members of Congress on May 26 (click here to read the letter).

Later in the same statement:

We didn’t “sell out” to Nancy Pelosi or anyone else. We told Congress we opposed the bill. As a result, congressional leaders made a commitment to exempt us from its draconian restrictions on free speech. If that commitment is honored, we will not be involved in the final House debate. If that commitment is not fully honored, we will strongly oppose the bill.

If the NRA gets its piece of the pie, they’ll stay quiet. Only if they don’t will they actively oppose the bill.

That’s pretty much the definition of selling out, you two-faced, double-speaking morons.

EDIT: By the way, I’m really, REALLY sick of everyone making excuses for the NRA’s bad behavior. It absolutely galls me how many gunnies are willing to turn a blind eye every time they sell us up the river “compromise” on something because they’re the biggest gun rights organization out there. I don’t really give a good god damn how big they are when they fail at actually protecting our interests.

I don’t give anyone carte blanche to speak on my behalf, especially an organization hell-bent on securing a monopoly – to what effect? When every last check on the NRA is stripped of its political power, by a combination of gun owner fear and legislative action, and we have only the NRA to represent us… Do you really trust them that much? If we treat the NRA with such undeserved reverence when we have other options, they know they’ve got us on complete lockdown if they can kill the competition. And then what?

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of Idaho kicking more ass.

—————–

On a personal note: Thank you all for your good thoughts, prayers, etc. My grandma is doing well, all things considered. She’s doing inpatient stroke rehab at UC Davis, and is making great progress. She has most of her physical function back, but not all of her neurological pathways. So, she has the strength to walk, but her brain doesn’t always send the right signals. She has the ability to talk, but can’t always find the right word. We’re not sure just yet what the course of action will be regarding the cancer.

In other news, my dad thought he cracked a rib the other day, so he went in for a chest x-ray and they found a nodule in his lung that wasn’t there a couple of years ago. He had a CT scan yesterday and they’re doing a needle biopsy on the 31st. Add him to the good thoughts list, yes?

Oh, and, my 34-year-old horse died the other day. Though, she appears to have more or less gone in her sleep, after a day of sunshine, grooming and a hoof trim, so not too far off the way I’d like to kick the bucket. I’ll miss her but am glad she was in good health ’til the end.

And have I mentioned how much I hate this god-awful, smoggy, allergy-inducing, bankrupt cesspool of a state? Back when I lived here, I thought I had a high level of wanderlust. Now, as I feel the same feelings rising, I realize it’s not really wanderlust so much as a fight or flight instinct. I just want to be somewhere not here. Also, my hometown is completely overrun with thug-life looking cholos. WTF.

Anyway. I could use a vacation from my vacation, and since neither The Inconvenience or my best guns are here, my #1 and #2 stress-relief are off the table. Sigh. All that said, I’m actually in surprisingly high spirits, all things considered, and have at least gotten to connect with some old friends and enjoy the sunshine.

C’est la vie.

And the horse you rode in on.

Have I mentioned my (extreme and possibly unhealthy) love for Idaho?

Oh, and this helps. I was curious how it got around that whole “No state shall…coin money” part of the Constitution, but apparently the “medallions” aren’t to have a face value, and thus will just be units of silver with fluctuating values.

Esto Perpetua.

I just updated my oral argument post with illustrations, provided courtesy of Arfcommer mcouey.

I kinda want to make the motorboating frame my avatar on everything for the rest of the internet.

I wrote this earlier and was encouraged to post it here. Oh well, I’m not running for POTUS anyway.

Warning: Language and irreverence ahead. (Seriously, Grandma, I live with a Marine!)

—————–

GURA: Scalia! An argument for incorporating under privileges and immunities, YOU CAN HAS! 
SCALIA: WTF are you talking about? We can incorporate it under due process. I hate due process and I even think that. 
GURA: Uhhh
SCALIA: Are you trying to get a job at a law school? 
GURA: Oh shit
SCALIA: SERIOUSLY STFU IF WE USE PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES THESE FUCKOS WILL LEGITIMIZE EVERYTHING STFU STFU STFU 
GURA: But you hate due process
SCALIA: I LIKE IT NOW
GURA: Uhhh
GINSBURG: I’m a bitch!
SCALIA: LULZ 
STEVENS: I’m a bitch! 
CLEMENT: This should obviously be incorporated under due process.
ALITO: Werd 
BREYER: *motorboats Sotomayor*
FELDMAN: Here’s my first argument.
SCALIA: That argument sucks.
FELDMAN: Ordered liberty?
SCALIA: We haven’t used that since 1937.
FELDMAN: Have too.
SCALIA: When? 
FELDMAN: Uh, here’s my second argument.
SCALIA: You just argued against your first argument.
FELDMAN: Did not.
SCALIA: Did so. 
FELDMAN: DID NOT!
SCALIA: …
FELDMAN: *cries*
SCALIA: …
ROBERTS: You just argued the losing Heller argument.
FELDMAN: *pees pants*
BREYER: Let’s make a chart. 
ROBERTS: Madison made a chart!
BREYER: STFU
THOMAS: *reads the Bible* 
SCALIA: The 2A puts the fun in fundamental. 
FELDMAN: Let me tell you what Heller says.
SCALIA: I wrote Heller, fucknuts. 
KENNEDY: So if we’re going to just incorporate the militia purpose of Heller, what case do we use for precedent? 
FELDMAN: No fucking idea. 
SCALIA: Why are you talking about the right to self-defense? That’s not in the Constitution. 
FELDMAN: See above. Besides, nobody would really restrict the right to keep and bear arms so that it affected self-defense. 
SCALIA: Have you even read Heller? 
FELDMAN: I don’t think so. 
KENNEDY: Gura, let’s use your last three minutes to talk about everything but the 2A.
ROBERTS: I’m going to give you the chance to take back that privileges and immunities thing. 
GURA: No, we think it’s a good idea!
ROBERTS: *sigh*

—————–

P.S. I want to give a shout-out to Gura, who I didn’t really give proper credit in the summary. I do think he did a good job, I just think he was a little taken aback by Scalia coming out swinging on privileges/immunities – as was I.

To be perfectly honest, I lost a little bit of Scalia love today. I can’t get behind the idea that, if something’s bad, just because it’s been bad for 140 years we should perpetuate it.

EDIT: Um, er, yeah… one of the hits I got on this is from a forum poster who apparently knows Justice Scalia and promised to forward it. 0_0 The good news is they think he’ll get a kick out of it. I feel obligated to point out, just in case, that I’m married to a 1L who happens to be a HUGE Scalia fan and would gladly take a shoe-shining or trash-emptying internship.

Just in case.

EDIT: mcouey over on Arfcom took this and ran with it… Here’s the result, which had me rolling: