Are foreigners/non-residents LEGALLY entitled to a fair trial?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

This is a rewording of a question I asked yesterday. This Republican I know says that they are not, and they have never been. He's studying to be a lawyer, so I'm assuming he is talking about the legalality.

There has to be some law about this. Please help me.

[adwon]

1. Within the US, yes

The 14th amendment makes no distinction between citizens and non-citizens. Some of the constitution doesn't apply to non-citizens within the US, but the key things like due process, equal protection, etc. do.

[aasleka]

2. Our Constitution says

All men are created equal, it gives inalienable rights to man, not citizens of the US.

[adwon]

5. It does?

That's the Declaration of Independence, not the constitution.

[TahitiNut]

10. Exactly. The Constitution also places the limits on the government

... NOT on the person. The reference to human rights merely places government in its place, it does NOT establish human rights or, in any way, define the limits of those rights. That's NOT the job of the Constitution. The entire focus of the Constitution is the (delegated) authority of the government which it establishes, and the prohibitions are placed on it no matter where it acts!

This essential distinction is what's being glossed over and ignored. When those in whom "We The People" entrust our government operations ignore the restrictions on their authority, their behavior amounts to "high crimes and misdemeanors."

The mechanisms of impeachment are sadly underused and abused - and ought to be employed at least an order of magnitude more often.

Members and enablers of the current regime belong in prison. There's no two ways about it.

[electron_blue]

3. Yes. Adwon's right.

[mike_c]

4. on the other hand, here's what HRW says about it in practice....

Some fascinating reading here....

http://www.hrw.org/doc/?t=usa_noncitizens

[napi21]

6. They obviously have equal rights when on American soil! That's why

Shrub forced those detainees to be taken to Guantanamo! Remember? He couldn't bring them to the Us because then he WOULD have to grant them all a trial!

[Egalitariat]

13. Guantanamo IS US soil*****

nm

[nealmhughes]

7. The only constitutional mentions of citizenship are re: political office,

to my knowledge. Everything else is assumed to be equal. A non-citizen has the same rights as a citizen, anything else is abhorrent to the spirit of the Constitution. Only voting and certain office, that of President is limited to "natural born citizens", but V.P., president pro temp., sec. of state, speaker of the house, etc by extention of the succession clause becoming president would be barred unless born in the US, though not holding those office in a lower status. If you have a legal right to travel/reside inside the US, then you have every right of a citizen except for those reserved for citizens/natural born citizens.

[VTMechEngr]

8. YES!

The Bill of rights says Person, not citizen. And the 14th Amendment:

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

[Igel]

9. What are the charges?

The claim's been made that some non-citizens may be held without trial under some conditions, or at least without a sentence imposed by the court. Some of the argumentation has been untested in the courts.

Moreover, I believe that German POWs were held on American territory for a while without trial. Indefinite detention without a trial; simply with a review of their status by the military.

In some cases, administrative review and deportation are simpler for non-residents. In other cases, they are charged and tried.

They are entitled to due process and equal treatment under the law; they are not entitled to equal laws.

[nealmhughes]

11. POWs are under the Geneva Convention, which like the Constitution

is the Supreme Law of the Land. Non-citizens may be deported, basicly at will, after a perfunctionary "due process" hearing. But were a non-citizen be charged with a crime, he or she would have every right a citizen has. If convicted of a felony, they would probably be deported if the gravity of the crime were relatively light, and held in prison then deported afterwards...unless they were a Cuban as we well know!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

14. What about the treatment of insurgents?

Do they fall under the Geneva Convention?

[TreasonousBastard]

12. A few Supreme Court decisions have held that...

non-citizens don't have the same rights as citizens, particularly when we find them outside of US territory. And the enemy combatants thing is a real mess, but the Supremes still seem to be letting it happen, with the Germans held in WWII as precedent.

Can't be more exact than that without looking stuff up or checking with a real lawyer, but the Scalia court does seem to think Constitutional protections are not universal principles and don't apply to everyone.

And, it's five justices on the Court who decide these things, not how we might read the Constitution.

[BooScout]

15. Generally non-residents are protected.....

....by the same rights as citizens. The BCIS would have you beleive otherwise though as would most Repukes.