"The judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps of sappers and miners constantly working under ground to undermine the foundations of our confederated fabric. They are construing our constitution from a co-ordination of a general and special government to a general and supreme one alone. This will lay all things at their feet..." Thomas Jefferson, letter to Thomas Ritchie, December 25, 1820.
A statement like that is exactly why I shudder anytime I hear Arlen Spectre talk. He is one that thinks the judiciary is above all else, not all that unlike some other folks along this thread.
Don't get me wrong, I respect the power of the Judiciary and accept it's need in our Republic. It seems I respect something others fail to respect and that would be the fact that the judiciary is subject to the very same checks and balances as the other branches of government.
I like to hope the judiciary, thru a coming SCOTUS ruling concerning the DC decision, will excercise a check upon itself and right the ship of wrongs that have gone on too long. My fingers are crossed.
I read a little ways back in this thread, I think it might even have been your post, where the some 22 thousand laws need to be wiped away with only laws pertaining to unlawful abuse of a weapon(s) remaining. I agree with that wholeheartedly.