A vigil commemorating the victims of the STEM School shooting in Colorado ended in protest Wednesday evening after students said they refused to be used as pawns to promote gun control.
Hundreds attended the vigil -- students, teachers, activists and elected officials -- to honor Kendrick Castillo, the 18-year-old who was fatally shot on Tuesday at the STEM School Highlands Ranch in suburban Denver. But Castillo's classmates were moved to protest after invitees Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.) and Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) spoke. Many of the teenagers perceived the speeches as politicians politicizing their trauma when they wanted their own voices heard.
News outlets report 54-year-old Mohamed Fathy Hussein Zayan of Alexandria, Egypt, was arraigned Monday night in Cabell County Magistrate Court on a felony charge of attempted abduction.
According to a criminal complaint, a woman was shopping with her 5-year-old daughter at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville when a man grabbed the girl by the hair and tried to pull her away. Police say the mother pulled out a gun and told the suspect to let go of the child. The man released the child and was later detained by mall security and Barboursville police near a food court.
"[T]he right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." U.S. Const. amend. II
and"It shall be unlawful for any person --* * *(5) who, being an alien--(A) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States* * *to ... possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition ...." 18 U.S.C. §922(g).
(3) For purposes of this subsection the term "crime of violence" means an offense that is a felony and--(A) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, or
(B) that by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense.
The Ninth Circuit today decided Young v. Hawaii, No. 12-17808:
We must decide whether the Second Amendment encompasses the right of a responsible law-abiding citizen to carry a firearm openly for self-defense outside of the home.* * *As was the case in Peruta II, we find ourselves navigating waters uncharted by Heller and McDonald: the degree to which the Second Amendment protects, or does not protect, the carrying of firearms outside of the home.* * *We do not take lightly the problem of gun violence, which the State of Hawaii "has understandably sought to fight . . . with every legal tool at its disposal." Wrenn, 864 F.3d at 667. We see nothing in our opinion that would prevent the State from regulating the right to bear arms, for the Second Amendment leaves the State "a variety of tools for combatting [the problem of gun violence], including some measures regulating handguns." Heller, 554 U.S. at 636.But, for better or for worse, the Second Amendment does protect a right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense. We would thus flout the Constitution if we were to hold that, "in regulating the manner of bearing arms, the authority of [the State] has no other limit than its own discretion." Reid, 1 Ala. at 616. While many respectable scholars and activists might find virtue in a firearms-carry regime that restricts the right to a privileged few, "the enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table." Heller, 554 U.S. at 636.
Homicides increased dramatically in Chicago in 2016. In 2015, 480 Chicago residents were killed. The next year, 754 were killed-274 more homicide victims, tragically producing an extraordinary 58% increase in a single year. This article attempts to unravel what happened.
This article provides empirical evidence that the reduction in stop and frisks by the Chicago Police Department beginning around December 2015 was responsible for the homicide spike that started immediately thereafter. The sharp decline in the number of stop and frisks is a strong candidate for the causal factor, particularly since the timing of the homicide spike so perfectly coincides with the spike. Regression analysis of the homicide spike and related shooting crimes identifies the stop and frisk variable as the likely cause. The results are highly statistically significant and robust over a large number of alternative specifications. And a qualitative review for possible "omitted variables" in the regression equations fails to identify any other plausible candidates that fits the data as well as the decline in stop and frisks.
Each time we have one of these horrific mass shootings, many people shake their heads and ask, "What on earth could make somebody want to do something like this?" In most cases, the perpetrator is dead and did not plan to survive the attack. This time we have a living perpetrator, so perhaps we will learn more.
I suspect that a strong desire to be in the headlines is part of the motivation. Too many young people place too much emphasis on being "famous" and have lost the distinction between being famous and being infamous. There is even a television series titled, "Murder Made Me Famous."The sole question presented by this appeal is whether the federal offense of carjacking is a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). We hold that it is.Odd that the question can be asked seriously. All the circuits to consider the question have decided it the same way. See pages 5-6 for citations.
PORAC has opposed the bill from the beginning, and for two serious reasons:• The current statutes relating to firearm enhancements already allow a judge to use discretion in sentencing. Each enhancement section has various levels of sentencing durations to be used by the judge on a case-by-case basis.• PORAC continues to have concerns over the passage of Proposition 57 and the early release of prisoners who have not only committed serious crimes against the public, but have usually left a trail of victims behind. The firearm enhancement sections of the Penal Code oftentimes may be the only penalty keeping a convicted criminal from being eligible for early parole under Proposition 57. By allowing a judge to eliminate, or not impose, the firearm enhancement, the likelihood of dangerous criminals on the street increases.This measure is unfair to victims and dangerous for our communities.
Given the relevant case law, the firearms condition is properly construed as prohibiting defendant from knowingly owning, possessing, or having in his custody or control any handgun, rifle, shotgun, firearm, or any weapon that can be concealed on his person.... Because no change to the substance of either condition would be wrought by adding the word "knowingly," we decline defendant's invitation to modify those conditions simply to make explicit what the law already makes implicit. A trial court, however, remains free to specify the requisite mens rea explicitly when imposing a condition of probation.
