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I understand the basis for the charges: Assange supposedly committed a crime against the US and so we claim jurisdiction, but does he have Constitutional rights

I understand the basis for the charges: Assange supposedly committed a crime against the US and so we claim jurisdiction, but does he have Constitutional rights, not just the ones extending from treaties and agreements?

MBCook 8y ago
I believe ANYONE facing a US court gets US constitutional rights. Otherwise we could run roughshod over any foreigners we wanted. (Yeah yeah, extraordinary rendition, etc. I know.)
- krapp 8y ago
  >Otherwise we could run roughshod over any foreigners we wanted. That's the justification for (and purpose of) Guantanamo Bay, that the US can get around respecting (foreign and domestic) prisoners' Constitutional rights and obeying laws against indefinite detainment without trial and torture because it's not "technically" American, but Cuban.
  - jcranmer 8y ago
    That was what the Bush administration tried to do, but they were unsuccessful. The Supreme Court ruled that it was still unconstitutional, and the prisoners had the same rights under the US Constitution.
    - JetSpiegel 8y ago
      And yet they are still there...
- chasd00 8y ago
  i think that's important but how exactly is that specified? Does the US Constitution to apply to anyone on US soil?
  - roywiggins 8y ago
    In the 50 states + DC + incorporated territories, the entire US Constitution applies to everyone. There are unincorporated territories, where things are a bit fuzzier. Certain rights apply differently depending on what citizenship you hold. You can be held and deported if you're not a citizen; you have more due process if you have a green card than if you are on a tourist visa. But all of those gradations of rights are in the context of the Constitution.
maxlybbert 8y ago
If an Australian tourist visits the US, they can be arrested as part of a police investigation the same way an American can be, and they have Constitutional rights such the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. I’m assuming you’re asking about whether Assange can claim the law violates the guarantees of free speech and a free press. I’m sure his attorneys will make that argument. I’m also sure that the court will rule against him. If an American gave Manning advice on how to crack another user’s password on a classified military system, they wouldn’t get very far claiming “free speech” or “free press.” Personally, I don’t see any reason that Assange should feel any loyalty to the US, so there is a difference between an American helping an American military intelligence analyst crack computer security and an Australian doing so. On the other hand, if an old friend contacted me and said “I’m in the Ecuadorian military and I need help cracking into a classified computer,” I would assume that my helping them would violate Ecuadorian law.

MBCook 8y ago

I believe ANYONE facing a US court gets US constitutional rights. Otherwise we could run roughshod over any foreigners we wanted. (Yeah yeah, extraordinary rendition, etc. I know.)

krapp 8y ago
>Otherwise we could run roughshod over any foreigners we wanted. That's the justification for (and purpose of) Guantanamo Bay, that the US can get around respecting (foreign and domestic) prisoners' Constitutional rights and obeying laws against indefinite detainment without trial and torture because it's not "technically" American, but Cuban.
- jcranmer 8y ago
  That was what the Bush administration tried to do, but they were unsuccessful. The Supreme Court ruled that it was still unconstitutional, and the prisoners had the same rights under the US Constitution.
  - JetSpiegel 8y ago
    And yet they are still there...
chasd00 8y ago
i think that's important but how exactly is that specified? Does the US Constitution to apply to anyone on US soil?
- roywiggins 8y ago
  In the 50 states + DC + incorporated territories, the entire US Constitution applies to everyone. There are unincorporated territories, where things are a bit fuzzier. Certain rights apply differently depending on what citizenship you hold. You can be held and deported if you're not a citizen; you have more due process if you have a green card than if you are on a tourist visa. But all of those gradations of rights are in the context of the Constitution.

maxlybbert 8y ago

If an Australian tourist visits the US, they can be arrested as part of a police investigation the same way an American can be, and they have Constitutional rights such the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. I’m assuming you’re asking about whether Assange can claim the law violates the guarantees of free speech and a free press. I’m sure his attorneys will make that argument. I’m also sure that the court will rule against him. If an American gave Manning advice on how to crack another user’s password on a classified military system, they wouldn’t get very far claiming “free speech” or “free press.” Personally, I don’t see any reason that Assange should feel any loyalty to the US, so there is a difference between an American helping an American military intelligence analyst crack computer security and an Australian doing so. On the other hand, if an old friend contacted me and said “I’m in the Ecuadorian military and I need help cracking into a classified computer,” I would assume that my helping them would violate Ecuadorian law.