Archive for June, 2008
June 30th, 2008
The National Rifle Association isn’t wasting any time following the U.S. Supreme Court’s pro-gun decision on Thursday.
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| The Late Charlton Heston,
NRA King |
A day after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision striking down a gun ban in Washington, the National Rifle Association on Friday sued Chicago and three suburbs to have their firearm bans repealed.
The separate federal suits by the NRA target gun bans in Evanston, Morton Grove and Oak Park in addition to Chicago.
On Thursday, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association also sued Chicago to overturn its 26-year gun ban.
Each of Friday’s lawsuits was filed on behalf of three or four NRA members who live in Chicago or the three suburbs and want the court to block the enforcement of the gun bans.
The suits in Chicago’s federal court quickly followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to throw out the longtime Washington gun ban.
That opened the door for legal challenges to other municipalities that have similar laws.
Similar lawsuits have been filed against other cities, including San Francisco.
The Supreme Court said in its landmark decision that the “Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.”
However, the high court said “the Second Amendment right is not unlimited.”
It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any
manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed
weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment
or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast
doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by
felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms
in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or
laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of
arms. Miller’s holding that the sorts of weapons protected are those
“in common use at the time” finds support in the historical tradition
of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons.
The complete decision is here.
Justice Breyer noted in his dissent that “Chicago has a law very similar to the District’s, and many of its suburbs also ban handgun possession under most circumstances.”
June 30th, 2008
Rep. Ron Wait, R-Belvidere, and other Republicans say that if Gov. Rod Blagojevich is going to cut spending from the state budget he says is more than $2 billion out of balance, then he ought to cut dollars earmarked for lawmaker pay raises.
Their letter is here.
June 26th, 2008
The Joey Didier murder was big, big news in Rockford. Robert Lower abducted, raped and murdered Didier, a morning newspaper boy, in 1975. It was one of the region’s most heinous crimes.
But does the Didier murder warrant its own entry on Wikipedia, the interactive online encyclopedia? That question is the subject of much debate among Wikipedia contributors.
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| Joey Didier |
Some say the Didier murder may have been a big deal in Rockford, but that it doesn’t meet Wikipedia’s “notability” standard and that the story therefore ought to be removed. Others say it was big news even beyond Rockford and that it therefore ought to stay.
The entry, called “Murder of Joseph Didier,” is here. The debate over whether to strike it is underway here.
Those seeking to erase Didier’s story from Wikipedia have already succeeded in removing a separate but related entry called simply “Joseph Didier.”
What do you think? Head on over there and weigh in.
UPDATE 1
I’ve been on the road, and away from the blog. It is now evident, as Bookworm pointed out in comments, that Didier’s murder is not worthy of Wiki — at least not as far as a moderator was concerned. The moderator today deleted the post.
June 26th, 2008
Gov. Rod Blagojevich today issued a statement to express his displeasure with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that individuals — folks unconnected with service in a militia — have the right to possess guns.
Only, the governor’s brief statement included at least two apparent typographical errors. It also was missing an apostrophe.
Can you find the errors? Here’s the governor’s statement:
Statement from Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich
On the Supreme Court Ruling on Gun-Control Law
CHICAGO – “I want express my extreme disappointment with the decision issued today by the Supreme Court. Every day, around the country, too many lives are lost to senseless gun violence. The Courts decision today will only add to the pain that parents, classmates and communities are forced to endure. It will also put more police officers at risk. I am an advocate for common sense gun laws. Gun laws that save lives, protect communities and offer greater safety protections for police officers. I look forward to working the Illinois General Assembly to provide additional protections for Illinois communities.”
June 26th, 2008
Gov. Blagojevich is on a fundraising tear, even as the floor drops out of state government and his popularity rating hovers near record lows.
Gov. Blagojevich has a major fund-raiser in Chicago on Thursday, in a big fund-raising week done with no transparency. On Monday, Blagojevich headlined a fund-raiser at the Hyatt on Wacker aimed at female donors. Labor leader Margaret Blackshere was the m.c.
Increasingly, Blagojevich has used his campaign fund to pay Chicago law firm Winston & Strawnfor legal representation. The feds are probing the governor’s hiring, contracting and fundraising practices, having just won the conviction of Tony Rezko, a top Blagojevich insider.
