The law and the jungle

The Wall Street Journal seems almost giddy over the opportunity presented by this "constitutional moment":

Discipline seems to be a problem in schools nationwide. But a deputy prosecutor singles out the Muncie Community School Corp.:

Guns can be picked up and used for good or evil, but they are morally neutral objects. Gun-control advocates always try to obscure this point as they strain mightily, without success, to connect the dots between bad gun acts and lawful gun ownership. So in commenting on efforts by some state legislators to ease a number of gun restrictions, The Journal Gazette just has to tie it to a recent murder:

First, they came for our toilets, and we had to put up with it. Next, they came for our light bulbs, and we were told to suck it up. Now, we're not allowed to have clean dishes, either:

Oh, come on now, cut it out, you two, or at least get a room! No, wait, not that room!

Evansville police arrested two individuals who allegedly broke into a vacant apartment for what they told police was "some time alone."

Jerry Lipson, 43, and Tiffany Cartwright, 36 are being held in the Vanderburgh County Jail, each on $100 cash bonds.

[. . .]

Man, gotta keep an eye on them all the time. A legislator proposes a nifty new "fee," i.e. tax:

A bill has been proposed that would have consumers paying .10 a bag for grocery bags.

If passed, the bill, introduced by northern Indiana State Representative Shelly VanDenburgh, would act as a type of tax.

Drop the earphones, scumbag! I said, DROP THE EARPHONES, SCUMBAG! I SAID . . .

It's not uncommon to see runners and pedestrians walking or jogging with headphones on. But here in Arkansas that could soon be against the law.

State lawmakers have proposed a bill that would ban headphones in both ears near streets.

Tim Poole says he's seen the worst of what could happen while running with headphones.

The U.S. House yesterday voted mostly along party lines to repeal Obamacare. The measure will either fail in the Senate or get veoted by President Obama. Everybody knew that going in, but this was an important first step in keeping the debate going so that Obamacare is a major issue in the 2012 presidential race. And on the same day:

Criminal geniuses of the week:

A gang of teenage thieves looking to get high got a buzzkill instead when they realized a stash of "cocaine" they'd heisted and snorted was not the drug, but a dead man's ashes.

If we're going to make "hate crimes" more serious than other crimes and give the perpetrators "enhanced" sentences, shouldn't we do the same for people who falsely claim to be the victims of hate crimes?

CARMEL, Ind. -- The owners of a Carmel deli who claimed they were the victims of a hate crime were arrested in New Jersey this week, accused of arranging the fire that damaged the eatery.