D.C. vs Heller; The Supreme Court Speaks Out on Civil Rights

Yesterday the United States Supreme Court defended our citizens' civil rights again!

In the case of District of Columbia vs Heller, the Court confirmed that we still have the individual right to keep and bear arms as set forth in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.

A full copy of the Opinion (link below) may take us a while to read and digest, but the short answer is... our bulworks of freedom have withstood another assault from those who would erode our civil rights.

DCvHeller.pdf

One perspective on the concept of "militia" that I have not yet seen addressed in my skim of the Opinion, is that it is important to remember when conducting this analysis that The United States was formed and initially defended by individuals with their own personal firearms who assembled and dared to stand up against the previous government. The Constitution clearly states that we are at least to maintain that. How are we to maintain this ability if we change the meaning of "militia" to now mean the army of the government? The armed forces of These United States (which I fully support) are yet still the standing army of the government that the "militia" could be called upon to oppose, should the federal government continue to try to erode our individual and states' rights.

Some say that the National Guard is the new militia. I suggest to you that the evolution of the National Guard has taken it many strides from the constitutional concept of the militia. How different really is the National Guard from the standing federal army? I say it is not so different, when a stroke of the pen from the President can nationalize and mobilize the National Guard.

But alas, the horse is dead. The result of the Decision is correct. And we can still yet live in a free America.

Safe Kids Card

The State of Delaware is giving parents the opportunity to take advantage of the Safe Kids Card Child Identification Program, which keeps records every parent should have on hand in one place, in case of an emergency situation where a child is missing.

Protack Off-Track

In today's Wilmington News Journal, candidate for governor, Mike Protack's plan for dealing with illegal immigration is unveiled. I suggest that it is misguided and the costs are severely underestimated.

It seems to me that the real problem we are facing in this regard is the under-collection of taxes as compared to the increase in public services provided. And this is because employers are breaking the laws by hiring illegal workers and by refusing to collect the wage taxes and withholdings. It seems from the article that Mr. Protack agrees with this concept.

Where we differ then is in how to deal with the problem. Protack suggests that by equipping the police with better technology, and by requiring everyone above the age of 16 to carry official identification, the government can make sure they know who is in the State and what they are doing. I say hogwash. The government is invasive enough as it is.

The cost of the technology and ID cards is miniscule as compared to the cost of harassment to all of us, illegals and legals alike. And Protack suggests that everyone that shows up on the computer as illegal be arrested on the spot and handed over to immigration officials. Does he have any clue what cost that would pose on our police systems? I can see it now... busloads of undocumented persons being bounced back and forth between Dover and Philadelphia because nobody has room for them and nobody will accept them. That plan is doomed.

Why don't we attack the problem where the problem is? The problem is with employers not collecting the taxes and withholdings. The problem is the wink-and-nod culture that we have cultivated here in America, by Americans, and for American greed. If we enforce the laws which require the collection of taxes and withholdings, then the rest of the problem will go away. We won't need multi-Billion Dollar boondoggle fences and other extreme losses of the personal liberties we cherish. Harassing the immigrants only attacks the symptom of the problem, not the cause of the problem.

Delaware Nuisance Law

A house in Wilmington has been ordered closed under the Delaware Drug Nuisance and Social Vices Abatement Act. It is the first time such action has been taken in Wilmington. However, similar action was previously taken against a house in West Rehoboth.

I have mixed feelings about this law. It seems like a great idea on the surface- I don’t think your average law abiding citizen thinks “my dream house is going to be right next to a crack house.” I guess what worries me is the potential for abuse with the provisions about lewd acts and obscene material.

Lethal Injection Moratorium Lifted

A recent Supreme Court ruling, Baze v. Rees, ended the Federal moratorium on lethal injections in the United States. In Delaware, a State Supreme Court judge rejects lethal injection challenge but a Federal Court appeal is still pending.

What I find particularly outrageous about the lethal injection challenge is that Robert Jackson III, the criminal that first made the claim that the lethal injection in Delaware is “cruel and unusual punishment,” murdered his victim with an ax in her home. Did she have the choice whether or not she wanted to be killed in a way that was so brutal??

Absurdity Reigns in Red Clay Consolidated School District

With much pomp and circumstance, the Red Clay Consolidated School District asked tax payers to approve a 16.9% tax increase to help the financially-strapped school district. Approval of the referendum was to allow the District to, among other things, meet its payroll obligations and restore middle-school sports teams and activity clubs (http://communitypub.com/stories/01-14-2008/004_red_clay.html). Perhaps, most importantly (at least from the perspective of this father of a kindergarten-nearing toddler), the District was also to use a portion of the revenue generated by the increase in tax to meet its obligations under the Full-day Kindergarten Act. In fact, the actual ballot for the referendum specifically stated how the funds generated by the increase were to be used (http://electionsncc.delaware.gov/Red_Clay/rc_ref08_sam.pdf).

Seems rather straight-forward to me: residents, in conjunction with the State of Delaware, provide money to the District, District provides services which include Full-day Kindergarten. Simple, right? Au contrare, mon frère!

After much cajoling by local school representatives as well as serious advertising campaigns by the District, residents approve the referendum and step one is complete. However, District officials were so busy backslapping one another on the success of their work that they fail to see the tidal wave in the distance. The tidal wave, in this instance, is word coming forward that funds originally slated to be given to the District by the State to support the Full-day Kindergarten Program (as well as others) is in jeopardy of being part of the $30 million budget cut proposed by the State’s General Assembly (http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080502/NEWS03/805020340&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL.

While, admittedly, I am no Adam Smith when it comes to economics, it does seem rather unfair, and perhaps downright fraudulent, to solicit funds from taxpayers in return for services to be provided and then to pull the rug out from under them as a result of proposed budget cuts. Perhaps instead of cutting programs and deceiving the public regarding usage of State and local funds, the State and school Districts wisely use the revenue received from the tax hike as well as the money from the proposed budget cuts to investigate and answer the more important question, namely,

Why, in a State of approximately 900,000 residents within 3 counties, do we have 19 school superintendents (or roughly 6.33 Superintendents per county) and multiple layers of bureaucracy and administrative staff for which we, as state residents, have to pay; which, in turn, deprives our children of funds to be used for their educational and social growth?

The absurdity of it all (and that which causes me great anger and forces me to consider the merits of abolishmment of the current Education System in the State of Delaware and full reform):

Our neighbor, the State of Maryland, has an estimated population of 5.6 million (living within 24 different counties), and has only 1 superintendent per county. I wonder what they do with all the extra money they have as a result of adequate usage of personnel and resources. Unfortunately, I think everyone in the State of Delaware (outside of our Education System) and especially those of us in the Red Clay Consolidated School District knows but is afraid to acknowledge (http://www.gazette.net/stories/012507/sykenew172014_32320.shtml).

Another Perspective

For an alternative perspective, related to John F. Brady for Delaware State Insurance Commissioner, information can be found at his campaign website.