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He’s not a U.S. citizen: > As part of the Constitution, the First Amendment stands as the supreme law of the land. First amendment doesn’t apply, because the

He’s not a U.S. citizen: > As part of the Constitution, the First Amendment stands as the supreme law of the land. First amendment doesn’t apply, because the U.S. doesn’t apply the bill of rights to non-citizens. The “crime” also wasn’t committed on U.S. soil.

jedberg 7y ago
> First amendment doesn’t apply, because the U.S. doesn’t apply the bill of rights to non-citizens. That's absolutely not true. Precedent has been set multiple times granting constitutional protections to anyone on US soil, no matter how they got here. So sure, he isn't protected now, because he's not here, but the moment he lands on US soil he's protected by the first amendment. There is no way they would charge him if they didn't think it could stand up under the first amendment.
- eropple 7y ago
  I am not a lawyer, and I'd love to hear from somebody who's a con law lawyer, but I'm not certain that the First Amendment is retroactive to activities that did not happen on American soil--and, going forward, it's completely within the government's power to get a gag order as pertains to an ongoing case.
- viivaux 7y ago
  > There is no way they would charge him if they didn't think it could stand up under the first amendment. Your comment reminds me of this one from 2012, spoken with utter confidence at the time: > Your comment again puts forward the idea that the political forces aligned against Assange are so great that no amount of critical thinking, due process, or countervailing concern for the rights of victims can apply: it is, to use your word, "obvious" that the case isn't about "rape", but about an undocumented (and undisclosed) but nevertheless clear and immediate effort to haul Assange to the US and try him with espionage. No court in Europe seems to view the situation that way. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4407950 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4407950
- pps43 7y ago
  > Precedent has been set multiple times granting constitutional protections to anyone on US soil, no matter how they got here I doubt illegal aliens have 2nd Amendment rights on US soil.
free652 7y ago
Bill of rights covers anyone in USA.
- lettergram 7y ago
  Note the word “in”. Assange wasn’t and isn’t in the U.S.
  - 8ytecoder 7y ago
    There was a ruling in a different case yesterday that 1A applies even when the person charged is not in the US - under specific circumstances. https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2019/05/reddit-commenters-fight-anonynmity-win-free-speech-and-fair-use https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2019/05/reddit-commenters-f...
  - free652 7y ago
    Bill of rights doesn't apply to US citizens outside of US as well.
- Simon_says 7y ago
  The Bill of Rights covers the US Government.
itake 7y ago
I actually googled this because I had the same thought. According to this source [0], the bill of rights says "People" not "Citizens" so he would have the same protections. [0] - https://www.maniatislawoffice.com/blog/2018/08/do-non-citizens-have-constitutional-rights.shtml https://www.maniatislawoffice.com/blog/2018/08/do-non-citize...
- pps43 7y ago
  Second Amendment says "the right of the people", not "the right of the citizens", but I doubt Assange would be able to buy a gun in the US, even before all this.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

jedberg 7y ago

> First amendment doesn’t apply, because the U.S. doesn’t apply the bill of rights to non-citizens. That's absolutely not true. Precedent has been set multiple times granting constitutional protections to anyone on US soil, no matter how they got here. So sure, he isn't protected now, because he's not here, but the moment he lands on US soil he's protected by the first amendment. There is no way they would charge him if they didn't think it could stand up under the first amendment.

eropple 7y ago
I am not a lawyer, and I'd love to hear from somebody who's a con law lawyer, but I'm not certain that the First Amendment is retroactive to activities that did not happen on American soil--and, going forward, it's completely within the government's power to get a gag order as pertains to an ongoing case.
viivaux 7y ago
> There is no way they would charge him if they didn't think it could stand up under the first amendment. Your comment reminds me of this one from 2012, spoken with utter confidence at the time: > Your comment again puts forward the idea that the political forces aligned against Assange are so great that no amount of critical thinking, due process, or countervailing concern for the rights of victims can apply: it is, to use your word, "obvious" that the case isn't about "rape", but about an undocumented (and undisclosed) but nevertheless clear and immediate effort to haul Assange to the US and try him with espionage. No court in Europe seems to view the situation that way. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4407950 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4407950
pps43 7y ago
> Precedent has been set multiple times granting constitutional protections to anyone on US soil, no matter how they got here I doubt illegal aliens have 2nd Amendment rights on US soil.

free652 7y ago

Bill of rights covers anyone in USA.

lettergram 7y ago
Note the word “in”. Assange wasn’t and isn’t in the U.S.
- 8ytecoder 7y ago
  There was a ruling in a different case yesterday that 1A applies even when the person charged is not in the US - under specific circumstances. https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2019/05/reddit-commenters-fight-anonynmity-win-free-speech-and-fair-use https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2019/05/reddit-commenters-f...
- free652 7y ago
  Bill of rights doesn't apply to US citizens outside of US as well.
Simon_says 7y ago
The Bill of Rights covers the US Government.

itake 7y ago

I actually googled this because I had the same thought. According to this source [0], the bill of rights says "People" not "Citizens" so he would have the same protections. [0] - https://www.maniatislawoffice.com/blog/2018/08/do-non-citizens-have-constitutional-rights.shtml https://www.maniatislawoffice.com/blog/2018/08/do-non-citize...

pps43 7y ago
Second Amendment says "the right of the people", not "the right of the citizens", but I doubt Assange would be able to buy a gun in the US, even before all this.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]