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Who does the Bill of Rights cover?
This Week | 2 Dec 01 | Bob Barr

Posted on 12/02/2001 8:50:01 AM PST by H.Akston

Bob Barr just said on Sam and Cokie's show that the Bill of Rights is part of the Constitution, and the Constitution covers "persons", not just citizens, and "the Bill of Rights applies to all persons on our soil."


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: billofrights
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To: Dolphy
It is my understanding, that the military tribunals are a Department of Defense deal as a result of the would be detainees status as an enemy that has declared war on us.

That's the rational for war tribunals. Al Qaeda members would be considered prisoners of war. As prisoners of war, they wouldn't be brought back to the United States to be tried in our court system.

They declared war against us. Evidence of this is they have attacked the United States and their training manual refers to them as being at war with us.

The acts of 9/11 are in violation of the conventions of war because civilians were targeted and they may be appropriately punished.

221 posted on 12/02/2001 2:37:48 PM PST by LizM
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To: schmelvin
"Didn't anyone take Constitutional Government in high school?"

Let's not show our age, shall we? I don't think that anything called "Constitutional Government" has been taught in government schools for at least the last 20 years. And if a course was called that, it would not teach proper Constitutional principles.

Just look at the posts on this and other threads in support of President Bush's tribunals, especially the mantra that "non-citizens do not have any rights under the Constitution." Even Freepers who are denizens of a website dedicated to the support of our Constitution do not understand the Constitution. What's worse, I have seen more than a few who admit that they don't know and don't care what the Constitution says.

But we are educating them, whether they like it or not.
222 posted on 12/02/2001 2:41:44 PM PST by Iwo Jima
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To: Dolphy
While I do have concerns about secret military tribunals, I, also, understand that jury trials would have dangers associated with them; the disclosure of sensitive information, as you mentioned, and the safety of the jurors. Imagine being a member of a jury trying a terrorist--the death threats you would receive from radical Muslims, maybe even a fatwah placed on your head.
223 posted on 12/02/2001 2:45:33 PM PST by schmelvin
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To: afraidfortherepublic; Luis Gonzalez
*******************

To: Luis Gonzalez
"We, as citizens of a sovereign state, have graciously extended certain rights to our visitors. However, we have NOT extend the right of freedom of political speech (1st Amendment). Political speech regarding elections is strictly prohibited for non-citizens. That is why I say the that the Bill of Rights does not extend to non-citizens. Only those privileges that the government has chosen to extend have been granted.
# 210 by afraidfortherepublic

************

We do not "extend certain rights" to anyone, afraidfortherepublic.

We refrain from infringing upon those rights.

1) To infringe upon a visitor's right to speak is a violation of the Constitution.
2) To infringe upon a visitor's right to bear arms is a violation of the Constitution.
3) To infringe upon a visitor's home is a violation of the Constitution.
4) To search or seizure the property of a visitor without reason is a violation of the Constitution.
5) To hold a visitor for a capital crime without an indictment of a Grand Jury would violate the Constitution.
6) To deny a visitor a trial when accused of a crime would vioate the Constitution.
7) To require excessive bail, or allow excessive punishment of visitors would violate the Constitution.

224 posted on 12/02/2001 2:51:53 PM PST by exodus
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To: exodus
I would point out, ninenot, that if spies and saboteurs captured in wartime were accepted as having the right to challenge the court system, they legally, according to our courts, have all other rights as well.

"All other rights"?

A resident of the United States in 1943 had a perfect right to walk the streets of America in wing-tip shoes, a business suit and a fedora.

If the German saboteurs had worn Kriegsmarine uniforms, they would have spent the rest of the war in P.O.W. camps and probably would have been given a grudging amount of respect for their daring by the American newspapers.

For exercising the right of any American resident to dress as he pleases, they were executed.

When you are a combatant, your "rights" are not the same as "all the other rights" of the residents of the country you are at war with.

225 posted on 12/02/2001 2:55:42 PM PST by Polybius
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To: Iwo Jima
Even Freepers who are denizens of a website dedicated to the support of our Constitution do not understand the Constitution.

This has been a good thread for people learning what the Constitution and the law say. I'll definitely say that I'M learning.

There CAN be differences of opinion on what the words of the Constitution mean though... even though you may think they are completely clear. Even something so clear as four words on the ten commandments can be open to discussion and interpretation: "Thou shalt not kill". If you're a strict constructionist, you'd have to say that the peacefreaks opposed to the war are the only ones in the right.

226 posted on 12/02/2001 2:58:25 PM PST by Wissa
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To: schmelvin
Imagine being a member of a jury trying a terrorist--the death threats you would receive from radical Muslims, maybe even a fatwah placed on your head.

I see absolutely no problem with that.

Senator Leahy and the rest of the Democratic Senators and Congresscritters will step up and volunteer to serve on those juries. ;-)

227 posted on 12/02/2001 3:01:19 PM PST by Polybius
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To: H.Akston
I'm not even sure that Indians are covered by the Bill of Rights

Here is one Indian who is ready to tell you that anybody who tried to deny ME my rights is not going to end up being a happy camper.

As to the rest of your post,of course foreigners visiting or living in the US have the same obligations as US citizens. They have to obey our laws,and if they work here,they have to pay our taxes. Just the same as if you went to live in a foreign country. What's wrong with that in general,and more specifically,what is wrong with other people living free just like we do?

