Common Sense Beats ACLU
Posted on November 27, 2007
Now that there is precedent, lets practice this on the southern border as well.
U.S. immigration authorities acted constitutionally when they subjected dozens of people returning from an Islamic convention in Canada to screening tactics usually reserved for people suspected of being terrorists, an appeals court said Monday.
The court upheld the conclusion of a federal judge that the 2004 inspections, which involved frisking and fingerprinting, did not violate U.S. constitutional rights to practice religion and avoid unlawful searches.
“We do not believe the extra hassle of being fingerprinted and photographed — for the sole purpose of having their identities verified — is a significant additional burden that turns an otherwise constitutional policy into one that is unconstitutional,” a three-judge panel wrote.
The New York Civil Liberties Union had sued on behalf of five New York residents who attended the “Reviving the Islamic Spirit” conference in Toronto. The NYCLU sought a court order to prevent similar inspections, along with destruction of personal information collected during the stops.
» Filed Under ACLU, News, War On Terror
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3 Responses to “Common Sense Beats ACLU”
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They can be frisked and fingerprinted legally because it is the duty of the U.S. federal government to protect our borders. (I believe Customs works the same way) If they are American citizen’s then declaring them enemy combatants without a trial would be a breach of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. If they are Aliens then all bets are off but it may cause trouble between us and their home countries.
I don’t have time to get into this. Suffice it to say, I don’t believe we lose our presumption of innocence when we cross an imaginary line.
The word “citizen” doesn’t appear a single time in the Bill of Rights, kerwin. Not once.
If I had a nickel for every time I had to explain this… I could afford to run around explaining it to everyone.
In all but a few instances, our Constitution refers to “people”, not “citizens”. The courts have consistently held that “people” covers damn near everyone that’s here legally.
It’ll probably take a couple more court cases to sort it all out, but that “enemy combatant” BS will either apply to everyone or no one.
“I don’t have time to get into this. Suffice it to say, I don’t believe we lose our presumption of innocence when we cross an imaginary line.”
Here is a New York Times article that mentions that is the law.
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