Haig V. Agee: Power To Revoke Passports :: essays research papers

Haig v. Agee Power to Revoke Passports     Whether a mountain pass stinkpot be revoked or non has been a major question sincethe mid- 1800s. Haig v. Agee is a landmark Supreme Court case charging thatthe escritoire of nominate put forward not revoke a passport on the grounds that the forcefulnesshas never been contributeed by the Congress to the secretary, and that revoking apassport violates the premiere and fifth amendments of the Constitution of theUnited States. Not only does the Secretary of State have implied powers, butrevoking Agees passport did not violate any laws or rights.     In Haig v. Agee, the defendant claims that the Passport Act of 1926 doesnot grant the Secretary of State the right to revoke passports. However, thePassport Act does state that the Secretary of State is the only person who cangrant and withhold passport applications. And based upon later provisions, theSecretary can withhold applications if the part y is abstruse with illegalactivities. If the Secretary of State can grant and withhold passports, was itimplied by the Congress that the Secretary has the powers to revoke passports?"The Secretary of State may grant and issue passports, and cause passports to begranted, issued, and verified in foreign countries by diplomatic representativesof the United States . . . under much(prenominal) rules as the President shall designatedand govern for and on behalf of the United States, and no other person shallgrant, issue, or vagabond such passports." 22 U.S.C. 211a (1976 ed., Supp. IV).Since the Congress did not specify who has the powers to revoke passports, itshould be assumed that because the Secretary is the only person who can grantpassports, they argon the only ones who can revoke passports on grounds of illegalactivities, such as treason. If you consider that Agees passport was revokedbecause he was uncovering secret CIA agents, he was undoubtedly committingtreason. Thou gh treason is usually considered to be evident during measure of war,treason can also be defined as placing national security in jeopardy, such asthe case of Agee. Agees passport should not only have been taken, he shouldhave been extradited and tried by a jury for the crime of treason.     Agee also claims that since the power to revoke passports was not straightway given to the Secretary of State or the President, then in bless to showthey have the power, they must have revoked many passports in the bygone and havethe Congress approval. However, the need to revoke passports on the grounds of