WokMaster1
01-14-2008, 09:20 AM
I was wondering what took her so long. Probably busy blowing hot air up Obama's $%#. "Please pick me as the USAG if you get elected."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/14/MNSDUE535.DTL&hw=bob+Egelko&sn=001&sc=1000
Key district attorneys urge Supreme Court to uphold handgun ban
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, January 14, 2008
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Prosecutors led by the district attorneys of San Francisco and New York are urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to recognize a broad individual right to gun ownership that could endanger state and local firearms laws.
The court is preparing to hear arguments in March on the constitutionality of a Washington, D.C., ban on handgun possession, with a ruling due by the end of June. A federal appeals court ruled last March that the ban violated the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms - the first time a gun-control law had been struck down on that basis.
In arguments filed Friday, 18 elected prosecutors, led by Kamala Harris of San Francisco and Robert Morgenthau of New York, said a similar ruling by the Supreme Court could cast doubt on numerous gun laws, ranging from bans on assault weapons to increased sentences for using a firearm during a crime.
In response to the appeals court ruling, the prosecutors said, defendants around the country have been invoking the Second Amendment to challenge their convictions and sentences. "If upheld, such challenges could decriminalize a breathtakingly broad range of dangerous conduct," the brief said.
Along with Harris and Morgenthau, those signing the brief included District Attorneys Edward Berberian of Marin County, Tom Orloff of Alameda County, Jeffrey Tuttle of Calaveras County and Bonnie Dumanis of San Diego County. The 18 prosecutors represent counties with a total population of 24 million, the filing said.
On Wednesday, a California appeals court barred San Francisco from enforcing a ban on handgun possession by city residents that voters approved in 2005. The court said the ban conflicts with California law, which allows law-abiding adults to keep guns in their homes and businesses, and to apply to police for permits to carry concealed weapons in public.
Mayor Gavin Newsom signed a narrower ordinance, backed by Harris, in August that requires San Francisco residents to keep their guns in lockboxes or use trigger locks. The measure also bans possession and sale of guns on city property.
Harris, in a statement accompanying the Supreme Court brief, said getting illegal guns off the streets is one of her office's highest priorities. "We strongly oppose any restrictions that would tie our hands and halt our ability to bring perpetrators to justice," she said.
The prosecutors did not delve into the central issue in the case: whether the Second Amendment's right to own guns applies to individuals or only to a "well-regulated militia," a phrase in the amendment.
They argued instead that the court should either uphold the Washington law as a reasonable public-safety measure or issue a narrow ruling that focuses on the specifics of the ordinance.
The laws they cited as being in jeopardy include state and local bans on specific types of guns, including California's prohibition on semiautomatic assault weapons; bans on gun possession by convicted felons; laws that forbid carrying a concealed weapon in public, or require a permit; and increased sentences for possession or use of a gun during certain crimes.
Courts have routinely upheld those laws for decades against Second Amendment challenges, the prosecutors said. The rulings have held either that the amendment does not guarantee an individual the right to own guns, that it applies only to the federal government and not to the states, or that it allows reasonable restrictions to protect the public.
The prosecutors said the possibility that a law could be challenged on Second Amendment grounds would weaken their hand in negotiations that lead to guilty pleas - the basis of 95 percent of all state criminal convictions - and would encourage some defendants to go to trial, straining already backlogged court systems.
The case is District of Columbia vs. Heller, 07-290. E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/14/MNSDUE535.DTL&hw=bob+Egelko&sn=001&sc=1000
Key district attorneys urge Supreme Court to uphold handgun ban
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, January 14, 2008
Printable VersionEmail This Article del.icio.us
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(3) Georgia (default)
Verdana
Times New Roman
Arial
Prosecutors led by the district attorneys of San Francisco and New York are urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to recognize a broad individual right to gun ownership that could endanger state and local firearms laws.
The court is preparing to hear arguments in March on the constitutionality of a Washington, D.C., ban on handgun possession, with a ruling due by the end of June. A federal appeals court ruled last March that the ban violated the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms - the first time a gun-control law had been struck down on that basis.
In arguments filed Friday, 18 elected prosecutors, led by Kamala Harris of San Francisco and Robert Morgenthau of New York, said a similar ruling by the Supreme Court could cast doubt on numerous gun laws, ranging from bans on assault weapons to increased sentences for using a firearm during a crime.
In response to the appeals court ruling, the prosecutors said, defendants around the country have been invoking the Second Amendment to challenge their convictions and sentences. "If upheld, such challenges could decriminalize a breathtakingly broad range of dangerous conduct," the brief said.
Along with Harris and Morgenthau, those signing the brief included District Attorneys Edward Berberian of Marin County, Tom Orloff of Alameda County, Jeffrey Tuttle of Calaveras County and Bonnie Dumanis of San Diego County. The 18 prosecutors represent counties with a total population of 24 million, the filing said.
On Wednesday, a California appeals court barred San Francisco from enforcing a ban on handgun possession by city residents that voters approved in 2005. The court said the ban conflicts with California law, which allows law-abiding adults to keep guns in their homes and businesses, and to apply to police for permits to carry concealed weapons in public.
Mayor Gavin Newsom signed a narrower ordinance, backed by Harris, in August that requires San Francisco residents to keep their guns in lockboxes or use trigger locks. The measure also bans possession and sale of guns on city property.
Harris, in a statement accompanying the Supreme Court brief, said getting illegal guns off the streets is one of her office's highest priorities. "We strongly oppose any restrictions that would tie our hands and halt our ability to bring perpetrators to justice," she said.
The prosecutors did not delve into the central issue in the case: whether the Second Amendment's right to own guns applies to individuals or only to a "well-regulated militia," a phrase in the amendment.
They argued instead that the court should either uphold the Washington law as a reasonable public-safety measure or issue a narrow ruling that focuses on the specifics of the ordinance.
The laws they cited as being in jeopardy include state and local bans on specific types of guns, including California's prohibition on semiautomatic assault weapons; bans on gun possession by convicted felons; laws that forbid carrying a concealed weapon in public, or require a permit; and increased sentences for possession or use of a gun during certain crimes.
Courts have routinely upheld those laws for decades against Second Amendment challenges, the prosecutors said. The rulings have held either that the amendment does not guarantee an individual the right to own guns, that it applies only to the federal government and not to the states, or that it allows reasonable restrictions to protect the public.
The prosecutors said the possibility that a law could be challenged on Second Amendment grounds would weaken their hand in negotiations that lead to guilty pleas - the basis of 95 percent of all state criminal convictions - and would encourage some defendants to go to trial, straining already backlogged court systems.
The case is District of Columbia vs. Heller, 07-290. E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.