The Bill of Rights on This Day in History

 

This day in history: The United States Bill of Rights was sent to the various States for ratification on this day in 1789. James Madison drafted the Bill of Rights, which is, the first ten amendments to the Constitution—as a means of protecting the people against government tyranny.

Has it worked?

"In America today, the government does whatever it wants, freedom be damned.

We can pretend that the Constitution, which was written to hold the government accountable, is still our governing document, but the reality of life in the American police state tells a different story.

'We the people' have been terrorized, traumatized, and tricked into a semi-permanent state of compliance by a government that cares nothing for our lives or our liberties...A recitation of the Bill of Rights—set against a backdrop of government surveillance, militarized police, SWAT team raids, asset forfeiture, eminent domain, overcriminalization, armed surveillance drones, whole body scanners, stop and frisk searches (all sanctioned by Congress, the White House, the courts and the like)—would understandably sound more like a eulogy to freedoms lost than an affirmation of rights we truly possess." Source

"But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it." Lysander Spooner

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Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: American President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus on this day (April 27) in 1861, which, in effect, made him a dictator. 

"What are habeas corpus rights?  According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 'Habeas corpus is a fundamental right in the Constitution that protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. Translated from Latin it means ‘show me the body.’ Habeas corpus has historically been an important instrument to safeguard individual freedom against arbitrary executive power.'  A citizen must be charged and cannot be held indefinitely.  A charge requires a trial, and if found guilty in a trial, there is a sentence for a specific amount of time." Source

Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus "had been so broad as to allow local authorities to arbitrarily arrest anyone they personally considered to be disloyal or whose politics they simply disliked. Some of those arrested had done nothing more than criticize Lincoln. Union General Henry Halleck famously arrested a Missouri man merely for saying, '[I] wouldn’t wipe my @$$ with the stars and stripes.' Estimates of those arrested range widely, but overall 10,000 to 15,000 were probably imprisoned and denied a prompt trial." Source

"This wasn’t the first time the government in Washington had trampled the Bill of Rights. No less than the administration of John Adams, an American founding patriot, briefly shut down newspapers and dissenting opinion with its Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798." Source

The same thing is happening today with the handling of the cases of the defendants in the January 6 so-called “insurrection” in Washington DC to protest the Presidential election. "Those being held for many months without a trial are being denied their habeas corpus rights under the U.S. Constitution and even dating back to English law hundreds of years before our Constitution was implemented.  They are not only being incarcerated without having had a trial, but there is some evidence that they are being mistreated or are being held 23 hours a day in solitary confinement which is a punishment accorded only the most dangerous criminals." Source

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