Apparently it’s illegal in Illinois to have a secret compartment in your car. Outrageous. The law itself can be found here. Looks like it makes the vehicle subject to forfeiture, and its owner subject to a class 4 felony.
Category: Politics
Shields Calls for Nutter’s Arrest
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:
Philadelphia’s latest effort to curb violence through gun control was temporarily blocked by a city judge yesterday in a ruling that both sides welcomed, and that left a National Rifle Association lawyer calling for Mayor Nutter’s arrest for “official oppression.”
Common Pleas Court Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan granted the NRA a temporary restraining order that blocks enforcement of a package of five gun-control laws passed last week by City Council and signed by Nutter.
Greenspan stressed that she was “just trying to preserve the status quo” until an April 28 hearing on whether to issue a preliminary injunction freezing the laws longer.
The only problem is, you actually have to opresss someone before you can be charged with official oppression, and the restraining order granted against enforcement will eliminate this possible route of action. As much as I’d like to see the Mayor and City Council arrested for flouting state law, this is just posturing until they actually enforce the ordinances.
Injunction Granted
A judge has blocked the City of Philadelphia from enforcing its gun control ordinances:
Common Pleas Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan is granting the National Rifle Association’s request Thursday to keep the ordinances from taking effect right away. The NRA argues that Pennsylvania law prevents municipalities from regulating guns.
So, the question is, how far do you want to push this Mayor Nutter and Commissioner Ramsey? Do we want to risk contempt of court charges in addition to civil rights violations? Still want to enforce your laws?
Why Nutter Isn’t in Jail
So why isn’t Nutter in jail?
It’s something I’ve been hearing a lot of, but the short answer is that the law has to be enforced before possible civil and criminal penalties come into play, and as best as I can tell, the city ordinances aren’t being enforced yet. There’s no penalty for passing a law in violation of preemption under Pennsylvania law, so the act of merely passing a gun control ordinance is not itself illegal in the sense that you can go to jail for violating it.
Penalties don’t come in until someone attempts to enforce it. Under our system of government, a law that is unconstitutional is essentially not law, so any arrests made under the Philadelphia gun ordinances would be done under color of law, which opens the arresting officer, and the people all the way up the chain of command, to liability under the Civil Rights Act of 1871. The Civil Rights Act allows for state and local officials to be stripped of their immunity and to be sued as individuals, rather than in their official capacity. For local government officials, they may be sued in both their official and personal capacities, since local governments are not considered sovereigns, don’t enjoy sovereign immunity.
There are also criminal penalties, both federal and state, which can apply, but prosecution under these statutes is rare, and when it has happened, it’s been difficult to get convictions. In order to press criminal charges, either the local Assistant United States Attorney would have to bring charges, or the Pennsylvania Attorney General. But as with the civil case, the law has to be enforced before there’s criminal liability.
Michelle Obama Telling Us What We Know
Speaking to students of a liberal arts college in a wealthy Philadelphia suburb, Michelle Obama explains her husbands statements about rural Pennsylvanians:
“If I’m telling you something that you don’t know, let me know,” she said. “Maybe things are better, and I’m just missing the boat and I’m out of touch.”
Yep, I’d say so.
Philadelphia District Attorney Testifies
Lynne Abraham told City Council today that she wasn’t going to enforce the City’s new gun control laws because they are unconstitutional. Mayor Squidward (a term I have to credit to Wyatt) is trying to convince her otherwise. No doubt the rationally self-interested Abraham doesn’t want to have to defend herself or any of her assistant DA’s against Section 1983 suits in federal court. I can’t say I blame her.
Restraining Nutter
Looks like the groundwork is being laid for a lawsuit. As much as I might think a straightjacket is the best way to restrain the good mayor, I’ll settle for a temporary restraining order for now:
Fairfax, VA-Today in Pennsylvania court, the National Rifle Association (NRA) filed for a temporary restraining order blocking the City of Philadelphia from enforcing recently enacted gun control measures. Pennsylvania’s state preemption law maintains uniformity over a statewide system of gun laws by barring municipalities from enacting gun control laws that are more restrictive than those passed by the state legislature. NRA is joined in this effort by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and local citizens of Philadelphia.
Last week, Philadelphia’s city council passed a package of gun control bills that were clearly preempted by state law. Mayor Michael Nutter, in a brazen act of lawlessness, signed the bills. District Attorney Lynne Abraham warned the city council and mayor that their taxpayer-funded folly was unconstitutional.
“Apparently, Philadelphia politicians believe they can circumvent the will of the Pennsylvania legislature,†said Chris W. Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist. “This is the third time the City of Philadelphia has tried to thwart state law by passing its own gun control restrictions. First it tried suing the state legislature, then it tried strong-arming the state legislature, and now it has decided to ignore state law altogether. Despite what it seems to believe, the City of Philadelphia is not above the law.â€
I’m going to bet the temporary restraining order is granted, given how the law couldn’t be more crystal clear.
A Rousing Endorsement
Hillary holds a rally of 100 Pennsylvania mayors in Harrisburg, only 19 mayors show up.
Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed spoke for the group against the backdrop of a banner touting the 100 mayors. He criticized Clinton’s rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, for saying at a San Francisco fundraiser last week that some voters in small towns in Pennsylvania cling to guns or religion because of their frustration over their economic circumstances.
Maybe Pennsylvanians are getting sick of both these clowns. I know I am.
UPDATE: The first comment on there is a riot: “The rest were pinned down by sniper fire I’m sure.”
Quote of the Day
My mother has two handguns and takes shooting lessons because my father works nights quite a bit. If someone broke into the house, she’d have to fend for herself until the township police arrived. That’s been a fact of life since long before manufacturing jobs started leaving.
Read the whole thing. This guy is from my neck of the woods, in Southeastern, PA, which pundits tell us is outside of Pennsylvania’s God and Guns country. One wonders what Obama thinks my reason, given that I’m not religious, and economically well off, for clinging to guns is? Maybe because politicians like him don’t seem to want to quit advocating they be taken away.
It’s for the Children
This law could be the bane of dirty old men in malls in the State of Maine. Dr. Helen talks about whether this law, which basically seems to outlaw staring at children, won’t have unintended consequences. Here’s my scenario:
A man is caught starting into a park with a set of binoculars where children are known to be congregating. Surely that’s enough to creep out any parent who might come across it? The police are called, and arrest the man for “visual sexual aggression”, in the face of a crowd of angry parents demanding something be done. The man, a member of the local ornithological society, claims he was tracking a rare Rufous-capped Warbler. The police don’t buy it, and he’s arrested and charged. He’s ultimately acquitted in a jury trial, but the legal fees force him into bankruptcy, and he loses his life’s savings.
People need to develop a healthy skepticism of what those in power suggest will protect their children. Legislators can pass laws. That’s all they can do. When your only tool is a hammer, a lot of things start looking like nails. Voters need to consider that the legal system can ruin the lives of the guilty along with the innocent. The reason I oppose this Maine law is the exact same reason I opposed the “Lost and Stolen” requirement. We set the state’s burden of proof high for a reason, and we should look most skeptically on any proposal designed to allow the state to divine that a person clearly must be guilty, and to give the state tools to make an easy conviction based on that cognition, without having to meet the burden of proof for the more serious, but more difficult to prove offense.
UPDATE: Illspirit points out that the actual bill is not nearly what the reporter has lead us to believe. After reading the actual text, I have no problem with said bill. It only goes to show you should never believe anything you hear from a reporter.