Bottom Line - and a repeat.
See Grean's post #86 for text of the Red flag law - common in states that have passed one.
My major objection is the process does not require the subject of the complaint be informed of the complaint and process, may have a judgment against him/her without knowledge or presence with no representation at hearing, and may be victimized by false information with no opportunity to refute.
We have a concept of due process of law, with The Sixth and other amendments:
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution affords criminal defendants seven discrete personal liberties: (1) the right to a
Speedy Trial; (2) the right to a public trial; (3) the right to an impartial jury; (4) the right to be informed of pending charges; (5) the right to confront and to cross-examine adverse witnesses; (6) the right to compel favorable witnesses to testify at trial through the subpoena power of the judiciary; and (7) the right to legal counsel. Ratified in 1791, the Sixth Amendment originally applied only to criminal actions brought by the federal government.
Over the past century, all of the protections guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment have been made applicable to the state governments through the doctrine of selective incorporation. Under this doctrine, the Due Process and
Equal Protection Clauses of the
Fourteenth Amendment require each state to recognize certain fundamental liberties that are enumerated in the
Bill of Rights because such liberties are deemed essential to the concepts of freedom and equality. Together with the
Supremacy Clause of Article VI, the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits any state from providing less protection for a right conferred by the Sixth Amendment than is provided under the federal Constitution.
The legal loophole may be that Red flag laws are not a "criminal prosecution" , and that is similar to asset confiscation by police after arrest - but not conviction of a crime - is legal.
Still - I object strenuously to confiscation/commitment actions taken ex parte with no knowledge of the subject of the legal action. It throws all our legal precedents and Constitution in to the trash can arbitrarily.
Thank you Grean, for cogent and constructive, thought provoking posts and debate.
Unlike the DPST loons who live on projection, name-calling, and deflection, and are incapable of a cogent, constructive debate.