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Letter: Read Constitution, then Supreme Court decisions
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To the letter, "Constitution brilliantly written; now read it," I must respond that reading it is not enough. In 1803 Chief Justice John Marshall in Marbury v. Madison declared that the U.S. Constitution says exactly what the U.S. Supreme Court says it says. Every court since has agreed. In the decision of the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, the major decision was that the district could not place certain requirements on gun owners such as requiring a trigger lock. The decision delighted the right and the gun lobby but the total ruling was really quite liberal. In the final decision, Justice Antonin Scalia stated that the phrase stressed in the letter, "A well regulated militia," is merely prefatory and adds no value to the Second amendment. I cannot think of another example of the court stating that any other phrase in the Constitution ought to be just ignored. Additionally, Justice Scalia invented a new Second Amendment constitutional right, the right of self-defense. A right to self-defense is not mentioned anywhere in the U.S. Constitution and therefore ought to be left to the states or the people as the constitution stipulates. It is indeed a good start to read the U.S. Constitution, but you cannot stop there. You must know what the Supreme Court says it says. James Tucker, Riverdale 
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Today is Saturday, May 25, the 145th day of 2013. There are 220 days left in the year.
1863 -- 150 years ago: The annual review of the fire department of this city took placeyesterday and made a fine showing with machines and hose carts in tip-top order.
1888 -- 125 years ago: Last night's prayer meeting at Central Presbyterian Church wascalled off due to water in the basement, residue of last week's flood.
1913 -- 100 years ago: The junior class of Rock Island High School will hold a riverexcursion on the steamer St. Paul next Tuesday.
1938 -- 75 years ago: The 75th Anniversary of the Rock Island Arsenal today finds thenation's largest ordinance manufacturing plant filling many important orders for the army.
1963 -- 50 years ago: Miss Patrice Daly, Rock Island, a senior at Rock Island HighSchool, won second place in the recent state public speaking contest held in Peoria underthe auspices of the Knights of Pythias.
1988 -- 25 years ago: Hampton's sesquicentennial committee and the Hampton HistoricalSociety have scheduled a full slate of activities, which will be held throughout the year, to celebrate the village's 150th birthday. The first celebration will be the Memorial Dayprogram at 10 a.m. May 30, at the Brettun and Black Store Museum on River Road. Therewill be a sesquicentennial display.
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