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Originally Posted by Clodfobble
(Post 332362)
I think duck duck's original point was that of course detaining is technically against the law, but that's okay because we've always ignored the law, e.g. the Japanese in WWII.
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Maaaaaaaybe. Let's try that one out a little.
My WHOLE point is that arbitrarily locking up people, on suspicion of the potential for some future crime, whether it was during the WWII era or the GWOT era, is wrong. It's wrong to do it and the only thing that rights the ship of state from that perilous course is exactly the rule of law.
The concept that we are a nation of laws; that the laws are supreme, not some particular skin color or nation of birth, or any other arbitrary circumstance.
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under the rule "of" law, no one is above the law, not even the government. The core of "rule of law" is an autonomous legal order. Under rule of law, the authority of law does not depend so much on law's instrumental capabilities, but on its degree of autonomy, that is, the degree to which law is distinct and separate from other normative structures such as politics and religion. As an autonomous legal order, rule of law has at least three meanings. First, rule of law is a regulator of government power. Second, rule of law means equality before law. Third, rule of law means procedural and formal justice
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It is this "longstanding respect for the rule of law" that I speak of. Without it, where could corrections come from, like this:
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On September 27, 1992, the Amendment of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, appropriating an additional $400 million in order to ensure that all remaining internees received their $20,000 redress payments, was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, who also issued another formal apology from the U.S. government.
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The internment of the Japanese during WWII was legal. It was made so by Executive Order. The actions you suggest also are legal, covered by the PATRIOT Act. Years later, it has been decided that the internment was wrong. It will probably take years for the same conclusion to be reached about the actions justified by the PATRIOT Act. But you're hearing it from me, and a growing number of citizens, early.
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