228 posted on 12/02/2001 3:11:57 PM PST by sneakypete
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To: general_re; Iwo Jima
*******************

To: Iwo Jima; All
"...So, my question to you, and to everyone, is - would everyone be more comfortable if the Bush Executive Order explicitly stated that tribunals applied only to non-resident non-citizens (e.g., aliens outside the territories and protectorates of the United States)?..."
# 144 by general_re

************

A military tribunal (trial) is only justified during time of war or national emergency.
What we have doesn't qualifies on either count.

229 posted on 12/02/2001 3:13:25 PM PST by exodus
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To: go star go
If the Bill or Rights applies to everyone then why do we have INS raids?

The answer to questions like this are simple if you think about them for a minute. As I stated in my other post,along with having the same rights as US citizens have while they are here,they also have the same obligations. One of these obligations (and a BIGGIE!) is that they obey our laws. What the INS is SUPPOSED to be doing is making raids to arrest and deport people here ILLEGALLY. If they are here illegally,they are not obeying our laws by definition,and they do NOT have a right to be here.

Notice how the INS can't deport somebody who is here legally?

230 posted on 12/02/2001 3:16:43 PM PST by sneakypete
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To: Iwo Jima
So, you do not think that the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon were acts of war?
231 posted on 12/02/2001 3:20:08 PM PST by mrsmith
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To: exodus
Well, doesn't the President have the authority to order the tribunals? Regardless of all the bitching. By either side. And to tell you the truth, it makes me feel more secure knowing that these terrorist bastards will not set foot on our soil again. Let them burn in hell.
232 posted on 12/02/2001 3:23:52 PM PST by roostercogburn
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To: Iwo Jima
Let's not show our age, shall we? I don't think that anything called "Constitutional Government" has been taught in government schools for at least the last 20 years. And if a course was called that, it would not teach proper Constitutional principles.

Just look at the posts on this and other threads in support of President Bush's tribunals, especially the mantra that "non-citizens do not have any rights under the Constitution." Even Freepers who are denizens of a website dedicated to the support of our Constitution do not understand the Constitution. What's worse, I have seen more than a few who admit that they don't know and don't care what the Constitution says.

Oops, I have to be careful about that showing my age thing. Believe it or not, I'm only in my mid-thirties, and I did attend a public school. I guess I "just made it". A couple years younger, and OMG, I might be posting to DU instead of FR.

I am getting sick of all the people refering to the current unconstitutional state of our government to OK the even further unconstitutional expansion of government powers. One poster even quoted the BATF as an authority on gun rights, rather than quoting the 2nd amendment. I want to scream, "Go to the source, people."

I am conflicted regarding secret military tribunals. I understand the drawbacks of trials by jury, but I worry even more about the dangerous precedent we're setting. Congress hasn't even formally declared war as per the Constitution. We did when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Congress has no political liability in formally declaring war; Americans would be solidly behind it. So why aren't they?

A war officially begun would officially have to end. There would be parameters. This "war on terrorism" is vague and on-going. The enemy is so loosely defined that it could describe almost anyone. I just read an article which stated that the Patriot Act is already being used to track other catagories of crime, not just terrorism.

I have apprehensions about this undeclared war utilizing secret tribunals to sentence a loosely defined group of enemies. What if Hillary becomes President in '08 with the power to determine who gets hauled into a secret military tribunal for sentencing under officials she appointed? And what would Little Miss VastRightWingConspiracy's idea of a terrorist be?

233 posted on 12/02/2001 3:26:55 PM PST by schmelvin
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To: exodus; Gumption
exodus We don't ask them to become citizens. They ask for the favor of citizenship.

According to accounts by my grandparents, we used to encourage immigrants to take the oath of citizenship. We also had them assimulate more than they do now.

People come here because they believe that they deserve better.

Agreed!

Gumption Even as non citizens, while they're within the jurisdiction of the United States, they're entitled to "equal protection of the laws"(14th amendment).

Just as if we were arrested in France, for example. We would receive treatment according to their laws as applied to their citizens, not according to the laws of the US.

I won't get into the 14th ammendment being used in discussions of the Bill of Rights, again.

234 posted on 12/02/2001 3:27:09 PM PST by SusanUSA
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To: Polybius
.

The question becomes, "Are combatants waging war against the United States on U.S. soil covered by the Bill of Rights.?"


Anyone who decides the 9/11 attacks were acts of war cannot argue for civil trial of the combatants, whether citizen or alien.

235 posted on 12/02/2001 3:28:45 PM PST by mrsmith
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To: tex-oma
"We the People".

Unless you think we should invade every place that doesn't follow it's form?

236 posted on 12/02/2001 3:29:29 PM PST by lepton
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To: H.Akston
"No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
237 posted on 12/02/2001 3:31:24 PM PST by Looking for Diogenes
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To: tex-oma
If a French citizen is in the United States, does he have rights or not?

He has such rights as we give him, or have agreed to by treaty...same way as we have limited rights if we go to France (Just ask the French).

238 posted on 12/02/2001 3:32:49 PM PST by lepton
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To: NewAmsterdam
But if you proclaim the belief that individuals have unalienable rights,

An inalienable right to justice is not the same as a right to the various mechanisms, else there is an inherent contradiction between various countries attempts to secure the basic rights simply by virtue of differing methods or even differing wording.

239 posted on 12/02/2001 3:37:19 PM PST by lepton
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To: athiestwithagun
So, in your world, war by us is impossible? After all, We certainly haven't given any of them a trial by the particular methods. Hmmmm.
240 posted on 12/02/2001 3:40:23 PM PST by lepton
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