Posted on 03/23/2010 12:25:48 PM PDT by djf
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
 
 
 Ironic, isn't it, that the first President who has an Afro-American heritage signs a law that forces all Americans into a limited form of slavery?
I am sure this is a basis for a lot of the lawsuits being filed right now.
Anybody claiming that some good or service is a right, is a de facto advocate of involuntary servitude.
Doesn’t this Amendment mean that the military draft is also illegal?
I just read the complaint from the Virginia AG, and it is based on the individual mandate as an unconstitutional overreach of the commerce clause. No 13th Amendment in there.
I mean, if there's a sick child in the neighborhood and you are a pediatrician, will you be allowed to go on vacation? What if some kid might get sick while you are away? We just cannot have some child die because a doctor thought it might be fun to go to Vegas for a few days.
And what about a Geezer like moi? If you are a doctor and I need medical care, it sounds like the government can force you to give it to me. I don't think you will get to set the price.
But it's okay. It's not really slavery, because neither I nor the government and certainly not that sick child will be responsible for your food, clothing, and shelter. You're on your own, Doc!
 ML/NJ
Where does this law allow the government to force any doctor to give anyone medical care?
There are a few limited exceptions.
Here is the GPO page for the USCA (United States Constitution Annotated) chapter on the 13th amendment.
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/html/amdt13.html
It enslaves the people: you MUST give your hard-earned $$$ to another citizen (private company) or face punishment.
Exactly.
Pay or face legal penalties. “Servitude” in it’s most general definition does not mean “forced labor”, it means “subject to the will of another”.
I don't know. I only looked at one page at random. (The one that compels - "compel" is such a nice word - emergency rooms to provide "interpreters" and "translation services.")
The whole idea of this is that medical care is a right. It seems to me that if it is my right to receive it, it must be your obligation to give it to me. That's sort of what the courts have ruled about lawyers, but since the lawyers make the laws they've never thought to set real limits on the compensation provided by the government for providing legal services to indigents. Doctors are already being limited and some are refusing Medicare/Medicaid patients. Look for force to be employed soon. Doctors are just too greedy, you see.
 ML/NJ
Congress is empowered to raise an army.
Hmmmmmmmmmm...excellent point. I will hafta read the part of the Constitution you are talking about. Thanks.
True and correct.
In 1863, the United States government implemented the Conscription Act, which was also known as the Enrollment Act. Followed by the Conscription Act of 1917. President Roosevelt’s signed the Selective Training and Service Act (STSA) of 1940 on September 16, 1940, thus beginning the first peacetime draft in US history. Congress passed the Universal Military Training and Service Act in 1951 to meet the demands of the Cold/Korean War. With the end of active U.S. ground participation in Vietnam, December 1972 saw the last men conscripted. The US went to an all volunteer force (all branches). In 1980, Congress re-instated the requirement that young men register with the Selective Service System.
Today, the Selective Service System remains in place as a contingency requiring young men aged 1826 to register so that a draft can be more readily resumed.
Chronology of Conscription in the U.S.  Colonial Era to 1999 (http://www.teachervision.fen.com/us-history/resource/5669.html)
 Anyone that has any income can see it taxed and spent in such a way that in creates a kind of involuntary servitude.
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