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Presenter: Alan Ying Chen

Faculty Sponsor: Martha Yoder

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Law and Legal Studies

Session: Poster Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM, Concourse, B9

ABSTRACT

My thesis will focus on government officials’ misuse of power during “times of crisis” to encroach on citizens’ constitutional rights throughout American history. It asks several questions surrounding this subject. What truly constitutes a time of crisis? Who gets to make that decision? What outside influences affect these people’s decisions? What would stop government overreach? In light of these questions, should people be willing to sacrifice their rights during these times? I will focus on how prejudices and political pressures heavily influence the government’s encroachment on citizens’ constitutional rights. It will center around government officials, primarily Supreme Court justices and the President, as many have created manufactured crises to falsely justify the deprivation of constitutional rights. Through this analysis, my thesis will conclude that the untrustworthiness of government officials indicates that it is never permissible to give the government the power to deprive citizens of constitutional rights. 

My thesis will then showcase contemporary examples of this phenomenon in the United States. The declaration of a supposed national emergency at the Southern border and the sweeping federal government responses to it are among the most pressing occurrences. Trump's use of emergency powers to impose worldwide tariffs without prior congressional approval is another current-day example.