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Activities for the Mind, Body & Spirit
IT’S NOT THE GUN’S FAULT
Making Sense by Michael Reagan
It happened after Sandy Hook.
It happened after San Bernardino and Orlando.
It happened last week after Dallas.
Whenever a spoiled young nut job, wannabe Islamic terrorist or disturbed cop-hater goes on a mass killing spree, liberals and their choir members in the mainstream media can be counted on to react in the same ignorant, knee-jerky way.
It was the gun’s fault.
It doesn’t matter if the weapon was a handgun, an assault weapon look-alike or a deer rifle.
It’s never the evil or insane individual who was responsible for the slaughter of innocents. It was the gun.
Gun control is always the liberals’ off-the-shelf solution for ending mass murders, the deadly gang wars in Chicago and suicides.
For decades they have demanded stricter gun laws or dreamed of outlawing guns altogether.
Liberals hate everything about guns (unless their body guards are packing them) and don’t trust ordinary people to own them or use them.
They’ll never understand why our Constitution protects individual gun ownership. (Hint: it’s not to protect our right to hunt squirrels.)
Liberals like Hillary Clinton and President Obama would throw the Second Amendment overboard in a Washington minute if they could.
What anti-gun nuts have turned to lately in their fight against gun violence and mass killings is the idea of “ammo control.â€
Restricting the size of magazines or the number of cartridges a pistol or rifle can hold is the liberals’ latest “magic bullet.â€
A liberal friend of mine recently tried to persuade me that ammo control was a good idea.
“OK,†I said, “let’s accept your premise. Let’s say we restrict my shotgun’s capacity to just three shells.
“If I went into a movie theater to kill people, how many times do you think I could reload before someone could stop me? Three? Four?
“Therefore, in effect you’re telling me it’s OK for someone to be able to kill nine or 12 people, but no more. You’re not doing anything to prevent mass murders.
“All you’re doing is putting a limit on the number of dead. So killing 30 people is not OK, but killing 12 is? Would you like to choose the 12 people?â€
He didn’t answer.
Gun control. Ammo control. Knife control. Bomb control. Rock control.
They won’t stop people killing each other in ones, twos or dozens. They won’t stop the gang murders in the big cities.
Murder rates in 20 cities like Chicago and Baltimore and L.A., where young black males in gangs murder each other every weekend, have spiked recently.
But gang control, not gun control, is what’s needed in those dangerous urban places, which account for about half of the country’s annual homicide total.
Despite all the media and political attention given to the killing of six cops in Dallas and the killings of black men by cops in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis, Americans are not murdering each other today as much as they used to.
The rate of homicides per 100,000 Americans fell almost by half between 1993 and 2013, from 7.0 to 3.6. Meanwhile, during that same period the number of guns owned per capita went from .95 to 1.45.
No one really knows for sure, but America has an estimated 350 million guns within its borders.
About 12,000 of those weapons on average are now used in homicides each year —- down from 18,000 in 1993.
According to my calculator, that means about .99996571 percent of the guns in America’s collection will not murder a single person this year.
Twelve thousand dead is still too many. But controlling guns won’t bring down that toll. Controlling the humans who pull their triggers will.
Senior judge faces discipline case for OWI, alleged cover-up bid
Dave Stafford for www.theindianalawyer.com
Indiana Court of Appeals Senior Judge William Garrard faces judicial discipline proceedings after driving drunk in Mooresville last November, colliding with a car and later allegedly asking a policeman at the hospital to forget about it.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Friday filed a notice of judicial discipline proceedings against Garrard, claiming his conduct in driving drunk violated Rules 1.1 and 1.2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct. The rules, respectively, require judges to respect and comply with the law and avoid impropriety; and act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary. His alleged attempt to evade responsibility is a separate count, also alleging a violation of Rule 1.2.
Garrard, 83, pleaded guilty last month to OWI endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor, after crashing his Ford Edge into another vehicle that sat waiting for traffic to clear at the intersection of Monroe and High streets in the Morgan County community. Garrard made a wide turn and his car struck the waiting vehicle.
Police spoke with the other driver, according to the discipline charges, while Garrard “was outside the vehicle at the time with his insurance card in his hand,†when the officer asked for his license and registration.
“As [Garrard] was returning to the Ford Edge, the officer observed [him] stagger and almost lose his balance†when he opened the car door. Police smelled alcohol on him and said his speech was slurred and his eyes bloodshot and watery. Garrard told officers he’d had one vodka drink two hours prior, but he blew a 0.14 percent blood alcohol level on a preliminary breath test, nearly twice the legal limit for drunken driving.
Garrard was taken to a hospital for a blood draw. “On the ride to the hospital and while at the hospital, [he] voiced concern to the officer that [he] would probably lose his job. … At the hospital emergency room, after the blood draw was completed, [Garrard] asked the police officer, ‘Will you just take me home and forget about the drinking and driving,’†the discipline charges allege.
A special judge in Morgan County accepted Garrard’s guilty plea June 14. He was sentenced to 365 days in jail, with 309 days suspended and given 28 days of jail credit time, though he spent just a few hours in the county jail the night of his arrest, a jail officer said. Garrard was placed on probation for nine months with his driving privileges suspended 90 days and ordered to pay $384.50 in fines and court costs.
