Text 9978, 59 rader
Skriven 2009-03-07 08:09:16 av Bob Ackley (1:300/3)
   Kommentar till text 9962 av JOHN FITZGERALD (1:123/140)
Ärende: CONSTITUTION'S HISTORY
==============================
Replying to a message of JOHN FITZGERALD to BOB ACKLEY:

 J>>>>  Pre-emptive war is illegal.  But, as with all rules and laws 
 JF>>> J.  that got into W's way, it was ignored.

 J>>>> Obama has released a former 'secret' memo concerning circumventing
 J>>>> the constitution....and also released the fact that the CIA
 J>>>> destroyed
 JF>>> almost
 J>>>> 100 tapes in interrogations...I hope this becomes big news...

 JF>>>   The constitution can be suspended in times of war if need be, and
 JF>>> with  good reason, as there are those will will use it to tie you
 JF>>> down so they  can run their campaign. 

 BA>>>   If the government suspends that Constitution, it eliminates 
 BA>>>   any legitimate justificaton for its existence.

 JF>>   I tend to agree, but there have been exceptions that were
 JF>> justified. ie.Curfews.   Right after 9/11 all airplanes were ordered
 JF>> down.   One could argue that this violated people's Constitutional
 JF>> rights.

 BA>>   Nnt really.  The constitutional right to travel freely doesn't   
 BA>> include a specific right to fly to one's destination.      It
 BA>> certainly inconvenienced a lot of people,though.

 JF>    What about curfews?   Are they consitutionaly permitted during 
 JF> states of emergency?

The Constitution gives the feds no such power.  AFAIK states and localities
are perfectly free to enact curfews and other similar restrictions.  Omaha
has a law on the books that makes 'cruising' illegal; 'cruising' is defined as
passing the same point on a street several times over a very short period of
time.  

 BA>>   Lincoln didn't try it during the Civil War and Roosevelt minor    
 BA>> didn't try it during WW II.  There were individual points   that  
 BA>> were suspended:  Lincoln suspended the right of  habeas corpus,  
 BA>> but abandoned that practice when the Supreme Court told him to   
 BA>> (congress can do that, the president can't),

 JF>>   In other words, the Constitution can and has been suspended.

 BA>>   No it can't.  As I noted, the Supreme Court ordered Lincoln 
 BA>>   to stop suspending the right of habeas corpus and he did.  
 BA>>   That right *can* be suspended by the congress but not by the 
 BA>>   executive, which is why the court ruled the way it did.

 JF>    Well, doesn't this still mean the Constitution can be suspended?

Nope.  In this particular instance only the the right of habeas corpus, and
that
is specifically permitted under the Constitution when done by the congress.
The court did not say the congress could not suspend habeas corpus, it said
that Lincoln couldn't.

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