15 July, 2008

The Candidates and the Third Amendment

This is the third post in an ongoing series regarding the major Presidential candidates and their views on civil liberties.

This post is about Senator John McCain's (R-AZ) and Senator Barack Obama's (D-IL) views pertaining to the Third Amendment of the Bill of Rights. We had fun with the first two, because everyone "knows" those amendments by heart. Few Americans remember much from their high school civics classes past the Second Amendment, though.

For reference, here's the text of the Third Amendment:

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Ok, this post is going to be short. Some people claim that the third amendment establishes a right to privacy, but that ground seems more stable under the Fourth Amendment, so we'll talk about that there.

I can find nothing in any of Barack Obama's speeches or writings that leads me to believe that he has any plans that endanger your Third Amendment rights.

I can find nothing in any of John McCain's speeches or writings that leads me to believe that he has any plans that endanger your Third Amendment rights.

According to an article in The Onion from October 2007, the National Anti-Quartering Association says "every politician elected since 1866 has fully supported Third Amendment rights."

Obama: A+

McCain: A+

Third Amendment: No advantage

UPDATE: Grades lowered per this post.

Results so far:

Obama McCain
First Amendment* F
D-
Second Amendment D- C-
Third Amendment B B

* Obama's First Amendment grade lowered as documented in this post.


UPDATE: Obama's First Amendment grade lowered to F as documented in this post.

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