““Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.””
     — Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

Tags: Henry David Thoreau ∙ citizen ∙ conscience ∙ legislator ∙ respect for law ∙ obligations

❝❝I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on the internet. As nearly as I can tell from a fast scan, Federal case law says that states are responsible for setting voter qualifications within certain limits. Apparently you can't restrict someone from voting for something like not paying poll taxes, or by requiring them to pass a literacy test.

I'm pretty sure it can't be done by a city, but it looks like it may be possible for a state to create voters.

Gods, that's a huge loophole. It may well be legal to be a voter without being a citizen.

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There's a small problem. I've looked over the Constitution, paying special attention to the 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendment.

It looks to me that Congress (and therefore the Federal government) has no power to deny people the power to vote, citizen or not. Congress only has limited powers to prevent the States from denying people the vote.

Which means that most Federal election law is illegal. And the loophole remains. If a state permits non-citizens to vote even it's a Federal election, there's nothing the Congress or the Federal government can do.❞❞

Tags: voter ∙ citizen ∙ FedGovs ∙ states ∙ Congress ∙ Constitution ∙ Federal election law ∙ election

““All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected but in every place in this country, are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public services they use impose burdens on our taxpayers.””
     — President Bill Clinton, State of the Union address, 1995
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?

Tags: Bill Clinton ∙ 1995 ∙ President ∙ illegal immigrants ∙ jobs ∙ legal immigrants ∙ citizen ∙ public services ∙ taxpayers ∙ Investors Business Daily

““If you break our laws by entering this country without permission and give birth to a child, we reward that child with U.S. citizenship and guarantee full access to all public and social services this society provides — and that's a lot of services. Is it any wonder that two-thirds of babies born at taxpayer expense (in) county-run hospitals in Los Angeles are born to illegal alien mothers?””
     — Senator Harry Reid, Senate floor, 1993
Source : Take The 'Racist Xenophobe' Quiz: Who Said This About Illegal Immigration?

Tags: Harry Reid ∙ 1993 ∙ Senator ∙ Senate ∙ illegal immigrants ∙ child ∙ citizen ∙ public services ∙ Los Angeles ∙ alien mothers ∙ Investors Business Daily

We can argue whether the law is morally right or not.

Tags: H.L. Mencken ∙ 1922 ∙ Bill of Rights ∙ Founders ∙ citizen ∙ America ∙ guest content