Saturday, July 4, 2009

The ACLU Gets it Right!

From USA Today:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans man is suing the city and its district attorney for refusing to give back a gun that police seized when he was arrested on drug and firearms charges that were later dropped.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed the federal lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Errol Houston Jr., who was arrested last year following a traffic stop. The lawsuit says the district attorney's office declined to prosecute Houston but has refused to return his .40-caliber firearm.

WDSU Reports:
ACLU Sues Cannizzaro, Riley Over Gun Confiscation

"For the government to keep property that someone is legally entitled to own, there must be good cause, and the owner is entitled to due process," ACLU Executive Director Marjorie Esman said. "Mr. Houston has done nothing wrong. There are no criminal charges against him.

"His firearm, which he is and was entitled to carry, has been confiscated for no reason. It is past time for NOPD and the District Attorney to return it."

The suit claims that by keeping the firearms, the City is violating the plaintiff's Second Amendment rights and due process rights.

PDF file:http://www.laaclu.org/PDF_documents/Houston_v_CityofNO_Complaint.pdf

The National ACLU still maintains that the "Militia Clause" somehow converts the Second Amendment into a collective right. Anyone who paid attention in High School English knows that the first part of the Second Amendment -- "A Well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state" -- is grammatically a nominative absolute and does not alter the meaning of "The Right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Perhaps the leadership of the Louisiana ACLU paid attention in school.

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