WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court overturned the District of Columbia’s long-standing handgun ban Friday, rejecting the city’s argument that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applied only to militias. In a 2-1 decision, the judges held that the activities protected by the Second Amendment “are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual’s enjoyment of the right contingent” on enrollment in a militia. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the city cannot prevent people from keeping handguns in their homes.
Sen. Hagel plans announcement
Sen. Chuck Hagel will make an announcement about his political future on Monday in Omaha. It’s anybody’s guess, however, exactly what the Nebraska Republican plans to announce. Hagel’s options include a bid for the 2008 presidential nomination as a Republican or an independent, a race for re-election to the seat he has held since 1996, or retirement from elected office. Most Republican observers believe that Hagel will announce a bid for the presidency.
Arizona: Raid nets alien workers
Federal authorities arrested a construction company’s president and several employees Friday on allegations they hired illegal workers and used lookouts to avoid immigration agents. Eight undocumented workers were detained Friday, and authorities said 30 others had been picked up previously in the investigation. Scores of agents fanned out in Sierra Vista, a growing military community about 50 miles southeast of Tucson, in the raid on Sun Dry Wall &Stucco Inc.’s offices, a foreman’s home, the home of a suspected counterfeiter and eight work sites.
Utah: Explosive material stolen
Dozens of bags of ammonium nitrate, an ingredient that can be used to make explosives, were stolen from a construction site near the Utah-Arizona border, police said. Ammonium nitrate is used in construction and in farm fertilizers. The stolen material is considered inert, but police are checking local businesses for sales of other compounds that, when mixed with ammonium nitrate, could make a bomb. “We’re looking at all possibilities and hoping it’s none of them,” a St. George police sergeant said.
Massachusetts: Inmate lawsuit
A federal lawsuit filed against the state claims that putting inmates with severe mental illnesses in solitary confinement causes further psychological deterioration and contributes to an increase in suicide attempts. The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court by the Disability Law Center Inc. argues that the treatment of mentally ill prisoners is a violation of the Constitution as well as the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. About one-quarter of the 11,000 inmates in the state prison system are mentally ill.
California: Tons of marijuana found
Three tons of marijuana worth an estimated $20 million on the street was found in a rental truck abandoned on a California freeway onramp this week, authorities said Friday. A California Highway Patrol officer found the stash when he stopped to check on a truck in Ontario late Wednesday, a CHP spokesman said. The officer called for a tow truck and found the marijuana when he opened the back to inventory its contents. The marijuana had been tied in small rectangular bundles and wrapped in plastic.
From Herald news services
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