Bearing Arms … Against Bears [with False Quote of Justice Roberts]

Slate ^ | 3/18/2008 | Dahlia Lithwick

[On the Road to Serfdom]

Justice Kennedy thinks D.C. residents need protection—from grizzlies.

Is the D.C. gun law constitutional? With all due respect to those who complain that the justices on the Supreme Court are too secretive, and for those who wish, perhaps, that David Souter was more like David "West Side Days Inn" Paterson, oral argument today in District of Columbia v. Heller offers up a bounty of alarming personal revelations.

[SNIP]

Dellinger replies that the handgun ban is only on "one kind of weapon that's considered especially dangerous," to which Roberts retorts, "So if you have a law that prohibits the possession of books, it's all right to ban newspapers?" Dellinger replies that the rifles and shotguns permitted under the D.C. ban are sufficient to carry out the purposes of the gun owner. He adds that the rationale used by the D.C. appeals court would make it harder for "machine guns or armor-piercing bullets" to be regulated.

[On the Road to Serfdom]

Slate Article: Dellinger replies that the handgun ban is only on "one kind of weapon that's considered especially dangerous," to which Roberts retorts, "So if you have a law that prohibits the possession of books, it's all right to ban newspapers?"

Audio and Official Transcript: Roberts: "So if you have a law that prohibits the possession of books, it's all right if you allow the posession of newspapers?"

I always knew reporters took bad notes and made up quotes but when the quote is from an official transcript it really takes arrogance to change it to make your political opponent's argument seem silly.

[rellimpank]

-—more—

—http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1988753/posts

[Sherman Logan]

all these years of deep conservative suspicion of turning over policy matters to the courts, the Roberts Court has fallen in love with a new constitutional right.

No, it's just reapplication of a right that was there all along. As with school desegregation, there was no need to invent new constitutional principles. The dissents from the original rulings allowing Jim Crow make it very clear that it was a violation of the constitution from the beginning, as are many restrictions on gun ownership.

[On the Road to Serfdom]

Thanks. I searched “Bears” and “Bearing” and nothing came up. Looks like the other thread lists only the subtitle as the title.

[IrishCatholic]

What's infinitely worse is the transcipts of the oral arguments are online. The reporter only needed to copy and paste to be accurate.

[rellimpank]

-—I never complain about reposts and don’t want to be thought of as a “thread policeman”—just passing on additional info-—

[Always Right]

After all these years of deep conservative suspicion of turning over policy matters to the courts, the Roberts Court has fallen in love with a new constitutional right.

The 2nd Amendment is a 'new constitutional right'? Isn't it as old as the 1st?

[HardStarboard]

>>>The reporter only needed to copy and paste to be accurate.<<<

Creativity is no longer limited to editorialists. Reporters have a right to be creative too - cutting and pasting isn't being creative.

[/sarcasm]

[jsharpscs]

"Thanks. I searched “Bears” and “Bearing” and nothing came up. Looks like the other thread lists only the subtitle as the title."

---

Be gentle with me. That thread was my first ever... ;)

[On the Road to Serfdom]

No problem, just trying to excuse my duplicate post. Glad I was informed of the other post.

[hadit2here]

You have to understand, this is Slate. They wouldn't know what a "reporter" is, let alone what "journalism" is.

If you look up Mark Twain's quote about "journalists", you'll find a picture of Slate as the illustration:

...the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoe making and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poor house."
-- Mark Twain

[DocRock]

The Founder’s Intent…

click the pic for hi-res

[lowbridge]

bump

[Ancesthntr]

GREAT picture. I’d like to see an interview with Thomas or Scalia in their Supreme Court offices, with that pic in the background.

One quibble - you forgot the colonials with the Ma Deuce.