2007-07-19

Well, there goes the Fifth Amendment...

The Bush Administration has unveiled an Executive Order Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq. The Guardian has a summary of sorts.

Basically, the Executive Order gives the Secretary of Treasury the authority to block the assets of people determined to "seriously impair my [President George W. Bush] ability to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315".

The Fifth Amendment, among other things, protects individuals from being "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation".

If it is determined that an individual has come in the way of George W. Bush's ability to deal with the national emergency which we are apparently in, that individual would be blocked from his/her assets. In effect, they are deprived of their property WITHOUT due process. A direct violation of the Fifth Amendment.)

Now, I am in no way wanting truly dangerous individuals to have access to those things which allow them to continue their activity, however I feel very strongly that due process of law should prove their endangerment of society.

I'm not normally a publicly political individual (people are just too zealous about many things these days), but I hope that many of my readers will realize the seriousness of what has come into effect with this Executive Order and spread the awareness to others.

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