[lbo-talk] "Citizen," Concept of was Death penalty

[andie_nachgeborenen]

The Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments, the constitutional basis for due process and one of the legal pillars of opposition to the death penalty, specify that no _person_ shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, not limiting its protection to citizens. The Eighth Amendment, another legal basis for opposition to the death penalty, is in passive voice and just says that cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted. In general legal and constitutional rights, duties, protections, and prohibitions do not single out citizens and exclude noncitizens. The privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, substantially gutted and now of little legal meaning, is a rare exception. Basically the only right of importance guaranteed under the P&I clause is, I think, unimpeded interstate travel, 

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On Oct 5, 2012, at 12:25 PM, "Carrol Cox" <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:


> Shane makes a good point. It has become clear that in building a mass
> movement in the U.S. it is essential to make _resident_, not "citizen," the
> name of the left constituency. Has someone mentioned the barbarism of
> denying convicted felons their rights as citizens.
> 
> Carrol
> 
> P.S. Chris Sturr is of course right on this; his point about "life without
> parole" is particularly important. Some years ago I raised this question
> with a RC Sister in a forum on the death penalty, and she actually couldn't
> understand what I was talking about. 
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
> On
>> Behalf Of Shane Mage
>> Sent: Friday, October 05, 2012 11:23 AM
>> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Death penalty (was: Singapore)
>> 
>> 
>> On Oct 5, 2012, at 9:26 AM, // ravi wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Putting aside utilitarian concerns, the concept of “justice” served
>>> by retribution (which I do not understand at all), so on, doesn’t it
>>> matter that the death penalty is an act carried out by the state
>>> against its citizens?
>> 
>> If that was what mattered then wouldn't it be OK if carried out
>> against non-citizens (a rather large percentage of US residents)?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Shane Mage
>> 
>> "L'après-vie, c'est une auberge espagnole. L'on n'y trouve que ce
>> qu'on a apporté."
>> 
>> Bardo Thodol
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
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