I mainly base it on Romney's statements about the kinds of Judges he would appoint, and what those Judges have had to say about key issues like sovereign immunity, qualified immunity, and the 11th Amendment.
Secondly, Romney has spouted plenty of glittering generalities about the Constitution, but seems confused about the idea that laws and bills of rights place limitations on the rights of the executive when the chips are down:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNu-8zMubZI
ROMNEY: "But our focus has to be on preventing an attack, and preventing attack means good intelligence work. It means if people are coming to this country terrorizing or talking about terror in such a way that it could lead to the violent death of Americans, we need to know about that, track them, follow them, and make sure that in every way we can we know what they’re doing and where they’re doing it.
And if it means we have to go into a mosque to wiretap or a church, then that’s exactly where we’re going to go because we’re going to do whatever it takes to proect the American people. And I hear from time to time people say, hey, wait a second, we have civil liberties we have to worry about. But don’t forget the most important civil liberty I expect from my government is my right to be kept alive, and that’s what we’re going to have to do." September 5, 2007: GOP Presidential Debate, Whittemore Center,
University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire
2. ROMNEY: ". . . And for those that understand the difference between the two, they recognize that we need tools when war is waged domestically to ensure that, as president of the United States, you can fulfill your first responsibility, which is to protect the life, liberty and property of American citizens and defend them from foes domestic and foreign.
And that means, yes, we'll use the Constitution and criminal law for those people who commit crimes, but those who commit war and attack the United States and pursue treason of various kinds, we will use instead a very different form of law, which is the law afforded to those who are fighting America."
3. Q: Does the president have inherent powers under the Constitution to conduct surveillance for national security purposes without judicial warrants, regardless of federal statutes?
A: Intelligence and surveillance have proven to be some of the most effective national security tools we have to protect our nation. Our most basic civil liberty is the right to be kept alive and the President should not hesitate to use every legal tool at his disposal to keep America safe.
Source: Boston Globe questionnaire on Executive Power , Dec 20, 2007
Do you think this sort of guy is likely to let you keep your guns when the chips are down?
Do you think he is as likely to appoint judges who will let you sue if the cops take them away from you?
