Papers, Please!
As you probably know, the TSA maintains a "No Fly List" that is very successful in keeping grandmothers, anti-war protesters, babies, senators, government workers, and other law-abiding citizens from traveling on commercial aircraft. Officially, the list is meant to keep terrorists off airplanes, since of course, terrorists would use their real name and wouldn't consider getting a fake ID. Beyond those innocent individuals who are completely prevented from flying, there are others that trip the list every time they fly, and have to prove that they aren't terrorists. I have a friend of mine who falls into that category, and he has to show up to the airport early every time he wants to fly.
I was reading a little about the status of Gilmore v. Gonzales, and came across an interesting assertion that is separate from the heart of the case. The assertion was that the "No Fly List" constitutes a Bill of Attainder, which is prohibited by Article I, Section 9 of the United States Constitution. A Bill of Attainder is a law that restricts the rights of an individual, or a defined group of individuals, without due process of law. Because the government is restricting rights of individual people by name, without those individuals having been convicted in a court of law, the "No Fly List" would be a Bill of Attainder.
The interesting twist is, Congress didn't make a law that restricts people from flying. Instead, the executive branch (the TSA) created a secret Federal regulation that names specific individuals who are not allowed to fly. So this creates an interesting constitutional question. Can the executive branch make a law (umm, "regulation", since the executive branch can't make laws) that the legislative branch wouldn't be permitted to enact?
September 17 was "Constitution Day", which celebrates the signing of the US Constitution. OPM encourages all of the employees of federal organizations to read the Constitution on that day. By law, all educational institutions that receive US funding must provide education on the Constitution on that day. But I think what we need is a law that requires every legislator, elected official, judge, and government employee to read the Constitution each month. I think too many people in government ignore the Constitution. At the rate we're going, pretty soon the Constitution will be treatd like the Ten Commandments, and banned from government.
I was reading a little about the status of Gilmore v. Gonzales, and came across an interesting assertion that is separate from the heart of the case. The assertion was that the "No Fly List" constitutes a Bill of Attainder, which is prohibited by Article I, Section 9 of the United States Constitution. A Bill of Attainder is a law that restricts the rights of an individual, or a defined group of individuals, without due process of law. Because the government is restricting rights of individual people by name, without those individuals having been convicted in a court of law, the "No Fly List" would be a Bill of Attainder.
The interesting twist is, Congress didn't make a law that restricts people from flying. Instead, the executive branch (the TSA) created a secret Federal regulation that names specific individuals who are not allowed to fly. So this creates an interesting constitutional question. Can the executive branch make a law (umm, "regulation", since the executive branch can't make laws) that the legislative branch wouldn't be permitted to enact?
September 17 was "Constitution Day", which celebrates the signing of the US Constitution. OPM encourages all of the employees of federal organizations to read the Constitution on that day. By law, all educational institutions that receive US funding must provide education on the Constitution on that day. But I think what we need is a law that requires every legislator, elected official, judge, and government employee to read the Constitution each month. I think too many people in government ignore the Constitution. At the rate we're going, pretty soon the Constitution will be treatd like the Ten Commandments, and banned from government.
posted by David at 10/03/2006 08:52:00 PM
1 Comments:
Interesting point on the Bill of Attainder! I don't think I've heard anyone else make that case.
Yes, I've long said that we are approaching the day when some lunatic judge will declare the Constitution to be "unconstitutional". They've already reached the point in some school districts in which teaching the entirety of the Declaration of Independence is banned due to its references to God.
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