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- Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!malgudi.oar.net!uoft02.utoledo.edu!dcrosgr
- From: dcrosgr@uoft02.utoledo.edu
- Newsgroups: rec.games.chess
- Subject: Re: Pardon Fischer?
- Message-ID: <1992Dec30.175844.742@uoft02.utoledo.edu>
- Date: 30 Dec 92 17:58:44 EST
- References: <1992Dec22.011249.594@uoft02.utoledo.edu> <CUBAN.92Dec30154736@m4-035-12.mit.edu>
- Organization: University of Toledo, Computer Services
- Lines: 87
-
- In article <CUBAN.92Dec30154736@m4-035-12.mit.edu>, cuban@athena.mit.edu (Federico A Garcia) writes:
- >
- > I don't really want to get into this flame war (though, for the
- > record, I think Fischer should be prosecuted and jailed if he ever
- > returns to the U.S.), but I can't help pointing one thing out in the
- > middle of this constitutional debate. I assumed Fischer used a U.S.
- > passport issued by the State Department when he travelled. If he did,
- > then he agreed to abide by the regulations imposed by the State
- > Department on U.S. passports. How many of the participants in this
- > debate actually have a U.S. passport? I do. If you have one, read it
- > carefully. It clearly states that it is a crime to conduct business
- > or make purchases in various countries (my passport, issued in 1989,
- > specifically mentions Cuba, Libya and North Korea), that similar rules
- > may apply to other countries, and that you should check with the State
- > Department about this before travelling abroad.
-
- No need to worry about a flame war. This was a rational post. But, if Fischer
- never presented his passport in Yugoland, then technically he never used it
- there.
-
- Oh I can see it now. The prosecution attempting to prove that Bobby Fisher used
- his passport while in Yugoland. What a hoot! Then, the defense proving that he
- did use it, but not in connection with the match itself...
-
- >
- > Now, Fischer received a letter from the Commerce Department
- > specifically telling him that his actions were considered business
- > (and don't bring up the comparisons to corporations, remember,
- > corporations are essentially considered the same as individuals for
- > purposes of commerce, and this is a centuries old legal tradition, not
- > the whims of President Bush).
-
- Flat out wrong. There are a slew of Constitutional, Evidenciary, and Tax cases
- which contradict this claim. Corporations have NO right to privacy, no right to
- free speech, and no right against self-incrimination. Further, the corporation
- is ALWAYS located in the state is incoporated in, even if no officers,
- property, or other assets are there. (It may also be in other states, but that
- is another matter.) Further, for contract or tort reasons, the corporation may
- be abolished so that plaintiffs may attack the individuals behind it.
-
-
- Also, I have not heard anyone suggest
- > yet that there is anything illegal about a presidential decree. It
- > has been used thousands of times by all of our 40 presidents for 200
- > years, and are not the whims of just any one person, but of the duly
- > elected representative of the people exercising a power which, whether
- > you like it or not, he legally has
-
- Yes, but you are equating past legitimacy in various decrees with legitimacy in
- this decree. Remember, while most presidential decrees are in fact valid, there
- have been ones that have been struck down by either the Congress or the Supreme
- Court.
-
- EACH decree must stand on its own.
-
- (I also happen to believe that it
- > was the proper decision and one which was carefully thought out, but
- > this is a matter of opinion and there's no point in debating this to
- > death). Thus, Fischer did break a law and deserves the just
- > punishment if he ever returns to a place where the U.S. has
- > jurisdiction to arrest him or extradite him.
-
- IF the decree was lawful, then Fischer did break a law.
-
- >
- > Just out of curiosity, how many of those who are calling for Fischer
- > to be pardoned think Bush did the right thing in pardoning the
- > Iran-Contra defenders last week? After all, you can argue that they
- > broke a law which was the political whim (remember, the Boland
- > amendment only passed and was signed by Reagan since it was one of
- > those clauses added to, of all things, a budget bill, which would
- > paralyze the government if the President vetoed it) of one left-wing
- > Congressman trying to interfere with Reagan's foreign policy, that
- > they were acting out of love of country, and that the transactions all
- > actually occured in a foreign country. Personally, I think that they
- > deserved whatever punishment was appropriate for breaking the law, and
- > so does Fischer.
-
- Yeah, but the law, as dictated by the powers granted to the President by
- Congess, state that their punishment shall be no punishment as they have been
- pardoned.
-
- Do I like it? It doesn't matter. That's the way it is.
-
- >
- > -Fred Garcia
- > M.I.T.
-