Issues/Constitution
See other issues.
The federal and state governments now routinely violate the Constitution, and such violation is frequently upheld by the supreme court. Often this is a case of well-meaning individuals trying to do the right thing in the wrong way, but often it is more sinister. It is always dangerous, and the commonplace nature of these violations is a strong indication of how far we have already drifted into the territory of a tyranny.
We have long been interested in documenting the many ways in which we ignore the Constitution, and this stub is the beginning of such documentation. We are currently building up the list. We will then work to go into detail about each item.
Disregarding the Constitution
- War on the Jury
- DUI Checkpoints
- Gun Control and Gun Theft
- Income Tax
- Abortion
- Eminent Domain
- NSA Spying
- Intimidation of the Press
- No-fly lists
- Much of federal drug law. (Anything federal that punishes people for simple possession, use, or sale. Also sentencing can be cruel/unusual in some cases.)
- Hate crime legislation.
- Abusive fining
- Fining of businesses for exercising moral agency.
- Contempt of Court
- See: https://www.quora.com/Why-are-contempt-of-court-jailings-not-considered-violations-of-the-Constitutional-right-to-due-process
- It is interesting to note that none of the answers provided actually makes the case that this power has a constitutional basis. the idea that "the defendant owns the keys to their own cell" is simply a flowery way of saying that all you have to do is give up the right that the judge doesn't want you to exercise to get out. The examples, such as a reporter refusing to divulge sources, make this even more apparent. Why should a judge be allowed to ignore your due process rights in order to force you to give up your first amendment rights? This abuse was also apparent in the case of Kim Davis.
- See: http://constitution.findlaw.com/article3/annotation04.html
- See: https://www.quora.com/Why-are-contempt-of-court-jailings-not-considered-violations-of-the-Constitutional-right-to-due-process
External Resources
- Pierce Willians, "5 Ways Your Constitutional Rights Are Being Violated", News.Mic, 4 Jul 2013
- http://www.constitution.org/cs_abuse.htm
- http://www.alternet.org/story/148860/10_ways_to_outfox_cops_that_are_abusing_their_powers_to_trick_you
- http://bcsteaparty.com/2015/01/the-3-most-abused-clauses-in-the-constitution/
- https://www.aclu.org/top-ten-abuses-power-911