Masterpiece Cake - A big nothing with some interesting commentary

Masterpiece Cake, as it will be known forevermore, was decided yesterday. I worked a tiny tiny bit on this case when I interned for ACLU of Colorado, which is pretty cool, notwithstanding the fact that I really added no discernable value. Charlie and David are lovely, though.

Yesterday morning, I joined the chorus of sighs as I heard the headline. It was foolish for me to jump to conclusions before reading the actual opinion.

One matter that I am not seeing discussed enough in the media is the Court’s comments that it was relevant that the incident that spawned this lawsuit occurred pre-Obergefell (the SCOTUS same-sex marriage decision). The Court suggested that the baker’s assumption that there was nothing illegal about refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding was bolstered by the fact that same-sex marriage was not recognized in Colorado at the time. That means that this case likely has little precedential value for any dispute arising since June of ’15.

The majority opinion itself little precedential value anyway; that’s what is meant when you keep hearing that the ruling is “narrow.” 

On Guns

I don't own guns, but I have handled and shot a variety of firearms, from a .22 handgun to a 30 0 6 rifle. Somewhere in this house I have some great photos of myself shooting cans in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico, and if I can ever find them, I'll add them to this post. Shooting is fun, no doubt. Not so fun that I want to own a gun; I was persuaded that a gun in the home is more likely to be used for domestic injury than for self defense and I decided I am better off without them.

Regarding hunting, I respect people who kill and dress their own meat more than I respect people who eat meat out of the grocery store. Factory farming is heinous and any attempt to undermine it, whether it be by killing your own, going veg, or limiting your meat purchases to small farms that nurture the animal from birth to slaughter, meets with my approval. I find sport hunting and captive hunts unconscionable violations of an individual animal's autonomous right to life.

My husband owns a 12 gauge shotgun and a .44 magnum Blackhawk. He once shot and killed a bear who was carrying away his sheep. I've never seen his guns; they are currently in a safe in storage in a town other than the one we live in. He doesn't miss them.

Lately, I've found that the pro-gun response to suggestions of various control methods is simply, "that won't work." Well, you know what? You have no idea whether it will work or not. One huge problem in addressing gun violence is that no one knows what will work, because until last week, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) was not allowed to use congressional funding to do any research on guns. The new spending bill clarifies that the CDC can in fact do firearm research, and I hope that they will. I am optimistic that this country will go further in that direction, in part due to the heroic organizational efforts of the inspirational Parkland students, but I remain concerned, because the NRA still exists.

Thoughts on Scalia: Conspiracy and Consistency

When my husband came home yesterday afternoon, he asked me if I'd heard that there's now suspicion as to whether Supreme Court Justice Antonin "Nino" Scalia died of natural causes. I began typing "Scalia death" in Google on my phone.

"Oh," I said, "apparently the conspiracy theory is that he was smothered with a pillow."

It appears that in one interview the owner of the ranch where Justice Scalia was found dead said that Justice Scalia was found "with a pillow over his head." Add to that a Texas law which allows justices of the peace to declare cause of death without seeing the body, a family who turned down an autopsy, and a picture of the ranch owner shaking hands with President Obama, and you've got a conspiracy theory on your hands.

For the record, I actually know a dude who sleeps with a pillow on his face.

Mother Jones has an excellent guide to the assassination theories. I haven't seen anyone try to suggest that he arranged his own death yet, so I'm going to have a go at it.