Tuesday, July 26, 2005
To Whom Does The Constitution Apply?
The protections guaranteed and Rights recognized by the Constitution and its amendments apply to everyone who has entered into the contract that is the Constitution. There are two groups who have done so: 1) Natural born citizens and 2) Naturalized citizens.
The commenter to the original post suggests that the Equal Protection clause of the 14th amendment indicates that the entire Constitution applies to everyone in the country whether they are here legally or not. Let's take a quick look to see if that stands up. Here's Section 1 of the 14 amendment:
Second, no state is allowed to "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." That, obviously, means that even illegal immigrants are guaranteed a fair trial before being jailed or deported.
Finally, no state is allowed to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." That does not, however imply that the rights recognized, or the privileges granted, to individuals in the Constitution apply to non-citizens/illegal immigrants. And, of course, you don't get to pick and choose which laws you'd like applied to an illegal immigrant (or anyone else for that matter). So laws regarding illegal immigration still count.
While this may sound cold hearted and just plain mean I think it is important for two reasons. First, to say that the Constitution applies fully to anyone who happens to be standing on American soil leads to all sorts of problems. Are POWs guaranteed due process if brought to the US? The answer is, and must be, and emphatic 'no'. How about invading enemy soldiers? Or perhaps just a bunch of thugs in some 3rd world hell hole that manage to breech the physical defenses of an American embassy?
Second, if one applies to the rights recognized and protections granted in the Constitution to those who enter the country illegally, then what is the incentive for following our laws in the first place. It's the same old (yet valid) argument that by not punishing those who break laws you are actively encouraging others to break more laws.
The Constitution is a contract that one enters into by right of birth (unfair, maybe...but that's just the way it is) or by choice via legal immigration (a difficult process surely, but again...too bad, that's just the way it is). Anyone who chooses to enter our country while choosing to not enter into the contract as proscribed by law is not worthy of its protections.
The commenter to the original post suggests that the Equal Protection clause of the 14th amendment indicates that the entire Constitution applies to everyone in the country whether they are here legally or not. Let's take a quick look to see if that stands up. Here's Section 1 of the 14 amendment:
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. 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.What I get from this is, first, that states cannot make or enforce laws that infringe upon "privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States". To me, that sounds like the amendment is directing that states will not abridge my free speech just because that particular right is not recognized in my state's constitution.
Second, no state is allowed to "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." That, obviously, means that even illegal immigrants are guaranteed a fair trial before being jailed or deported.
Finally, no state is allowed to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." That does not, however imply that the rights recognized, or the privileges granted, to individuals in the Constitution apply to non-citizens/illegal immigrants. And, of course, you don't get to pick and choose which laws you'd like applied to an illegal immigrant (or anyone else for that matter). So laws regarding illegal immigration still count.
While this may sound cold hearted and just plain mean I think it is important for two reasons. First, to say that the Constitution applies fully to anyone who happens to be standing on American soil leads to all sorts of problems. Are POWs guaranteed due process if brought to the US? The answer is, and must be, and emphatic 'no'. How about invading enemy soldiers? Or perhaps just a bunch of thugs in some 3rd world hell hole that manage to breech the physical defenses of an American embassy?
Second, if one applies to the rights recognized and protections granted in the Constitution to those who enter the country illegally, then what is the incentive for following our laws in the first place. It's the same old (yet valid) argument that by not punishing those who break laws you are actively encouraging others to break more laws.
The Constitution is a contract that one enters into by right of birth (unfair, maybe...but that's just the way it is) or by choice via legal immigration (a difficult process surely, but again...too bad, that's just the way it is). Anyone who chooses to enter our country while choosing to not enter into the contract as proscribed by law is not worthy of its protections.
Meaty
Who is protected by the US Constitution? It is a difficult question to answer because it isn’t quite spelled out in the text, yet it isn’t quite open to interpretation. As Elliot Essam noted in his comment to the Question of the Week, the 14th Amendment provides that no State shall “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.”
That seems pretty straight forward, but the obvious test is obviously staring us all in the face (though we’ve gotten pretty good at ignoring it). That test would be the detainees at GITMO. Those detainees, while on US soil, aren’t in any particular state. From a moral stand point that distinction is a pretty thin dodge, but as much as we might prefer otherwise, the law means what it says, not what it ought to mean. Indeed, the provisions of the 14th Amendment regarding human rights are actually encompassed by the 9th Amendment. The fact that the 14th had to be enshrined in our highest law is , in essence, proof that a law must say what it means to be effective. A further example would be the “Schiavo Special” cooked up for the famed Florida case. Based on the law, as written, in conjunction with the words of that law’s framers, the Federal courts correctly ruled that they could choose not to intervene, in spite of the obvious (after the fact) truth that the law was meant to compel the court to do so. Why bring up the morass of the Shiavo Incident? Because that particular case provides a useful distinction. One of the primary deciding factors used by the federal court was the “intent” of the law’s framers. Not their actual intent, per se, but the intent they admitted to in the official record, i.e. the words the spoke on the floor of the Congress.
IANAL, but I do play one on TV*. Keep that in mind as up examine the following. While it can be debated that the equal protection clause is a limit to the states, and not binding on the Federal government, there’s no need to look at the intent of those framers to answer our question. The first 10 Amendments were specifically binding upon the federal government and the same concepts that are enshrined in the clause are distributed through the Bill of rights. The 14th Amendment, among other things, overturned interpretational precedent that had been constructed in an attempt to preserve the Union against the specter of civil war.
