Hilary and the Constitution

How likely is it that if Hilary gets elected she will roll back some of the most egregious attacks on the Constitution of BushCo? Give what you think the chances are and when she will do so.

These would include, but not be limited to:

Some provisions of the Patriot Act
Warrantless wiretapping, and other privacy concerns
Suspension of Habeas Corpus
Closing Guantanamo Bay
False Arrest

I say the chances of her rolling back any of this will be zero, therefore, she will never roll any of it back.

What do you say?

As to the Patriot Act, neither she nor any other President would have the authority to "roll back" any of its provisions. Congress must vote to repeal it.

Same with warrants under FISA. That's a statutory matter for Congress. You will have to be more specific when you ask about "privacy concerns". Which, in particular, do you mean?

Habeas has not been suspended. It's been limited by act of Congress, particularly in the death penalty arena, so, again, it's Congress that has to act to repeal (or reform) AEDPA.

Not sure what you're referring to when you say "false arrest". Did you have a specific case in mind?

Is Hilary or for that matter congress interested in rolling any of these back? That's my question. Since most policy questions of this sort start in the White House and work through Congress working in concert with thw White House, do you see anything being done in this area?

As far as false arrest, a specific case pointing to a general problem, especially during the last presidential election cycle is the couple in West Virginia arrested at a Bush rally because they would not remove or cover their anti-Bush t-shirts. They were quietly hustled to the local lockup and left there, uncharged, until Bush was gone. Clearly a violation of the 1st amendment. This happened to more people than these two and seemed to be a regular feature of Bush appearances.

Once again, I don't see Hilary or Congress addressing any of this.

So Gene, do you see anyone else more interested in addressing these issues?

> 3

Congress cannot stop local police departments from erroneously arresting people, nor can the President. There are statutes under which people can sue for false arrest. If someone feels that has happened to them, they are free to get a good civil rights lawyer and do so. I don't know what you think Congress or the President can do about it.

No one. Have we just given up power without a fight? Do our politicians not care?

Dems don't care.
Repubs don't care.

No one cares. But me.

#6: You might want to check out the platform of Ron Paul. While I disagree with some of his positions, I must admit that he has consistently voted to support the Constitution.

In general over here - I'm don't live where you are so can't be specific - there is a tacit acceptance (or maybe even a specific act) that what one party has put in place last term can't be repealed immidiately by the other party when they get in.... otherwise all our parliment would do is psend all day repealing and reinacting the same laws. Maybe not such a bad idea afterall.