55
votes
Does someone in the U.S. illegally have the same rights in court as a U.S. citizen?
Everyone physically present in the US is protected by the US Federal constitution. (In some cases persons not physically in the US also have protection from the US constitution. When that applies is ...
- 115k
23
votes
Does someone in the U.S. illegally have the same rights in court as a U.S. citizen?
So right now in my home state of Iowa, an undocumented immigrant is on
trial for murder charges. Apparently he wasn't read his rights when he
was being investigated.
Whether that is true or not, does ...
- 240k
14
votes
Constitutionality of more restrictive bans on assembly
There is a potentially infinite regress of questions regarding the constitutionality of restrictions imposed under these "emergency" circumstances. The basic legal principle is clearly established: ...
- 217k
9
votes
Why no right to a jury trial in Espionage Act trials?
There is no exception arising from the Espionage Act, indeed in Gorin v. US, 312 U.S. 19, one of the holdings is that "In a prosecution under §§ 1(b) and 2 of the Espionage Act, the jury ...
- 217k
9
votes
Do corporations have any constitutional rights?
In Grosjean v. American Press Co., 297 U.S. 233, SCOTUS held that
A corporation is a "person" within the meaning of the due process and
equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment
...
- 217k
6
votes
Lawyer-approved statement to say to the police to unequivocally retain all rights
It does matter if you invoke your right to silence. First, if you do, that affects what police can do (they have to stop interrogating you). Second, it plays a role in "adoptive admissions". ...
- 217k
6
votes
Accepted
Bill of Rights protection against mandatory vaccination?
It probably does, up to a point. Roe v. Wade asserts a right to privacy, discussed in §VIII. Granting that there is no explicit enumeration of a right to privacy in the Constitution, its implicit ...
- 217k
6
votes
Accepted
Do rights come with responsibilities?
In the US, rights are independent of "responsibilities". But, responsibilities is a very broad concept: some aspects of responsibility are encoded in law, others are not. You have an absolute legal ...
- 217k
6
votes
Do corporations have any constitutional rights?
A corporation's first-amendment right to free speech has been a critical factor in several high-profile cases, including New York Times v. Sullivan and Citizens United v. FEC.
Corporations have also ...
- 40.1k
5
votes
Does someone in the U.S. illegally have the same rights in court as a U.S. citizen?
For the most part, yes, and the other answers already elaborate on that better than I can.
I'll broaden the answer to your question from just the Miranda rights to other aspects of crime and ...
- 249
5
votes
Accepted
Secret Warrants
There is no general means for a person to determine that he is of has been the target of a surveillance warrant request. You can read details of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Even apart ...
- 217k
4
votes
Lawyer-approved statement to say to the police to unequivocally retain all rights
You do not waive your rights, but you may chose not to exercise them. Those are different concepts.
If you speak, you do not "waive" your right to remain silent. At any moment, you may ...
- 6,398
4
votes
Lawyer-approved statement to say to the police to unequivocally retain all rights
All of your proposed language is fine, but the more important thing is to say, "I want a lawyer." If the police have any follow-up questions, say, "I want a lawyer." If they ask if ...
- 61.8k
4
votes
Legality of IRS requiring taxpayers to swear to statements
The IRS requires taxpayers to swear under "penalties of perjury" to
their statements and figures given concerning their income. Since
obviously this constitutes a potential incrimination
...
- 240k
3
votes
Lawyer-approved statement to say to the police to unequivocally retain all rights
Your statement is unnecessarily elaborate. You just need to invoke your right to remain silent and talk to a lawyer. Retaining your rights against searches is simply a matter of not consenting to ...
- 10.3k
3
votes
Is cruel and usual punishment constitutional?
As a preliminary note, the mandate that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” can be interpreted two ways, (a) prohibiting ...
- 217k
2
votes
Lawyer-approved statement to say to the police to unequivocally retain all rights
Get a business sized card, which says "My name is ______. I demand a lawyer to be present during all questioning. I do not consent to any searches." Hand it to any cop who detains you. Have ...
- 639
2
votes
How are sanctions on individuals consistent with the 5th Amendment?
When the power of Congress to exercise its quasi-war powers conflicts with the 5th Amendment takings clause right, and you are an "enemy" in a technical legal sense of the United States as ...
- 240k
1
vote
Legality of IRS requiring taxpayers to swear to statements
The underlying principle is that the Fifth Amendment does not protect you from being required to testify as a witness in general, even if some or all of the questions could be about incriminating ...
- 31.1k
1
vote
Does encoding constitutional rights in state law have any effect?
If they are word-for-word the same, no
However, if they are different, courts will treat them as different and try to give effect to that difference. The general attitude of courts is that if the ...
- 227k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible