Kenneth Cuccinelli rebuffed

I wrote quite some time ago about Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli’s global warming witch hunt against Michael Mann. The courts have finally shut him down:

The Virginia Supreme Court says the state’s attorney general does not have the authority to subpoena emails from a global warming researcher.

And why did exotic pasta dish Cuccinelli want those emails? Because he’s a walking conservative caricature.

A nanosecond

Good job, Indiana

The Indiana House has passed a bill that I think is just dandy:

Hoosiers could legally defend themselves against police officers who enter their home under a measure that the Indiana House approved on a 74-24 vote, moving it another step toward becoming law, on Thursday.

The measure would overturn last year’s Indiana Supreme Court decision. The court ruled that homeowners do not have the right to use force against law enforcement officials who they believe are illegally entering their homes.

When I originally heard about this story it was from a biased source, so I was led to believe that Indiana was in the process of explicitly telling homeowners they could shoot police officers for the least of reasons. Of course, this bill would allow a homeowner to shoot a cop, but it would need to be for a damn good reason. Moreover, the use of force being discussed here is more about physically forcing an officer out of one’s home (provided the entry has been illegal) rather than just shooting him. In other words, it’s common sense. The police shouldn’t be granted the right to enter a person’s home illegally anymore than a grocery clerk should be granted that right.

Well done, Indiana. Well done.