Time: Wed Apr 16 14:32:56 1997
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	Wed, 16 Apr 1997 12:47:06 -0700 (MST)
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Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 14:26:49 -0700
To: liberty-and-justice@pobox.com
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: Suspended Constitution?
References: <9703168612.AA861211291@ccgate.atmel.com>

At 01:29 PM 4/16/97 -0500, you wrote:
>>Brother Bob,
>>
>>The Constitution is not suspended.  It is not suspended. 
>>It is not suspended.
>>
>>For I = 0 to infinity Repeat

Here it is in FORTRAN computer language:

   10 GO TO 10 /* here we go loop-de-loop


>>
>>"the Constitution is not suspended"
>
>-----
>
>We need to have our many in-resident 
>Constitutional experts comment on this.
>
>As I understand it, the Constitution has 
>various provisions for suspension
>-- time of war being one such instance. 


"The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus
 shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases
 of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety 
 may require it."

That's IT!  There is no provision to 
suspend the Constitution during time of war.  

The War Power is defined as follows:

"Congress shall have the Power ...
 To declare War, grant Letters of Marque
 and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning
 Captures on Land and Water;

"To raise and support Armies, but no 
 Appropriation of Money to that Use shall
 be for a longer Term than two Years;

"To provide and maintain a Navy;

"To make Rules for the Government
 and Regulation of the land and naval
 Forces;

"To provide for calling forth the Militia
 to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress
 Insurrections and repel Invasions;

"To provide for organizing, arming,
 and disciplining, the Militia, and for
 governing such Part of them as may be 
 employed in the Service of the United States,
 reserving to the States respectively,
 the Appointment of the Officers, and the
 Authority of training the Militia according
 to the discipline prescribed by Congress; ...."


There is no authority to suspend the Constitution,
as you can see.

Moreover ...

Warring on the several States is treason, to wit:

"Treason against the Unied States, shall
 consist only in levying War against them,
 or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them
 Aid and Comfort."

The penalties for treason include death.

Last, but not least, get a good taste of the
impact of the following, as cited and quoted
in People v. Boxer:


"A practice condemned by the Constitution cannot be saved
 by historical acceptance and present convenience."

      [U.S. v. Woodley, 726 F.2d 1328, 1338 (1983)]


"It is obviously correct that no one acquires a vested
 or protected right in violation of the Constitution
 by long use, even when that span of time convers our
 entire national existence and indeed predates it."

      [Walz v. Tax Commission of New York City,
       397 U.S. 664, 678 (1970)]


And so, those who would elevate the "amendments" to the
Trading with the Enemy Act to the level of supreme Law,
are acting more like apologists for treason, in my
opinion.  Remember, any law which conflicts with the
U.S. Constitution is null and void, ab initio.
Unconstitutionality dates from enactment, not from
the decision so branding it.

A much bigger problem is that the U.S. Supreme Court has
ruled, in Downes v. Bidwell, that the Constitution
does not apply inside the federal zone, and the guarantees
of the Constitution extend to the federal zone ONLY
as Congress shall make those guarantees applicable there,
by statutes. 

So, it is moot to discuss whether the Constitution has
been suspended in the federal zone;  Downes v. Bidwell
decided that it does not even operate inside the
federal zone.  So, you could say it has been "suspended"
there, but the Downes decision has been timely and
properly challenged already, In Re Grand Jury Subpoena
Served on New Life Health Center Company.  That motion
was never ruled on, and the respondents have reserved
all of their rights, including the right to overturn
Downes v. Bidwell, for all the reasons stated by
Justice Harlan in his eloquent dissent in Downes.
For a brief overview, read "The Lawless Rehnquist"
in the Supreme Law Library at URL:
  
  http://www.supremelaw.com

in which Harlan's eloquent words are commemorated.

Harlan still gives me goose bumps, and I have read
those words over 100 times now.

/s/ Paul Mitchell

p.s.  One of the things you get if you enroll in
the Supreme Law School is an electronic copy of
the U.S. Constitution as provided by the White House
in response to a FOIA request for same (warts and
all!)  This will enable you to browse it with your
word processor, or other capable text editor.
For example, find all occurrences of:

  "Citizen of the United States"  [sic]

You'll be delighted with the results.



========================================================================
Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S.    : Counselor at Law, federal witness
email:       [address in tool bar]   : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU
web site:  http://www.supremelaw.com : library & law school registration
ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech,  at its best
             Tucson, Arizona state   : state zone,  not the federal zone
             Postal Zone 85719/tdc   : USPS delays first class  w/o this
========================================================================


      


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