The best Rahm Emanuel autograph
Is one found at the bottom of a City of Chicago check to Second Amendment Foundation, for attorney's fees and costs, in the amount of $399,950. Looks like Alan Gottlieb holding it. OK, so it's probably an automatic signature, but the thought of how Rahm must have reacted to the news that it had be sent is amusing. Essentially, Chicago involuntarily becomes the funder of the next round of pro right to arms challenges.
Permalink · Chicago gun case · Comments (5)
D.C.
The District accuses 130 of its employees of unemployment compensation fraud -- they were receiving unemployment compensation while holding down District government jobs.
I was a little startled to see that the District employs 32,000 people. DC's population is about 617,000; Tucson's is 520,000, and Pima County's is over a million. Tucson employs 4,900 people, and Pima County another 5,000. The county has to provide services to over 9,100 square miles, whereas DC has to provide them to about 80 square miles.
Novel theory of civil liability
This is cert-worthy from the very beginning.
Fun at Knob Creek
Pro-gun attorney Dan Peterson has a weekend of fun at Knob Creek.
Permalink · shooting · Comments (0)
Bad advice of loss of gun rights, plea bargains to DV
State v. Nickolas Agathis, 2012 NJ Super. Lexis II (Feb. 1, 2012). Defendant was arrested for DV, plead to it, without being informed that under New Jersey law he would be permanently barred from obtaining a firearm purchaser ID card, effectively barring him from firearm ownership. His counsel and the judge informed him that he could reapply for the card at the end of probation. The appellate court relied upon Nunez-Valdez, a recent US Supreme Court ruling voiding a plea bargain where the defendant was told that the plea would not affect his immigration status, when in fact it subjected him to immediate deportation.
The court had previously heard the case on direct appeal, and refused to grant relief. The intervening Supreme Court ruling (and, in a footnote, the decisions in Heller and McDonald) appear to have changed the situation. Note that both this and Nunez-Valdez hinge, not upon failure to inform the defendant of collateral consequences, but on the defendant being misinformed with regard to them.
Another noteworthy aspect: the appellate court treats this as ineffective assistance of counsel, but I think it's better analyzed in terms of whether the plea was "informed," regardless of the source of the misinformation. The fact that part of the advice came from the trial judge, rather than from counsel, should, I think, make the case stronger.
Hat tip to reader Alice Beard...
Permalink · prohibitted persons · Comments (0)
Handgun rationing dies off in Virginia
The House had already passed a repeal of "one gun a month," and today the Virginia Senate passed it. The governor has said he would sign it, so it appears that gun rationing is on its way out.
Permalink · State legislation · Comments (0)
Appeal in Moore v. Madigan (Ill ban on carrying)
No Lawyers, Only Guns and Money, has the story. The case challenges Illinois' effective ban on all carrying of handguns. The trial court dismissed the case, with some extremely sloppy reasoning (along the lines of "McDonald just dealt with possession in the home, so anything beyond that is outside the right to arms" and "rights are not unlimited, this is a limitation, therefore it is valid" and even "I think plaintiff will lose at trial, so I dismiss his case right now."
A notice of appeal was filed within hours, so we can hopefully look forward to another stunning Seventh Circuit ruling.
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (1)
Pretty lame....
AG Holder claims he's never discussed Fast and Furious with President Obama, DHS Sec Napolitano, or Sec. of State Clinton. I suppose cabinet meetings deal with things more important than agencies committing acts of war against an allied nation....
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (2)
Cato: armed civilians are tough targets
By Clayton Cramer and David Burnett (head of Students for Concealed Carry). Here's a summary, and here's the study.
Cato has also established a webpage to track defensive gun uses.