The notice issued Friday requests the court appoint a panel of three special masters to conduct a hearing on the alleged misconduct and impose appropriate sanctions. The last Indiana judge to face a Judicial Qualifications Commission hearing before special masters was former Marion Superior Judge Kimberly Brown, who was removed from the bench in March 2014 for a number of ethical violations in administering her court.
Garrard’s attorney in his discipline case, Kevin McGoff of Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP, said he could not comment at the present time on the discipline charges. Garrard has 20 days to answer the complaint. Possible sanctions range from a reprimand or suspension to a permanent ban on holding judicial office in Indiana.
Garrard was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1974 and retired in 2000, when he assumed senior status. He was admitted to practice in 1959.
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NEWS: GREGG REPORTS $3 MILLION RAISED IN 2ND QUARTER; $8.6 MILLION OVERALLâ€
GREGG REPORTS $3 MILLION RAISED IN 2ND QUARTER; $8.6 MILLION OVERALL
Campaign has already surpassed total raised in 2012
INDIANAPOLIS –Today, the Gregg for Governor campaign reported raising $3.02 million in the second quarter of 2016, bringing its total contributions for the cycle to $8.6 million.
The campaign, which has already outraised the $6.4 million raised in Gregg’s 2012 effort, maintains a $5.8 million cash balance.
“Hoosiers are supporting John Gregg and Christina Hale because they want leaders who are committed to doing the job, to advancing ideas over ideology and to making a positive difference in their lives,’’ said Tim Henderson, Gregg for Governor campaign manager. “We are proud to have drawn support from Democrats, Republicans and Independents who are eager to elect John Gregg and put Indiana back on track.â€
The campaign received 5,454 different contributions (not including in-kind donations), of which 92 percent came from individuals. The average individual donation for the quarter was $212.
For more information on John Gregg, Christina Hale or their campaign, please visit www.greggforgovernor.com or call 317-510-1876.
Judges Uphold Teen’s 40-Year Sentence For Brutal Attack On Homeowner
Jennifer Nelson for www.theindianalawyer.com
A Grant County teen who participated in the rape of a homeowner during his burglary of her home deserves the 40-year sentence imposed in adult court, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
Larenz Jordan, then 15, and two others decided to rob a home occupied by R.H. while her husband was out of town in July 2014. They knew the home was occupied and when they encountered R.H., the three perpetrators took turns raping or assaulting her. She complied in order to protect her children from being awakened or harmed. The attack lasted for several hours and the three made her shower to attempt to get rid of any evidence. They took laptops and other electronics when they left.
Jordan was alleged to be a juvenile delinquent in August 2014, but was waived to be tried as an adult in Grant Circuit Court. He was charged with 15 offenses and found guilty of them all: 12 counts of rape, which included some as an accomplice; and one count each of conspiracy to commit rape, burglary and robbery. He received an aggregate 40-year sentence, with four years suspended to probation.
He argued in Larenz Jordan v. State of Indiana, 27A02-1511-CR-1897, that the trial court abused its discretion in determining he was “beyond rehabilitation under the juvenile justice system,†as required under I.C. 31-30-3-2(4). Jordan claimed that for the court to have entered findings concerning “criminal thinking,†as used in the waiver order, the record required evidence related to “criminogenic traits†as those are understood to apply within the context of evidence-based practices in sentencing and rehabilitation. Since no data was provided, the juvenile court’s waiver order was defective as a matter of law, he claimed.
The appellate judges rejected that argument, noting Jordan provided no legal authority to support that proposition. Nor will the court impose such a requirement as a matter of law, as his construction of the court’s order is excessively narrow and seeks to impose requirements not stated in the juvenile waiver statute, Judge L. Mark Bailey wrote.
The elements of the waiver statute are otherwise properly addressed and supported by evidence, he noted.
The judges also upheld the sentence, pointing out the offenses are “horrendous.†Jordan’s character also doesn’t support a reduction because he told the probation officer that the victim did not protest and didn’t seem to be upset about the incident. He also said he experienced a thrill when he took the victim’s van to leave the crime scene to buy snacks.
One probation officer who observed Jordan’s trial testimony opined that he has “no moral compass and I don’t know how to fix that.â€
“Simply put, even given his age, Jordan’s character speaks poorly of him and of the likelihood of rehabilitation,†Bailey wrote.
YESTERYEAR: Ross Theater
The Ross Theater is pictured here in 1993, shortly before the building was razed. It opened with Hollywood-style fanfare on Christmas Day in 1949, adjacent to the newly developed Ross Center at Washington Avenue and Boeke Road. Throughout its history, the original marquee, illuminated by a thousand light bulbs and neon tubing, remained intact. Patrons were pampered by the interior’s elegant marble foyer, plush carpeting, colorful tapestry walls, and even free bottle warmers in the crying room when the Ross first opened. The theater was transformed into a bargain-priced movie house in its latter years, finally closing in 1991 when it was deemed “functionally obsolescent.â€
FOOTNOTES: We want to thank Patricia Sides, Archivist of Willard Library for contributing this picture that shall increase people’s awareness and appreciation of Evansville’s rich history. If you have any historical pictures of Vanderburgh County or Evansville please contact please contact Patricia Sides, Archivist Willard Library at 812) 425-4309, ext. 114 or e-mail her at www.willard.lib.in.us.