June 24th, 2008
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has scheduled an afternoon news conference regarding the budget plan for next fiscal year …
**Governor’s Public Schedule**
For Tuesday, June 24, 2008
CHICAGO – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich will brief the media with an update on the status of the FY09 budget.
WHO: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
WHAT: Gov Blagojevich holds media availability on FY09 budget.
WHEN: 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Governor’s Office
JRTC, 16th Floor
100 W. Randolph Ave.
Chicago, IL 60601
The governor says that budget plan is more than $2 billion out of balance. But he has yet to say how he might rectify that plan. Will he finally take a stand?
UPDATE 1
From the AP …
Gov. Rod Blagojevich plans to make a staggering $1.5 billion in cuts to the state budget lawmakers approved last month unless legislators step in with money to prevent them, The Associated Press has learned.
Blagojevich intends to detail the proposed cuts at a Tuesday afternoon news conference at his Chicago office.
The governor also will try to use the cuts to pressure the House to send him two ideas that would spare more than $1 billion in the proposed cuts, said an aide to the governor who did not want to be identified because the plans had not yet been publicly announced.
One would borrow $16 billion to free up $500 million now directed to the vastly underfunded pension systems, while the other would sweep $530 million out of state funds set aside for special purposes. The Senate approved both ideas in late May but they did not come up for a vote in the House.
Blagojevich does not plan to call lawmakers back into special session right away but will urge the House to come back to town soon to prevent the cuts that will start being felt when the new budget year begins next Tuesday.
Blagojevich will make the reductions if no new revenue is passed, the aide said.
UPDATE 2
From the governor’s news release …
A lack of additional revenue would mean:
o Significant reductions in staffing throughout State government at agencies such as Department of Natural Resources, Department of Human Services, Department of Corrections, and others.
o Increased workload for DCFS caseworkers.
o A $110 million reduction in education spending.
o Nearly $260 million in reductions to social services programs. Over 100,000 individuals would see a reduction in services or access to community health and prevention services; 21,000 individuals with developmental disabilities living in the community would face reductions in service; mental health services and programs for individuals with developmental disabilities would be reduced; rates for foster parents would not increase.
o A $257 million reduction to economic development and transit. More than 100,000 workers will not receive job-skills training, and state support for RTA fare subsidies for students and people with disabilities would be eliminated.
o More than $600 million in healthcare reductions. This includes a $530 million Medicaid reduction resulting in healthcare providers such as hospital and pharmacies waiting an additional 20 days for payment from the State, on top of the 70 days they already wait; 20,000 outpatients would not receive service at Oak Forest Hospital; and up to 10,000 uninsured residents who are unaware of their HIV status would not be identified and linked to healthcare.
o More than $106 million in reductions to services for seniors and Veterans. Expansion of the Elder Abuse Line would not be funded, despite a 25 percent increase in calls to the line since its inception. An additional 40 bed expansion at the LaSalle Veteran’s Home would not open.
June 23rd, 2008
Check out Barack Obama’s new “presidential seal” …
Here’s the actual presidential seal:
Yeah, that’s a bit much on Obama’s part.
He may want to stay focused on winning his race for president, not pretending to be president.
More discussion here and here.
UPDATE 1
Obama drops his “presidential seal” …
Barack Obama’s communications director said Monday that the presidential seal the campaign unveiled last week at a meeting with Democratic governors won’t be seen again.
“That was a one time thing for a one time event,” Robert Gibbs told CNN.
June 23rd, 2008
Hillary Clinton, the presidential wannabe, will join Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, for a campaign even this Friday in Unity, New Hampshire.
From an Obama campaign news release:
FRIDAY: Senators Clinton and Obama to Campaign Together in Town of Unity, New Hampshire
Candidates received 107 votes apiece in Granite State town
CHICAGO, IL— Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama announced today that they will hold a “Unite for Change” Rally this Friday in Unity, New Hampshire. Both candidates received exactly 107 votes in the western New Hampshire town in the primary.
More details to be announced soon.
FRIDAY, JUNE 27
Unity, NH
UNITE FOR CHANGE RALLY
UPDATE 1
The Trib has more.
June 23rd, 2008
Will the great flood of 2008 save Rod Blagojevich’s political career?
It’s doubtful, given the Illinois governor’s extreme unpopularity (his popularity rating neared 13 percent in recent months) and his ongoing troubles (continuing federal probe of his administration, talk about possible impeachment and his fundamental difficulty with managing state government).
