The Other McCain

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Why Have Liberal Judges Suddenly Become Second Amendment Absolutists?

Posted on | March 20, 2024 | 2 Comments

Judge Melissa Logan Bellows presides in Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Kentucky, which is to say, Louisville, a community torn by racial conflict ever since the Breonna Taylor shooting. During the 2020 election, Joe Biden won only two counties in Kentucky, and Jefferson was one of them. Although judicial elections in Kentucky are officially non-partisan, we might presume that Bellows is a Democrat. However, Bellows was endorsed by the local Republican Party in her 2022 election, in which her opponent was a local civil rights lawyer.

Well, if she’s a Republican, she’s gone rogue:

Prohibiting a convicted felon from possessing a gun is unconstitutional, according to a Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge’s ruling.
Judge Melissa Logan Bellows filed the order this week, dismissing the possession charge against a convicted felon and persistent felony offender, Jecory Frazier.
The motion to dismiss was filed by Louisville Attorney Rob Eggert in October on behalf of his client. Eggert claimed the state’s law does not trump the Second Amendment. Bellows agreed, making the first ruling of its kind in Jefferson County.
Trisha Lister, an attorney at Eggert’s office, wrote the motion.
She believes Bellows’ opinion was well-written.
She told WAVE News Troubleshooters the Second Amendment does not single out convicted felons. She said the charge has been not been equally enforced and is used as a way to keep people of color from having guns. Lister stated over 70% of those prosecuted on that standalone charge are minorities.

Dana Pico has more on what he calls the “curious” argument made by Judge Bellows in her decision, the full PDF of which is here. The claim that “minorities” account for 70% of those prosecuted on felon-in-possession charges might have something to do with the fact that most crime is committed by young people, and the current demographic situation is such that, in many communities, “minorities” are actually a majority of the youth population. Are cops just letting white criminals go free? I rather doubt it, but that’s not really the issue. Rather, the issue is whether Jecory Frazier should be in prison and, considering that he is a “persistent felony offender,” the answer to that question is, “Hell, yes.”

No sooner had I digested this crazy decision from Kentucky, than a Chicago judge decided that the federal law prohibiting firearms possession by illegal aliens is unconstitutional:

Ajudge this month dropped gun charges against an illegal migrant in Illinois, sparking further debate about the rights associated with the Second Amendment.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Coleman of the Northern District of Illinois referenced lower court rulings in dismissing firearm possession charges against Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, who was illegally or unlawfully in the United States when he possessed a handgun in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on June 1, 2020.
“The Court finds that Carbajal-Flores’ criminal record, containing no improper use of a weapon, as well as the non-violent circumstances of his arrest do not support a finding that he poses a risk to public safety such that he cannot be trusted to use a weapon responsibly and should be deprived of his Second Amendment right to bear arms in self-defense,” Coleman, who was appointed under President Barack Obama, wrote in her eight-page ruling filed March 8.
Carbajal-Flores was charged under Title 18 of U.S. Criminal Code, which legally disallows undocumented individuals to possess firearms and ammunition “or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.”
The defendant, who contended the firearm was possessed for self-defense and protection of property “during a time of documented civil unrest” in the spring of 2020, has never been convicted of a felony, a violent crime or a crime involving the use of a weapon.

This is insane. My only guess as to why the judge would rule this way — besides the fact that she’s a DEI hire appointed by Obama — is that Democrats want to use the Bruen decision as a legal mechanism to turn loose criminals, including illegal aliens, arrested on gun charges. But this is the exact opposite of what their rhetoric about stopping “gun violence” would suggest. If your aim is to prevent such violence, then getting criminals off the street should be Job Number One. The vast majority of “gun violence” in America is perpetrated by repeat offenders, especially those associated with drug trafficking by urban gangs. State and federal laws prohibiting convicted felons from possessing firearms gives prosecutors a powerful tool to get these repeat offenders off the street for a long time. As for illegal aliens with guns, well, you could just deport them — but Democrats don’t want to do that either.

The simplest explanation: Whatever is good for America, Democrats are against. Whatever is bad for America, they’re for.



 

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Category: Constitution, Crime

Comments

2 Responses to “Why Have Liberal Judges Suddenly Become Second Amendment Absolutists?”

  1. The Left and Crazy Craziness - The DaleyGator
    March 21st, 2024 @ 10:45 am

    […] Over at The Other McCain, there is a post that is a must read. Why are certain judges, who lean heavily left, becoming absolutists where gun rights are concerned? […]

  2. If All You See... - Pirate's Cove » Pirate's Cove
    March 21st, 2024 @ 1:00 pm

    […] blog of the day is The Other McCain, with a post wondering why liberal judges have suddenly become 2nd Amendment […]