Ballot Initiatives

The results of Tuesday's ballot initiatives in California (SF voters approve gun ban, while state voters reject parental notification) should help to blunt the scare tactics of Judge Alito's opponents. His opponents point to Alito's dissents in Planned Parenthood v. Casey and United States v. Rybar as evidence that Alito's confirmation will lead to an America in which machine gun toting thugs run wild and abortion is unavailable or severely restricted.

But yesterday's election results should remind us that Alito's dissents were only about the federal government's appropriate role, under the Constitution, in the regulation of abortion and gun control. Regardless of where the Supreme Court ultimately comes down on the constitutional issues, voters – as well as state and local legislators – will have the final say on the fate of abortion and gun control in their states and communities.