But it’s clear that catastrophic flooding of Illinois communities was, for Blagojevich over the last week, the gift that kept on giving. Each day, the governor traveled to flood-ravaged scenes while his handlers focused on producing a steady stream of news releases highlighting the governor’s efforts.
From the AP …
When Gov. Rod Blagojevich stopped to visit volunteers filling sandbags to fight floodwaters threatening this Mississippi River town, the spotlight was not on impeachment. Or his ongoing feud with lawmakers. Or the conviction of his top political fundraiser.
Instead, the Democratic governor was greeted with smiles and handshakes — even by 25-year-old Quincy Republican Kent Voth, who took a break from shoveling sand to mug for a picture with Blagojevich.
“I’m glad he came,” Voth said.
Besides offering the governor a chance to show himself as a leader with his finger on the pulse of real concerns in Illinois, the flood was a great distraction last week from matters the governor would perhaps rather not focus on.
For starters, there’s that state budget plan the governor claims is more than $2 billion out of balance. The governor has done his best to make a big fuss about how he believes this budget plan is unconstitutional, but he has yet to say exactly what he might do to rectify the problem.
Will he veto the budget? Call lawmakers back into special session? He won’t say. The next fiscal year — a year for which this state does not have a budget — begins July 1.
The flood gave the governor a week off from that intensifying public conversation. He’s just a hard-working governor trying to make things right for the hard-working, regular people of Illinois, and not the least bit concerned about all that budget and impeachment talk, after all.
Today, the governor plans to continue his publicity tour:
EAST ALTON – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich will sign a new law allowing Mississippi river counties to collect funds for emergency levee repair and flood prevention to provide immediate assistance to areas affected by recent flooding in Illinois.
WHO: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
Mayor Don Sandidge
State Sen. Haine
State Sen. James Clayborne
State Rep. Jay Hoffman
State Rep. Dan Beiser
State Rep. Tom Holbrook
Alan Dunstan, Madison County Board Chairman
Mark Kern, St. Clair County Board Chairman
WHEN: 2:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Melvin Price Lock & Dam
1 Lock and Dam Way
East Alton, IL 62024
The flood also served as nifty cover for Blagojevich to skip a forum that Barack Obama sponsored on Friday to show support for his presidential bid from Democratic governors (like Blagojevich).
Obama’s people said they had in fact invited Blagojevich to attend (Blagojevich is Obama’s home-state governor), but it’s hard to imagine Obama and his people weren’t happy not to have Blagojevich sharing the stage with Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee. Obama must worry about the luster of his own spotlight.
June 23rd, 2008
As you may know, I’ve taken a keen interest in the fact that judges tend to refuse to consent to breath tests — or, in many cases, roadside sobriety tests — when arrested for DUI.
A motorist faces a mandatory license suspension for refusing to blow, but he or she denies the state solid evidence of intoxication. (There is no such mandatory suspension for refusing a road sobriety test.)
Who knows the law better than a judge? They tend not to blow.
Well, Kane County prosecutors have an answer for motorists who refuse to blow: They’ll take blood to prove intoxication, with or without consent.
From the Tribune:
The county’s first “no-refusal weekend” was aimed at repeat offenders who have found a loophole in Illinois law that issues a penalty for refusing a Breathalyzer test that is less severe than having another DUI conviction.
More than 40 percent of 158 drivers arrested on a DUI charge in April in Kane County refused the test, a number that parallels national statistics, according to authorities.
Without blood-alcohol evidence, “it’s much more difficult to win a refusal case,” Kane County State’s Atty. John Barsanti said.
While new in Illinois, the legal tool has become popular in other states. But it also has raised constitutional and ethical questions from defense attorneys and health officials.
UPDATE 1
A man who refused to provide blood, even after prosecutors secured a warrant for that blood, is now facing a contempt charge.
Stehlik is scheduled to be in court at 9 a.m. Friday. Assistant State’s Attorney Clint Hull said there is no set guideline for contempt of court sentencing, but typically it is less than 180 days in jail. A judge could find someone in contempt, but sentence them to no time, Hull said.
In the future, Barsanti expects avoiding criminal contempt will be the final incentive for drivers who won’t comply with breath or blood tests.
“If the judge finds him in contempt, that will give us some direction,” Hull said.
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