Individual Rights

....unless that work is a result of being drafted into the military. You have the right to refuse to incriminate yourself. You have the right to not answer questions asked by law enforcement unless you have an attorney present. You used to have the right to refuse to be held in jail indefinitely without being charged with a crime. (I'm not certain that actually is true anymore under the Patriot Acts.)

 

Is that in the Constitution?

 

Dead Men Have No Rights

Sorry Couldn't Refuse... :type:

OK, OK, I know this is Spiritually Speaking...

And, as long as we have Dual Citizenship in both Heaven and America then WE as Christians *Should Be* guranteed the same rights as anyone else in America...

To bad we aren't...

Mike Sr.
Pray First, Then Vote Your Prayer!

 

>You have the right to not answer questions asked by law enforcement unless you have an attorney present.

After you have been arrested.

 

That's an interesting question. The police are required to tell you your Miranda rights which include the right to remain silent. If they ask you a question before you are arrested and before you are read your rights I would think you have the right to not incriminate yourself (5th Amendment). Does doing that in and of itself constitute probable cause for arrest? I would think that anything you say before being read your rights could not be used against you in court.

 

Are you a militant combatant? If not then you need not worry.

 

That's not the case. I'll reread the Patriot Acts but it can happen to anyone. We no longer have the right of Habeas Corpus.

 

Amendment VI of the Constitution
"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed … and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense."

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Title or Provision What It Says/What It Changes How it can be misused

USAPA §412: Mandatory detention of suspected terrorists; habeas corpus; judicial review

Infringes upon the rights "to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district…, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him," and "to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense."
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President Bush's order designating "Enemy combatant"

Any U.S. citizen or non citizen designated as an enemy combatant may be placed in military custody, held in detention indefinitely, interrogated, and denied communication with outsiders or judicial review. Infringes upon the rights "to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district…, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him," and "to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense."

See, you said that unless I'm a terrorist I don't have to worry about the taking away of our rights under the Constitution. But who determines whether I'm a terrorist? The CIA, FBI, George Bush, etc. In other words these changes in the Constitution could simply be used against the enemies of the state as defined by the state. These could be political enemies, personal enemies, whatever.

 

You are all forgetting the most important two:

#1 The right to FREE RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION.

#2 The Right to FREE SPEECH.

Of course, with grandmothers being arrested for handing out gospel tracts (as has happened) and men being arrested for preaching the Gospel on VA Beach (as has happened), I suppose these rights are slowly being whittled away as well.

 

Don't make the illustration complicated. If you are stopped by the police on foot or in a car it is possibly because he suspects you of committing some crime or violation. You don't have to say anything. The officer must then decide to turn you loose or arrest you. If you are arrested then you have your Miranda rights.

 

Obviously you do not know what the Patriot Act is actually about.

 

What is it actually about?