In the Bill of Rights, only the 5th through the 8th can be unambiguously stated to apply to any person in the jurisdiction of the United States. The other enumerated rights are specific to “the people” or the States. Since the Preamble has been supported as defining law, one can reasonably suggest that ‘the people” are defined by the phrase, “We the People of the United States…”
This seems to imply that the full protection of the U.S. Constitution need only be applied to citizens of the United States. However, that test alone would be weak basis for argument. One would be forced to turn to the “official record” seeking the words of the framers, in order to divine their intent. Lacking a legal team to pour through the wealth of information left to us by the founders, I turn to the document that ranks beside the Constitution in the heart and minds of many Americans. In the Declaration of Independence many of the Constitution’s framers signed off on the simple statement, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed…”
The Preamble, and the Bill of Rights both echo the sentiments of that simple statement, that opening justification for rebellion. It would be difficult to argue that this statement did not provide insight into the intent of the framers. The key phrases being “all men” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
What does this mean for our detainees at GITMO? Nothing, really. Amendment V provides for and exception for capital or otherwise infamous crimes during time of War. Futher, those detainees aren’t necessarily being held for criminal justice reason. They are Enemy combatants and thus can be treated, in some ways, like POWs. Certainly POWs can be held for the duration of a conflict. Of course they aren’t POWs, They are illegal and irregular forces. Historically, the prescription for such was execution.
For the other obvious segment of non-citizens, illegal aliens, the Constitution does appear to extend the full legal protection of the law. That does not mean they are entitled to the services of the state, only that they enjoy the same protections under US law as a citizen. The 14th Amendment does provide that level of protection to non-citizen in the jurisdiction of the several states. From that standpoint, the Constitution does belong to everyone.
* I don't really play a Laywer on TV.
That seems pretty straight forward, but the obvious test is obviously staring us all in the face (though we’ve gotten pretty good at ignoring it). That test would be the detainees at GITMO. Those detainees, while on US soil, aren’t in any particular state. From a moral stand point that distinction is a pretty thin dodge, but as much as we might prefer otherwise, the law means what it says, not what it ought to mean. Indeed, the provisions of the 14th Amendment regarding human rights are actually encompassed by the 9th Amendment. The fact that the 14th had to be enshrined in our highest law is , in essence, proof that a law must say what it means to be effective. A further example would be the “Schiavo Special” cooked up for the famed Florida case. Based on the law, as written, in conjunction with the words of that law’s framers, the Federal courts correctly ruled that they could choose not to intervene, in spite of the obvious (after the fact) truth that the law was meant to compel the court to do so. Why bring up the morass of the Shiavo Incident? Because that particular case provides a useful distinction. One of the primary deciding factors used by the federal court was the “intent” of the law’s framers. Not their actual intent, per se, but the intent they admitted to in the official record, i.e. the words the spoke on the floor of the Congress.
IANAL, but I do play one on TV*. Keep that in mind as up examine the following. While it can be debated that the equal protection clause is a limit to the states, and not binding on the Federal government, there’s no need to look at the intent of those framers to answer our question. The first 10 Amendments were specifically binding upon the federal government and the same concepts that are enshrined in the clause are distributed through the Bill of rights. The 14th Amendment, among other things, overturned interpretational precedent that had been constructed in an attempt to preserve the Union against the specter of civil war.
In the Bill of Rights, only the 5th through the 8th can be unambiguously stated to apply to any person in the jurisdiction of the United States. The other enumerated rights are specific to “the people” or the States. Since the Preamble has been supported as defining law, one can reasonably suggest that ‘the people” are defined by the phrase, “We the People of the United States…”
This seems to imply that the full protection of the U.S. Constitution need only be applied to citizens of the United States. However, that test alone would be weak basis for argument. One would be forced to turn to the “official record” seeking the words of the framers, in order to divine their intent. Lacking a legal team to pour through the wealth of information left to us by the founders, I turn to the document that ranks beside the Constitution in the heart and minds of many Americans. In the Declaration of Independence many of the Constitution’s framers signed off on the simple statement, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed…”
The Preamble, and the Bill of Rights both echo the sentiments of that simple statement, that opening justification for rebellion. It would be difficult to argue that this statement did not provide insight into the intent of the framers. The key phrases being “all men” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
What does this mean for our detainees at GITMO? Nothing, really. Amendment V provides for and exception for capital or otherwise infamous crimes during time of War. Futher, those detainees aren’t necessarily being held for criminal justice reason. They are Enemy combatants and thus can be treated, in some ways, like POWs. Certainly POWs can be held for the duration of a conflict. Of course they aren’t POWs, They are illegal and irregular forces. Historically, the prescription for such was execution.
For the other obvious segment of non-citizens, illegal aliens, the Constitution does appear to extend the full legal protection of the law. That does not mean they are entitled to the services of the state, only that they enjoy the same protections under US law as a citizen. The 14th Amendment does provide that level of protection to non-citizen in the jurisdiction of the several states. From that standpoint, the Constitution does belong to everyone.
* I don't really play a Laywer on TV.
Monday, July 25, 2005
A question of who
This weeks question of the week brought to you by Morgen.
Who does the US Constitution, and all its rights belong to? Everybody in the US or just to citizens and legal residents?
Who does the US Constitution, and all its rights belong to? Everybody in the US or just to citizens and legal residents?
