Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Yes, I'm here...

I just haven't known what to post about. There's a lot going on in the world, but I just haven't found the motivation to get on it.

I mean, I could've posted about the District of Columbia v. Heller decision from the Supreme Court last week. What a huge win for 2nd Amendment rights that was! It was nice to see the High Court uphold the constitution.

Unlike, say, the Boumediene v. Bush case, which extended the rights of citizens to enemy detainees being held in Guantanamo Bay. I would like to point out that the official definition of citizens is a person who serves a country. How exactly did the Court make that jump? The people held in Gitmo are people arrested for crimes against the U.S. They are not citizens, yet this court has found that they can not be denied the right of habeas corpus. So, yes, I could have posted about that and how outraged I was by that decision.

And then Kennedy v. Louisiana, which may have sounded like a good idea. I mean, really, is it entirely necessary to punish a person convicted of the rape of a child with the death penalty. Initially I was a little on the fence with this one. Meaning, is this a situation where the death penalty is too harsh a punishment? But now that I've thought and read more about it I understand that in this decision the Court held that in some cases a state can not make it's own laws regarding the punishment of crimes. This decision was a blow for state sovereignty and a big disappointment for me, an ardent states' rights supporter.

So, yes, I could have blogged about all that. And aren't you glad I did? :)

5 comments:

chandy said...

I can see where Kennedy v. Lousiana is a state's rights case, but it also upholds the Eighth Amendment, which based on the firearms case you posted about first, you would surely support, right?

We never did get into much of a death penalty discussion at book club, which could have been very interesting. Perhaps we'll have to read some Dostoevsky in the coming months ;)

"Intentionally Katie" said...

Welcome back!!! And I'm so happy to see a mariad (sp?) of topics all in one post. That-a-girl. Of course, I didn't know about any of these issues...I count on your blog to keep me involved on current events.

Hope I see you today!!!

Jessie said...

Dostevsky... So on my list... Let's do it. But do you think the group will revolt? Because I'm wondering if maybe we should have a splinter cell-book club. You know, where we read the heavy-duty books! :)

Jessie said...

8th Amendment point, yes, absolutely I understand that SCOTUS was deciding that LA's law was a violation of the 8th Amendment. However, the death penalty has routinely been upheld as constitutional. It's just that now, the Court has decided that the state no longer has total responsibility for how it's doled out.

Or something...I'm really just a lay-constitutional scholar. Also, I haven't read the opinion. I can barely keep up with my current reading much less add in the opinions of the recent decisions! Too much to read and not enough time...

chandy said...

We could do even do an online book club blog thing where we read a "heavy" book and discuss online!

(You know, we could read them in our spare time...:)