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To: Libertarian Billy Graham
Leaving aside the fact that this is a Massachusetts case, not Maryland:

A) I've dealt with general provisions such as that (e.g., the Ninth Amendment) in previous posts. Yours raises no further issues.

B) As far as I know, neither the Massachusetts State Constitution nor the US Constitution authorizes the Massachusetts legislature to forbid murder. If it is your position that state legislatures only have those powers specifically granted to them, you should begin a campaign to free all the murderers from Massachusetts jails.

C) Massachusetts may well someday put a sodomy protection in their state constitution. But we were discussing provisions of the US Constitution.

D) If you don't like a law, but can't find a constitutional provision forbidding it, why don't you try behaving like a citizen of a republic and attempt to get it repealed through the legislative process?

31 posted on 02/21/2002 6:14:49 PM PST by counterrevolutionary
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To: counterrevolutionary

Leaving aside the fact that this is a Massachusetts case, not Maryland:

A) I've dealt with general provisions such as that (e.g., the Ninth Amendment) in previous posts. Yours raises no further issues.

Mine addresses the false assertion (often raised on FR) that only the federal government's powers are limited and the states are 50 experiments in unlimited majoritarian socialism.

B) As far as I know, neither the Massachusetts State Constitution nor the US Constitution authorizes the Massachusetts legislature to forbid murder...

In the case of Maryland, Article V of Maryland's Declaration of Rights says that the inhabitants of Maryland are entitled to the Common Law of England--which I think forbids murder--but, that's a bit of a stretch, to be consistent with the theory of limited enumerated powers one should see them listed in the power enumerating section (article 3 of Maryland's). So I'll take your point under advisement.

C) Massachusetts may well someday put a sodomy protection in their state constitution. But we were discussing provisions of the US Constitution.

I took your question to mean, "please cite the state constitutional enumeration of the right to be free from J Edgar and his vice-mates."

D) If you don't like a law, but can't find a constitutional provision forbidding it, why don't you try behaving like a citizen of a republic and attempt to get it repealed through the legislative process?

Why don't you behave like a true citizen in a republic who understands that all of his rights need not be enumerated?

45 posted on 02/21/2002 6:46:11 PM PST by Libertarian Billy Graham
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