couldnt they re direct that pay to the family of his most needy victim?
>couldnt they re direct that pay to the family of his most needy victim?
I don’t think so.
The Constitution’s Bill of Rights is surprisingly property-rights focused: over 60% of the 10 Amendments involve them. The fifth prohibits it because it would violate this portion: “nor be deprived of life, liberty, **or property, without due process of law**”
While I see what you’re getting at I believe it is more hurtful to try to circumvent the Constitution in the manner you suggest than you may realize. We have an obscene number of laws —and even more rules and regulations— which circumvent the Constitution, at *all* levels of governance. In my home state of New Mexico, for example, the State Constitution forbids laws abridging “the right of the Citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense;” furthermore it constrains Counties and Municipalities from “regulating, **in any way**, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.”
Yet, if you go to any County or City Courthouse you’ll see a “No Weapons” sign; when you inquire into the matter you get one of two answers 1) there is *NO* state law regarding weapons in the courtroom, or [the one offered by the security-guys] 2)”It’s the judge’s decision.” And so we have a clear example of a situation where the government is exceeding its legitimate authority... sadly this is NOT uncommon; but it’s even worse where there are Statutes or Ordinances which clearly violate the Constitution which are prosecuted anyway. (Like NMSA 30-7-2.4, which for all practical purposes makes it a crime for someone living on-campus to keep or bear firearms.)
US Constitution, Amd 5 —> http://www.conwaygreene.com/nmsu/lpext.dll?f=FifLink&t=document-frame.htm&l=query&iid=1ce95e25.7bd11288.0.0&q=%5BGroup%20%27usc%20amendv%27%5D
New Mexico State Constitution, Art II, Sec 6 —> http://www.conwaygreene.com/nmsu/lpext.dll?f=FifLink&t=document-frame.htm&l=query&iid=1ce95e25.7bd11288.0.0&q=%5BGroup%20%27nmc%20artii-6%27%5D
NMSA 30-7-2.4 —> http://www.conwaygreene.com/nmsu/lpext.dll?f=FifLink&t=document-frame.htm&l=query&iid=1ce95e25.7bd11288.0.0&q=%5BGroup%20%2730-7-2.4%27%5D