Surrendie is thrilled today of the neurotic Sybil like articles available in the NY Times. First, he wants you to read this

The individual right to bear arms identified by the Supreme Court on Thursday will have little practical impact in most of the country, legal experts said, though Washington’s comprehensive ban on handguns used for self-defense in the home will have to be revised, and similar laws in several cities are also vulnerable.

So, the Heller decision is just a big yawn, no big deal, let’s move on, people!

For the law to be just, it must temper society’s anger over even the most horrible acts withdecency and restraint. The Supreme Court exemplified that principle on Wednesday, striking down the death penalty for the rape of a child. While acknowledging the horror of the crime, Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion drew on widely shared standards of decency, constitutional law and real-world impact to explain why the Constitution forbids punishing it withdeath.

The 5-to-4 ruling also laid down a critical standard: in cases of crimes against individuals (which excludes treason and espionage) the death penalty can be applied only when the victim’s life is taken. That rule should deter efforts to extend the use of capital punishment.

Refusing to allow people who violently sexually assault children without causing their deaths is a HUGE deal, though, and all must bow in the presenceof such wisdom, and don’t you damned neo-cons even THINK of trying to extend the death penalty to anyone else. Like abortion, this Right must never be touched and all people aspiring to the federal bench must follow this incredible precedent!

Of course, in another editorial, the Times is freaking out about the Heller ruling as being the future cause of un-countless gun related deaths. That they might be deaths of criminals shot by their attempted victims seems never to have crossed the Times’ neurotic mind

In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens was right when he said that the court has now established “a new constitutional right” that creates a “dramatic upheaval in the law.”

“Dramatic upheaval.” “New Constitutional Right.” It’s like the 2nd Amendment was just written yesterday. Goodness! Meanwhile, the 4th Amendment does not actually specify that it is only capital crimes, ie, ones that cause death, as the term “infamous crimes,” is included. In fact, it says that people shall not be deprived of their lives in these types of cases without due process, and I think brutally sexually assaulting an 8 year old, who will carry the mental and physical scars for the rest of her life, as “infamous.” Hell, back in the days of the Founders, said assailant would probably not have made it to a jury trial.

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