Lincoln Chafee presidential campaign, 2016/Federalism
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 Lincoln Chafee |
Governor of Rhode Island (2011-2015) U.S. Senate (1999-2007) |
 Democratic candidates: |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
Judiciary
- Lincoln Chafee voted against the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Chafee cited his concerns with Alito’s positions on using the commerce clause, the expansion of executive power, women’s reproductive rights, and warrantless wiretapping. Chafee was the only Republican to vote against Alito’s confirmation.[1][2][3]
- Chafee voted against President George W. Bush’s nomination of William Pryor to the Eleventh Circuit and Priscilla Owen to the Fifth Circuit.[4][5]
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- Lincoln Chafee has expressed support for a clear separation between church and state. In an op-ed in The Huffington Post, Chafee questioned the decision by several 2008 presidential candidates to attend a megachurch forum. He argued, “It's hypocritical for the religious right to be hyperventilating over state-sponsored religion by the Taliban and Islamic extremists while ever so gradually allowing the state to encroach on our ‘full liberty in religious concernments.'"[6]
- In 2006, Chafee voted against prohibiting flag desecration.[7]
Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- In an interview with The Brown Political Review, Lincoln Chafee expressed support for an "assault gun" ban and closing the gun show loophole. He said, “Truly, what hunter needs an assault gun or a large magazine clip? I just think [Second Amendment advocates are] treating it as a step. First they take away my assault weapon, and then they take another. So we just have to fight back against that. This isn’t a progressive step of taking away guns. It’s just common sense; nobody needs an assault gun with a large magazine clip. You’re not allowed to hunt with them, so what do you need them for?”[8]
- In 2013, Chafee introduced a package of gun control legislation that would include stricter regulation of firearms with obliterated serial codes and enable Rhode Island to use mental illness and substance abuse records in addition to traditional background checks as a potential bar to gun ownership.[9]
Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- At the first Democratic debate on October 13, 2015, Lincoln Chafee was asked if Edward Snowden —the one-time CIA employee who leaked classified information, and who is now a privacy activist in exile — is a hero or a traitor. Chafee said he judged Snowden more hero than traitor. "No, I would bring him home. The courts have ruled that what he did -- what he did was say the American...the American government was acting illegally. That's what the federal courts have said; what Snowden did showed that the American government was acting illegally for the Fourth Amendment. So I would bring him home," Chafee said.[10]
- Although Chafee supported the Patriot Act in 2001 and 2006, he has raised concerns that the government has violated the Fourth Amendment. At the first Democratic debate on October 13, 2015, Chafee said "As long as you're getting a warrant, I believe that under the Fourth Amendment, you should be able to do surveillance, but you need a warrant. That's what the Fourth Amendment says. And in the Patriot Act, section 215 started to get broadened too far. So I would be in favor of addressing and reforming section 215 of the Patriot Act.”[11] He made a similar point in an April 10, 2015 interview with U.S. News & World Report Chafee said, “I don't believe it granted any power to tap phones or any other surveillance without a warrant. That’s a definite stretch.”[12]
- In a 2015 interview with Huff Post Live, Chafee stated, ”I’m definitely against warrantless wiretapping, and I wasn’t in the Senate when they voted to give retroactive immunity to the telephone companies that did allow warrantless wiretapping. I would have never voted for that.”[13]
Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- In 2011, Lincoln Chafee denied a request to transfer a murder suspect from Rhode Island state custody to federal custody. Under federal law and contrary to Rhode Island state law, the suspect would be eligible for the death penalty. Chafee argued the Interstate Agreement on Detainers gave him the right to make this refusal as it would be against the state’s interest to expose the suspect to the death penalty. The First Circuit ruled the suspect must be tried in a federal court, and the Supreme Court declined to review the case.[14][15][16]
Crime and justice
- Chafee put out a Facebook message against drones and militarized police on August 28, 2015. He posted, "I say 'no' to drones. They're bad enough abroad. We need to demilitarize our police, not do the opposite. #NoDrones."[17]
- When Lincoln Chafee was asked in a 2006 senatorial debate if he would support the death penalty for Osama bin Laden, he stated, “I oppose the death penalty.” To support his stance, Chafee cited the history of a wrongly convicted man put to death in Rhode Island and evidence that capital punishment is a weak deterrent.[18]
| Lincoln Chafee discusses the death penalty in 2006 |
- In 2004, Chafee voted against HR 1997 - Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, which criminalized the injury or death of a fetus when a pregnant woman is injured or killed.[19]
- In 2001, Chafee co-sponsored S 486 - Innocence Protection Act which would allow individuals convicted of a federal crime to apply for DNA testing for the purposes of exoneration. A version of the bill was included as part of HR 5107 - Justice for All Act of 2004, which became law on October 30, 2004.[20][21]
- In 2000, Chafee co-sponsored S Amdt 3473, which expanded the definition of hate crime to include gender, sexual orientation and disability, and appropriated $5 million to enable states to prosecute hate crimes.[22]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Lincoln + Chafee + Government
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ C-SPAN, “Rhode Island Republican Senate Primary Debate,” August 23, 2006
- ↑ The New York Times, “Alito Is Sworn In as Justice After 52-42 Vote to Confirm Him,” January 31, 2006
- ↑ Senate.gov, “Chafee Statement on Judge Alito Nomination,” January 30, 2006
- ↑ Congress.gov, “PN200 - William H. Pryor Jr.,” accessed May 5, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “PN194 - Priscilla Richman Owen,” accessed May 5, 2015
- ↑ The Huffington Post, “Roger Williams, the First Amendment and the Presidential Campaign,” July 9, 2008
- ↑ Senate.gov, “S.J.Res.12 - A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States authorizing Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.,” accessed May 5, 2015
- ↑ The Brown Political Review, “BPR Talks with Gov. Lincoln Chafee,” May 22, 2013
- ↑ Providence Journal, “Gun-control bills clear R.I. House Judiciary Committee,” June 25, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "The CNN Democratic debate transcript, annotated," October 13, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "The CNN Democratic debate transcript, annotated," October 13, 2015
- ↑ U.S. News & World Report, “Chafee Says He'll Push Hillary on Privacy, Hound Her on Iraq,” April 10, 2015
- ↑ Huff Post Live, “Chafee: 'In General, We Went In The Right Direction' With Patriot Act,” April 16, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, “Gov. Chafee Declines,” December 29, 2011
- ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, “U.S. v. Pleau, No. 11-1775,” May 7, 2012
- ↑ Providence Journal, “R.I. Gov. Chafee dismayed by U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to hear Pleau case,” January 14, 2013
- ↑ Facebook, "Lincoln Chafee," accessed September 1, 2015
- ↑ C-SPAN, “Rhode Island Republican Senate Primary Debate,” August 26, 2006
- ↑ Congress.gov, “H.R.1997 - Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004,” accessed May 5, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “S.486 - Innocence Protection Act of 2002,” accessed May 5, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “H.R.5107 - Justice for All Act of 2004,” accessed May 5, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “S.Amdt.3473 to S.2549,” accessed May 5, 2015
