MISS ORIGINALITY

Inconveniently Framed . . . .

Oh come all ye framers, Federalist and triumphant, O come ye to the state courthouse in Manhattan to see the Real Constitution in action in the case of The People of New York vs. Luigi Mangione.

Mangione, who is charged in New York State Court with the murder of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson, has filed motions to suppress both physical evidence and statements, relying on the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution (throw in the 14th there, too, for good measure!).

The Originalists and the Federalist champion a literal reading of the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights. The Fourth Amendment establishes the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, while the Fifth Amendment mandates that no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.

After seeing the videos of Mangione’s arrest in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, a casual observer and maybe an Originalist or two might say it surely looks like some anti-constitutional behavior on the part of the arresting officers. BUT, the evidence seized from Mangione’s backpack is really, really inculpatory and would go a long way to establishing his guilt. So what say ye now, Federalists and Originalists? Stand by the framers’ intentions? And maybe set a killer free? Or will there be some judicial machinations to twist the facts into some exception wholly unrecognizable to those old white guys back in 1791? Let’s see who is brave enough to stand up for the Constitution now!