Is it fair to compare the general welfare clause of our constitution to article 48 of the Weimar Constitution?
Article 48 allowed Hitler to take control of Germany's Government and to suspend basic rights.
The general welfare of our constitution, as it is currently is misinterpreted, allows our government to enact laws and regulations that allow our government to violate our rights, give rise larger more powerful government and to enact laws and regulations that our founders never intended.
From Wikipedia
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Hitler's subversion of the Weimar Constitution
Less than a month after Adolf Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in 1933, the Reichstag Fire Decree invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, suspending several constitutional protections on civil rights. The articles affected were 114 (habeas corpus), 115 (inviolability of residence), 117 (correspondence privacy), 118 (freedom of expression /censorship), 123 (assembly), 124 (associations), and 153 (expropriation).
The subsequent Enabling Act, passed by the Reichstag on March 23, 1933, stated that, in addition to the traditional method of the Reichstag passing legislation, the Reich government could also pass legislation. It further stated that the powers of the Reichstag, Reichsrat and Reich President were not affected. The normal legislative procedures outlined in Articles 68 to 77 of the constitution did not apply to legislation promulgated by the Reich government.
The Enabling Act was effectively a constitutional amendment because of the foregoing alterations to the normal legislative process. The act met the constitutional requirements (two thirds of the Reichstag's members were present, and two thirds of the members present voted in favor of the measure). The Act did not explicitly amend the Weimar Constitution, but there was explicit mention to the fact that the procedure sufficient for constitutional reform was followed.
Though the Enabling Act placed legislative power in the hands of Hitler's cabinet, and though the Reichstag Fire Decree had already stripped away the constitutional protections on civil liberties, the Weimar Constitution — irrelevant as it may have become — technically remained in force through the entire 12 year history of the Third Reich. The Berlin Declaration of 5 June 1945, establishing the Allied Control Council formally abolished German civil government and it may be argued that this declaration also caused the original Weimar Constitution to finally go out of force.
Article 48 allowed Hitler to take control of Germany's Government and to suspend basic rights.
The general welfare of our constitution, as it is currently is misinterpreted, allows our government to enact laws and regulations that allow our government to violate our rights, give rise larger more powerful government and to enact laws and regulations that our founders never intended.
From Wikipedia
-------------------
Hitler's subversion of the Weimar Constitution
Less than a month after Adolf Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in 1933, the Reichstag Fire Decree invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, suspending several constitutional protections on civil rights. The articles affected were 114 (habeas corpus), 115 (inviolability of residence), 117 (correspondence privacy), 118 (freedom of expression /censorship), 123 (assembly), 124 (associations), and 153 (expropriation).
The subsequent Enabling Act, passed by the Reichstag on March 23, 1933, stated that, in addition to the traditional method of the Reichstag passing legislation, the Reich government could also pass legislation. It further stated that the powers of the Reichstag, Reichsrat and Reich President were not affected. The normal legislative procedures outlined in Articles 68 to 77 of the constitution did not apply to legislation promulgated by the Reich government.
The Enabling Act was effectively a constitutional amendment because of the foregoing alterations to the normal legislative process. The act met the constitutional requirements (two thirds of the Reichstag's members were present, and two thirds of the members present voted in favor of the measure). The Act did not explicitly amend the Weimar Constitution, but there was explicit mention to the fact that the procedure sufficient for constitutional reform was followed.
Though the Enabling Act placed legislative power in the hands of Hitler's cabinet, and though the Reichstag Fire Decree had already stripped away the constitutional protections on civil liberties, the Weimar Constitution — irrelevant as it may have become — technically remained in force through the entire 12 year history of the Third Reich. The Berlin Declaration of 5 June 1945, establishing the Allied Control Council formally abolished German civil government and it may be argued that this declaration also caused the original Weimar Constitution to finally go out of force.
