Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Why can't they take it to court claiming it was a violation of our Fifth Amendment? And if they can't, what's the key -- where the boats are, or where the owners are?
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I am pretty sure a Russian in international waters has no fifth amendment protections.
Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
What you're saying it tautological. What's the principle? Our government exists within the framework of the Constitution. Why should the Constitution cease to apply when government actors do things outside our borders?
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Because it is out of the jurisdiction. Our laws only apply in the US and our rights only apply in the US. The US government can give evidence to be used in foreign prosecutions that is not allowable in the United States. If a gun is illegally seized by US authorities and can't be used as evidence in the US, the US government can still turn it over to other authorities to use in their prosecutions.
Another example of this is the United States and some other ridiculous country like Botswana are the only two nations that tax their citizens and their residents even if they don't live in the US. If you are a British national, you don't have to pay British income tax if you live in Japan. However, when I lived in Japan, Britain, France etc. I had to pay US income tax. I was at a meeting at the US embassy in Tokyo were all the new expats were bitching about this.
Everyone asked "what if I don't pay". They answered, first you would be stripped of your citizenship. Then the embassy official also listed all the other things the government could do, like strip you off all your possesions when you try and reentered the US. Seize your assets in the US etc. They could do all this because you had no rights under the US constitution while you were overseas. The only way to fight these actions would be to return to the US and fight it. You could not just send a lawyer to represent you and stay in the foreign country, because as long as you were not in the jurisdiction of the US, you could not avail yourself of your rights an the IRS could run amock. You had to physically be in the US for your lawyer to be able to fight what the IRS was doing to you.
In addition, if you did your tax return and the IRS decided you owed more money there was nothing you could do about it unless you returned to the US. They didn't have to give you a hearing at the US embassy or anything. The only way to contest it is if you physically went to the US to contest it.
