In a message dated 12/19/2003 8:33:48 AM Eastern Standard Time, jdd@dixons.org writes:
On Thu, 18 Dec 2003, J.A. Terranson wrote:
Why does the US military have to treat them as though they had US constitutional rights? They are not citizens or physically present in the United States.
In a nutshell, our Constitution *recognizes* universal human rights. It does not *establish* these rights. If we are going to be faithful to this premise, physical location is a non-sequitor.
This is a valid and probably commendable political position. I do not believe, however, that it reflects current practice in the USA or elsewhere.
I say "probably" because it seems likely that adopting this as a practice would have very high costs.
You deserve a Tim response, but that ain't my style- Of course the USA doesn't currently practice upholding the universal rights that our constitution recognizes, this is why Tim suggests that people need to be shot, or be fucked till dead. And why would you think that American judicial morality and justice should be dependent on cost? After all it would be cheaper for the cops on a traffic stop to administratively just shoot you in the head for an offense then go through the costs and rigors of a trial. Regards, Matt-