Dan L--
I worked as a lawyer in the Reagan and (first) Bush Justice Deparments and successfully defended the constitutionality of a statute, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which gives the United States the right to conduct, let's say, unusual surveillance of foreign nationals suspected of terrorism. On the basis of that experience, a couple of observations regarding your post. First, The United States Constitution does, in fact, apply to many--in fact, most--people within our borders who are not American citizens. The law is that "Once an alien lawfully enters and resides in this country he becomes invested with the rights guaranteed by the constitution to all people within our borders." The law also is that "An illegal alien comes within the scope of the word "person" guaranteed due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The class of persons, including illegal aliens, which also may avail itself of the equal protection guarantee is coextensive with that class entitled to due process." As to only bad people having to worry about the laws---c'mon. And last, as to the Democrats refusing to hold hearings on new judges--check the record of the Senate from 1994-2000 on the same subject. Politics and patriotism have little to do with each other; query what our Vermont posters think of Sen. Leahy.
Rick
