Whoa! Double ruling! All the way!

The Supreme Court issued two smart rulings on Monday: one striking down most of Arizona's constitutionally reckless immigration law, and the other prohibiting automatic sentences of life without parole for juveniles convicted of murder.

Regarding immigration, the court struck down part of the state's controversial law, and while it allowed the centerpiece to stand, it made clear that even that provision may be further litigated. In a 5-3 ruling, the justices rejected Arizona's bid to make it a state crime for illegal immigrants to fail to carry government registration papers or to solicit work. It also struck down a portion of the law giving police an ability to arrest illegal immigrants without a warrant.

In the other ruling, decided in a 5-4 vote - closer than it should have been - the court decided that it is cruel and unusual to impose automatic sentences of life without parole on murderers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes. State and federal courts generally have gone too far in removing discretion from judges. The Supreme Court struck down laws in 29 states that prohibited judges from considering mitigating circumstances. Juveniles convicted of murder can still be sentenced to life without parole, as long as the judge, who are called judges because they are after all supposed to judge, considers whatever relevant issues there may be before imposing a sentence.

And in other news, a celebrity boxing promoter is hoping to capitalise on an alleged nightclub brawl between singer Chris Brown and rapper Drake by offering them a million dollars each to take their beef to the ring. The promoter also says he is asking Rihanna, who both men have dated, to be a ring girl at the bout, but acknowledged that the Barbadian songstress will likely pass (I wouldn't blame her, because Brown did beat up on her). And while Drake tweeted about his dry cleaning, and Brown about a helpful stewardess, neither made mention of the offer on their Twitter pages. Meanwhile, the NYPD continue their investigation into the bottle-throwing melee allegedly between Drake and Brown and their entourages that took place at the New York City club W.i.P on the 14th. But I hope nobody gets seriously hurt should they take this ugly incident to the ring.