Liberty is an inherently offensive lifestyle. Living in a free society guarantees that each one of us will see our most cherished principles and beliefs questioned and in some cases mocked. That psychic discomfort is the price we pay for basic civic peace. It's worth it. It's a pragmatic principle. Defend everyone else's rights, because if you don't there is no one to defend yours. -- MaxedOutMama

I don't just want gun rights... I want individual liberty, a culture of self-reliance....I want the whole bloody thing. -- Kim du Toit

The most glaring example of the cognitive dissonance on the left is the concept that human beings are inherently good, yet at the same time cannot be trusted with any kind of weapon, unless the magic fairy dust of government authority gets sprinkled upon them.-- Moshe Ben-David

The cult of the left believes that it is engaged in a great apocalyptic battle with corporations and industrialists for the ownership of the unthinking masses. Its acolytes see themselves as the individuals who have been "liberated" to think for themselves. They make choices. You however are just a member of the unthinking masses. You are not really a person, but only respond to the agendas of your corporate overlords. If you eat too much, it's because corporations make you eat. If you kill, it's because corporations encourage you to buy guns. You are not an individual. You are a social problem. -- Sultan Knish

All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war. -- Billy Beck

Monday, June 02, 2003

Here's an Interesting Article on the Third Amendment


Concept of civilian-controlled military is American
There are plenty of opinions on what the Bill of Rights says. But it would take some effort to find many media pundits opining about the neglected Third Amendment. Not these days. With the most technologically sophisticated military in human history, it is hardly likely that U.S. leadership might resort to putting soldiers in American homes anytime soon. The notion seems as antiquated as flintlock muskets.

Yet, the Third Amendment underscores a most important constitutional issue — civilian control of the military. In his debate in 1788 with Patrick Henry over the quartering issue, Bill of Rights author James Madison noted that the argument was not over the actual quartering of troops. The issue was, he said, that quartering was ''done without the consent of the local authority, without the consent of America.''
It details the history of the amendment, but it doesn't mention Engblom v. Carey an obscure 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that "incorporated" the 3rd Amendment against state infrigement under the protection of the 14th Amendment.

IN 1982!

From the opinion:
We first address the novel claim based on the Third Amendment, a provision rarely invoked in the federal courts. We agree with the district court's conclusion that the National Guardsmen are "Soldiers" within the meaning of the Third Amendment. Moreover, we agree with the district court that the Third Amendment is incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment for application to the states.
(My emphasis.)

Even the THIRD Amendment gets an incorporation decision. But not the Second.

Here's hoping that the Supreme Court will hear Silviera v. Lockyer. Let's answer this question, finally. Seventy years is far too long a time to have waited.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.