Campaign Statements — Civil Liberties

Thursday September 06, 2012

“Drones are one tool that we use, and our criteria for using them is very tight and very strict”

“Drones are one tool that we use, and our criteria for using them is very tight and very strict: It has to be a target that is authorised by our laws; it has to be a threat that is serious and not speculative; it has to be a situation in which we can’t capture the individual before they move forward on some sort of operational plot against the United States; we’ve got to make sure that in whatever operations we conduct, we are very careful about avoiding civilian casualties; and that while there is a legal justification for us to try and stop [American citizens] from carrying out plots … they are subject to the protections of the Constitution and due process.”

CATEGORIES: Barack Obama | Civil Liberties |

Friday May 25, 2012

DNC Chair: “Romney literally has the most extreme policy on immigration.”

“We have a choice of Mitt Romney who literally has the most extreme policy on immigration of any presidential candidate in history and Barack Obama who is strongly supportive and has pushed for comprehensive immigration reform against the candidate who totally opposes it. Mitt Romney’s solution is to make sure that we just deport them all.

…What he has said is that his policy would be that we should just create an environment in which the 12 million undocumented immigrants that are here would just self-deport. It’s an unrealistic expectation. It’s an inhumane expectation. Mitt Romney’s policy is to embrace fully the Arizona-style immigration law that would actually let police round up people who are doing nothing more than driving down the street and asking them for their papers and then deporting — putting them into immigration, reporting them to immigration based on simply existing.

Mitt Romney wants to fight to kick undocumented immigrants out of this country.”

- Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)

CATEGORIES: Barack Obama | Civil Liberties | Immigration |

Thursday January 26, 2012

“No other country in world has its rights based in God-given rights.”

“The Constitution is there to do one thing: protect God-given rights. That’s what makes America different than every other country in the world. No other country in the world has its rights—rights based in God-given rights, not government-given rights.

And so when you say, well, faith has nothing to do with it, faith has everything to do with it. If our president believes that rights come to us from the state, everything government gives you, it can take away. The role of the government is to protect rights that cannot be taken away.

And so the answer to that question is, I believe in faith and reason and approaching the problems of this country but understand where those rights come from, who we are as Americans and the foundational principles by which we have changed the world.”

CATEGORIES: Civil Liberties | Rick Santorum |

Thursday January 26, 2012

“There has been an increasingly aggressive war against…Christianity in this country.”

“But I would say, third, one of the reasons I am running is there has been an increasingly aggressive war against religion and in particular against Christianity in this country, largely by a secular elite and the academic news media and judicial areas. And I frankly believe it’s important to have some leadership that stands up and says, enough; we are truly guaranteed the right of religious freedom, not religious suppression by the state. ”

CATEGORIES: Civil Liberties | Newt Gingrich |

Monday January 23, 2012

“[If] you are prepared to join the American military, you can…earn the right to citizenship.”

“I would work to get a signable version [of the DREAM Act] which would be the military component. I think any young person living in the United States who happened to have been brought here by their parents when they were young should have the same opportunity to join the American military and earn citizenship which they would have had from back home.

We have a clear provision that if you live in a foreign country, and you are prepared to join the American military, you can, in fact, earn the right to citizenship by serving the United States and taking real risk on behalf of the United States. That part of the DREAM Act I would support. I would not support the part that simply says everybody who goes to college is automatically waived for having broken the law.”

CATEGORIES: Civil Liberties | Immigration | Newt Gingrich |

Monday January 16, 2012

“Don’t give up on our American judicial system so easily, I beg of you.”

“I think we are going in the wrong direction for the protection of our liberties here at home. They are under deep threat. The PATRIOT Act has eliminated the fourth amendment. We now have a policy of preemptive war, you don’t have to declare war and you don’t even have to have an enemy. We can start the wars, that’s what preemptive war is all about.

Now with the military appropriations defense act, this is major. This says that the military can arrest an American citizen for under suspicion, and he can be held indefinitely, without habeas corpus, and be denied a lawyer indefinitely even in a prison here.

Let me give you one statistic. You’re worrying about all these—all these—where we’re going to try people, where are they going to do it, we have to do it secretly, because our rule of law is so flawed. We have arrested 362 people related to Al Qaeda-type operation; 260 of them are in prison. They’ve been tried and convicted. So don’t give up on our American judicial system so easily, I beg of you.”

CATEGORIES: Civil Liberties | Ron Paul | War on Terror |

Monday January 16, 2012

“If you are a citizen and…being held indefinitely…you have the right to go to a federal court.”

“First off, I would say this, what the law should be and what the law has been is that if you are a United States citizen and you are detained as an enemy combatant, then you have the right to go to federal court and file a habeas corpus position and be provided a lawyer. That was the state of the law before the National Defense Authorization Act and that should be the state of the law today.

If you are not an American citizen, that’s one thing. But if you are a citizen and you are being held indefinitely, then you have the right to go to a federal court—and again, the law prior to the National Defense Authorization Act was that you had the right to go to a court, and for that court to determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether you could continue to be held. That is a standard that should be maintained and I would maintain that standard as president.”

CATEGORIES: Civil Liberties | Rick Santorum | War on Terror |

Monday January 16, 2012

“I would veto the DREAM Act.”

“I have indicated I would veto the DREAM Act if provisions included in that act to say that people who are here illegally, if they go to school here long enough, get a degree here that they can become permanent residents.I think that’s a mistake. I think we have to follow the law and insist those who come here illegally, ultimately return home, apply, and get in line with everyone else.

Look, I want people to know I love legal immigration. Almost all of us in this room are descendants of immigrants or are immigrants ourselves. Our nation is stronger and more vibrant by virtue of a strong legal immigration system.But to protect our legal immigration system we have got to protect our borders and stop the flood of illegal immigration and I will not do anything that opens up another wave of illegal immigration.”

CATEGORIES: Civil Liberties | Immigration | Mitt Romney |

Saturday January 07, 2012

“I don’t necessarily agree that the Patriot Act violates [the 4th Amendment].”

“Well, Congressman Paul is talking about privacy rights under the Fourth Amendment, which I agree with him in, I don’t necessarily agree that the Patriot Act violates that.”

CATEGORIES: Civil Liberties | Rick Santorum |