Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by philwelch 4958 days ago
> I do not have a constitutionally protected right to eat a sandwich

Nor do you have a constitutionally protected right to air travel.

2 comments

And see, I find that to be a slimy, horrible way to get around these inconvenient "rights" that we have, by defining an entire class of activity, that is pretty much essential to be able to participate in the modern world, as a way of giving up your rights.

"Oh, sure, you may have a constitutionally protected right to free speech. But upon accepting employment or payment for anything, you waive that right." Hey, the government has the right to regulate interstate commerce, and has ruled that even commerce within a state counts because it impacts prices on an interstate level. So let's just do away with the whole bill of rights by saying "you give implied consent to no longer have these rights by engaging in commerce." Done and done.

Not a constitutional right, but one granted by public law.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/40103

"A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit through the navigable airspace."

I choose to exercise that right by paying an airline to transport me by air.