Trump's proposal is unconstitutional say legal experts
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Donald Trump's call to block all Muslims from entering the United States is not only unconstitutional but also impossible to carry out, legal experts said Tuesday.
Eric Posner, Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Law School, says that it's expressly legal. His is not the final word, of course, but he's a smart guy. He also points out -- correctly -- that one can't block American citizens of Muslim beliefs from re-entering the country. Americans have rights in our country; foreign nationals do not. Journalists are simply trying to advance a narrative, and Posner points out that there are certain scholars who are assisting with that. | Trump's proposed ban, announced to cheers at a rally in South Carolina on Monday, would apply to immigrants and visitors alike, a sweeping prohibition affecting all adherents of a religion practiced by more than a billion people worldwide.
Beyond inciting condemnation from Republican presidential rivals and others, legal and immigration experts said Tuesday that Trump's proposal violated the Constitution's equal protection clause and freedom of religion granted under the First Amendment.
"It is blatantly unconstitutional, and it's an attack on the very foundation of the United States," said Marci Hamilton, a law professor specializing in the First Amendment at Yeshiva University in New York City. She called the idea "laughable."
"It's never possible to fully ascertain what someone believes internally," Hamilton added. "How does one recognize a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew? Do you look at where they were born, do you look at where they were raised? Do you look at the last religious service they attended?"
Posted by: Fred 2015-12-09 |