At least four of Donald Trump's policy proposals would likely trigger constitutional legal challenges "unseen among modern day presidents," according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
The Washington Examiner reports legal memos from constitutional scholars released Thursday by the ACLU raise red flags about the constitutionality of the GOP presumptive nominee's plans to deport the 11 million illegal immigrants; the surveillance of mosques; barring non-American Muslims from entering the country; and relaxing libel laws.
"By our analysis, a Trump administration would violate the First, Fourth and Eighth Amendments if it tried to implement many of his most controversial policies," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said, the Examiner reports.
"As we look across all these different positions ... we think that Mr. Trump's policies would engender a legal and constitutional battle in federal courts, but also in the Supreme Court that is unseen among modern day presidents," he added.
For example, the ACLU contends that:
- Trump's "mass deportation scheme" would violate the Fourth Amendment prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment since "immigration officers would have to inevitably resort to racial and ethnic profiling to carry out" the deportations.
- Trump's call for surveilling mosques in the United States, and a registry for Muslim-Americans, would likely provoke a challenge based on the equal protection clause of the laws under the Fifth Amendment.
- Trump's call to relax libel laws would test the Constitution's already "very high barrier for libel suits brought by public officials," Romero contends.
A review of Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton's proposals is also underway, the Examiner reports.
"Secretary Clinton's positions have changed and evolved a great deal over time, but there are a number of areas where we are deeply troubled," Romero tells the Examiner, adding ACLU staffers are "more than halfway done" with their analysis of Clinton's immigration proposals, statements about torture and other areas.