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Home Front: Politix
Trump's proposal is unconstitutional say legal experts
2015-12-09
[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

#17  More than just a religion. I attempted to read the Koran and had to put it down. Too violent from what I had read. Call to action. Recently I learned a skin with the original writings of the Koran were found. 100 years before Mohamed was born. Like their interest in Mein Kampf “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”
― Adolf Hitler - Religion and Political control are paramount.
Posted by: Dale   2015-12-09 19:13  

#16  Charles Lee
Aaron Burrr
Edwin Stanton
Huey Long
Douglas McArthur
Squirrel Hair

Posted by: Shipman   2015-12-09 17:38  

#15  Dale, the difference is those were all nationalities we were at war with and this is a religion that spans multiple countries.

Legally we could block immigrants from all of those countries but we'd have to exclude a large swath of Europe to do so.

So the idea is untrodden ground legally as far as I can tell. The question then becomes, is it wise policy. I have yet to hear any of those opposed to the idea put forth anything more than sputtering Hitler or saying that they believe it is unAmerican. None of them truly discuss the repurcussions.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2015-12-09 16:42  

#14  People like Trump because he doesn't read from a teleprompter. You get the impression that he says what he thinks, he not afraid to say it and most often it's what we're thinking. You'll never know what Obama, Bush or Clinton are really thinking because they recite the lines that somebody else has given them and they're afraid to go off the script. You can always tell the minute they start talking that they're reading from a script because nobody, but nobody, ever really speaks that way. I gotta believe that when his time comes Trump will have his own legal experts advising him as to whether an action is Constitutional or not. Judging by what he says, I gotta believe that he is putting America's best interest before those who would turn this country into a Third World hell hole like Pakistan, Syria, China or Mexico. I hope he means what he says but I sure as hell can't vote for PC Bush.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2015-12-09 13:05  

#13   With a few well timed comments about pausing the influx of potential terrorists until the US gets its act together, Trump has changed the entire national dialogue from let's import Syrian terrorists

Precisely why the WH and regime jumped on the comment with both feet. They know his comments are impacting public opinion of their decision making and strategy.
Posted by: Besoeker   2015-12-09 11:25  

#12  With a few well timed comments about pausing the influx of potential terrorists until the US gets its act together, Trump has changed the entire national dialogue from let's import Syrian terrorists and take away law abiding citizens guns, to the loons foaming at the mouth about Hitler.

At the end of the cycle the question will be who has a plan to deal with Muslim terrorists, and the answer will be only Trump!
Posted by: regular joe   2015-12-09 11:19  

#11  I have had, for several months, nagging feelings the same way, Glenmore.

Like some folks are collaborating to poison the 'conservative' well by next year. Eliminate the competent competition by attrition and then do something to assure your own defeat.

Trump and the Clinton's play the 'long game' quite well.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2015-12-09 11:07  

#10  I don't remember any of these "experts" complaining about Obama's extra constitutional power grabs.

When they complain about Obama like they complain about Trump, I might listen to them. Might.
Posted by: frozen al   2015-12-09 10:52  

#9  DOING everything Trump called for would be un-Constitutional, but SAYING it is NOT, and since that is all that has been done, it in no way disqualifies him from election (even though I would like to see him gone because I believe he is working with Hillary towards a common goal.)
Posted by: Glenmore   2015-12-09 10:40  

#8  Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798.

FDR used it (Germans, Italians, Japanese).

Jimmy Carter used it (Iranians).

Still in effect.

Text here
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2015-12-09 10:08  

#7  Overton Window moved. It's now acceptable to discuss this. You may have to punch the lying lib in the mouth to get them to shut up enough to listen, but as afar as non-US Citizens, it's NOT illegal. It's actually prudent. Next attack will make it so
Posted by: Frank G   2015-12-09 09:12  

#6  Newc,
Don't hold back, tell us what your really think.
Posted by: jvalentour   2015-12-09 08:14  

#5  This proposal is as old as our country. English, French, Germans, Italians, Japanese, Jewish have been blocked. It has been done many times and it has worked. I believe that option was provided for as a presidential action to protect the homeland. We know of Roosevelt being president and a Democrat who ordered the confinement of 10,000 Japanese as I recall.
Posted by: Dale   2015-12-09 07:40  

#4  Suddenly, they remember your constitution?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2015-12-09 02:27  

#3  It is not only Legal, it is Prudent.

We are talking new immigration here.

Take a breather, get your house in order. What is the hurry?

Exchanging the electorate should probably not happen with the Moslem Middle East.
I HATE that shit.

I Hate Islam, I think they do not know where their books come from, It is a political movement and not a religion.

Power and sex.

So no, you go live there if you want that moslem drama. Don't put them in here for me to contend with forever.
Posted by: newc   2015-12-09 01:29  

#2  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.
Comrade, that kind of thinking is racis, illegal, unconstitutional, or racis. Or something bad like that.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2015-12-09 01:23  

#1  All these so called leaders are in a big push to discredit Trump. The one thing they don't do is to identify the existential enemy and what to protect American citizens.

Trump may not have the answers, and he is a blow hard but he is the only one talking about Islam being the problem.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2015-12-09 00:45  

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