Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Enemy of the State: Rodney Class Denied Medical Care

Staff Writer, R. Patrick Chapman
Courts / Law / Constitution
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Is this how we run our court system? 
Rodney was arrested, shuttled about the country, held incommunicado, denied his necessary heart medicine, and denied bond. Rodney's crime? Having a firearm in his automobile. I learned this morning at 9:00 am that Rodney had a court hearing at 10:30am before Chief Judge Richard W. Roberts at the US Courthouse at 333 Constitution Avenue, Washington DC. I went to Courtroom 9, and six friends of Rodney's, who came from far away to attend the hearing, were in the hall because Judge Roberts had locked the door (ostensibly to allow Rodney to read something). The Judge unlocked the doors for three minutes at the very end of the hearing, and we managed to get in so that Rodney could see that we were there for him.
Read more here.

The firearm law was found to be unconstitutional by the courts so why is this case still proceeding?
Senior District Court Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr., a former Army colonel appointed to the court by President George H.W. Bush, ruled that the right to a weapon extended outside the home both for residents and visitors to Washington.

Going well beyond the Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia vs. Heller, Scullin found that carrying arms outside the home for self-defense fell within the legal definition of the right to bear arms enunciated in the 2nd Amendment.
Source: Karen Hudes, LA Times,