No, Newt Gingrich’s Idea about Making Muslims take a Loyalty Test isn’t Constitutional

Last night, people started chattering after Newt Gingrich suggested all Muslims should take some sort of loyalty oath to determine if they were against sharia law. Here are his actual words:

Here is Newt Gingrich’s full quote on deporting Muslim citizens who fail a religious test: https://t.co/D5B9RVMmp8 pic.twitter.com/jYqy0AqRyh

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 15, 2016

Does anyone remember when the Republican party used to care about the… what was it… you know that document a bunch of dead white guys created… Oh, yes, the Constitution? This is what its First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…

Harvard Law graduate and Constitutional expert (and my husband) David French says Gingrich’s suggestion is the lazy way out: we don’t “suspend the First Amendment to combat the threat of radical Islam.”

In reality, our warriors are more than capable of defeating our enemies abroad — and our national security apparatus more than capable of limiting the terror threat here at home — without doing one bit of violence to our civil liberties. We can stop immigration from jihadist hot spots without violating the Constitution. We can destroy ISIS and other jihadist safe havens and protect refugees in the Middle East without violating the Constitution. And we can monitor, arrest, and prosecute potential jihadists without violating the Constitution. We don’t lack the tools to roll back jihad. We merely lack the will.

The GOP has lost its way if one of the people who was discussed as a possible VP pick is advocating for this type of unConstitutional litmus test.