US Department of Justice Argues Assange Has No First Amendment Rights

Re:US Department of Justice Argues Assange Has No First Amen... by Causality1 on Friday January 24, 2020 @07:27AM (#22137467)

It's bizarre to me that the US constitution's philosophical basis is that it does not create rights but only recognizes natural or God-given rights that people already have, yet the US government doesn't recognize those rights for anyone but its own citizens.

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Re:US Department of Justice Argues Assange Has No First Amen... by ianhawes on Friday January 24, 2020 @07:38AM (#22137552)

It is largely an untested theory. The USG asserts that his 1A protections do not apply because he is not a USC and speech was outside the US. That begs the question of whether the court then has jurisdiction. It is a good rule of thumb that if you are being tried in the US, the constitution applies to you.

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Re:US Department of Justice Argues Assange Has No First Amen... by bumby on Friday January 24, 2020 @07:30AM (#22137485)

My (limited) understanding is that the Constitution does extend to non-citizens in many circumstances. Those are the ones that state rights of a "person" rather than "citizen".

E.g., "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"

[ Parent | on HN ]