Tag: Fifth Amendment

  • TERRORISM AND PERSONAL LIBERTY

    TERRORISM AND PERSONAL LIBERTY

    The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Because we will refer to the Fourth and Fifth amendments, let us read them in their entirety. 

    Amendment IV: 

    “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” 

    Amendment V: 

    “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” 

    Note: there is no exception to these rights provided for war or public danger. 

    Article 1, Section 9, Clause 2: 

    “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” 

    Note: The threat of terrorism has not been claimed to be a rebellion or an invasion. 

    America is engaged in an undeclared war with an ill-defined enemy (terrorism), a war that threatens to be never-ending and that is being used to vastly expand government power, particularly that of the executive branch, at the expense of the individual liberties of the American people. 

    The “war on terrorism” is serving as an excuse for the government to spend beyond its income, expand the Federal bureaucracy, and socialize the nation through taxpayer bailouts of the airlines, subsidies to the giant insurance corporations, and other Federal programs. 

    We deplore and vigorously oppose legislation and executive action that deprive the people of their rights secured under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments under the guise of “combating terrorism” or “protecting national security.”

    Examples of such legislation are the National Security Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, the proposed Domestic Securities Enhancement Act (colloquially known as “Patriot II”), the Military Commissions Act, the National Defense Authorization Act, and especially the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. 

    We further oppose any other governmental action that would deprive persons of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. 

    • The National Security Act is used by the federal government as a shroud to prevent the American people and our elected officials from knowing how much and where our tax dollars are spent on covert operations around the world. The National Security Act prevents the release of Executive Orders and Presidential Decision Directives, e.g., PDD 25, to the American people and our elected representatives. Not only are many of these used to thwart justice in the name of national security, but some of the operations under this act may threaten our very national sovereignty. 
    • The USA PATRIOT Act permits arrests without warrants and secret detention without counsel, wiretaps without court supervision, searches and seizures without notification to the individual whose property is invaded, and a host of other violations of the legal safeguards our nation has historically developed according to principles descending from the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. Since we will no longer have a free nation while the federal government (or the governments of the several states, as the federal government may authorize) can violate our historic rights under such laws, we call for the rejection of all such laws and the ceasing of any such further proposals including the aforementioned Domestic Securities Enhancement Act. 
    • The National Defense Authorization Act gives authority to the President of the United States to have persons arrested, including U.S. citizens, without a warrant, without a trial, indefinitely. 

    We support the repeal of the PATRIOT ACT and the FISA Court, and a permanent ban on NSA domestic spying, including using other agencies, banks, and private communications or internet companies. 

    For criminal activities only, federal law enforcement, investigatory, and intelligence shall obtain a warrant, which can only be kept sealed for 7 days. 

    We support the strict provisions of law that prohibit federal or state governments from hiding illegal actions behind the claims of State Secrecy or National Security or by classifying such activity as secret in any form. 

    The Constitution Party opposes all violent acts of sedition, treason, and covert guerrilla warfare conducted on U.S. soil. 

    Individuals responsible for these acts must be punished for their crimes, including the infliction of capital punishment where appropriate. 

    In responding to terrorism, however, the United States must avoid acts of retaliation abroad which destroy innocent human lives, creating enmity toward the United States and its people; and in accord with the views of our Founding Fathers, we must disengage this nation from the international entanglements which generate foreign hatred of the United States, and are used as the excuse for terrorist attacks on America and its people. 

    The ‘war on terrorism” is not a proper excuse for perpetual U.S. occupation of foreign lands, military assaults on countries that have not injured us, or perpetual commitment of taxpayer dollars to finance foreign governments. 

  • PERSONAL AND PRIVATE SECURITY

    PERSONAL AND PRIVATE SECURITY

    The 4th Amendment states: 

    “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” 

    The Fifth Amendment further protects property, by stating:  

    “No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” 

    We affirm the Fourth Amendment right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, including arbitrary or de facto registration, general and unwarranted electronic surveillance, national computer databases, and national identification cards.  

    We reaffirm that civil governments must be strictly limited in their powers to intrude upon the persons and private property of individual citizens, in particular, that no place be searched and nothing be seized, except upon proof of probable cause that a crime has been committed and the proper judicial warrant issued.  

    We reaffirm the common-law rule that protects the people from any search or seizure whatsoever when that search or seizure violates the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.  

    We deplore and vigorously oppose legislation and executive action that deprive the people of their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights under claims of necessity to “combat terrorism” or to “protect national security.” 

    We oppose legislation and administrative action utilizing asset forfeiture laws which enable the confiscation of the private property of persons not involved in the crime. 

    Forfeiture of assets can only be enforced after conviction of the property owner as a penalty for the crime. Such forfeitures must follow full due process of law under criminal prosecution standards. 

    We oppose the monitoring and controlling of the financial transactions of the people through such proposed laws as “Know Your Customer.” 

    Banks should be repositories of treasure and fiduciaries for the people, not enforcers for the State. Any information regarding customer transactions the State obtains from banks must be subject to the traditional Fourth Amendment safeguards.

    We support privacy legislation that prohibits private parties from discriminating against individuals who refuse to disclose or obtain a Social Security number.  

    We call for legislation prohibiting all governmental entities from requiring the use of the Social Security number except for Social Security transactions.  

    We call for the repeal of all laws, regulations and statutes that require the use of the Social Security number for any purpose other than Social Security transactions.  

  • ENVIRONMENT

    ENVIRONMENT

    James Madison, Federalist Papers #45 

    “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.” 

    U.S. Constitution, 10th Amendment 

    “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” 

    It is our responsibility to be prudent, productive, and efficient stewards of God’s natural resources. 

    In that role, we are commanded to be fruitful and multiply and to replenish the earth and develop it (e.g., to turn deserts into farms and wastelands into groves). 

    This requires a proper and continuing dynamic balance between development and conservation, between use and preservation. 

    We wholeheartedly support realistic efforts to preserve the environment and reduce pollution – air, water, and land. 

    • We reject the argument of the perceived threat of man-made global warming which has been refuted by a large number of scientists. The globalists are using the global warming threat to gain more control via worldwide sustainable development. 
    • We support protecting the environment from provable pollutions in high enough quantities to constitute a real threat. 
    • We reject the claims of man-made Climate Change or that Carbon Dioxide is a pollutant. 
    • We call for the repeal of federal wetlands legislation and portions of the Clean Water Act that claim control over water on private property. 
    • We call for the repeal of the federal Endangered Species Act. 
    • We call for the abolishing of the Environmental Protection Agency and all other unconstitutional agencies.

    The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution limits the federal power of eminent domain solely to the purchase of private property with just compensation for public use, such as military reservations and government office buildings, not for public ownership, such as urban renewal, environmental protection, or historic preservation. 

    Under no circumstances may the federal government take private property by means of rules and regulations that preclude or substantially reduce the productive use of the property, even with just compensation. 

    We oppose any attempt to designate private or public property as United Nations World Heritage sites or Biosphere reserves. 

    We call for an end to United States participation in United Nations programs, including environmental treaties and conventions, which destroy our sovereignty and right to private property.