By: J.P. FREIRE
Associate Commentary Editor
Washington Examiner
10/09/09
There’s a problem for President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize victory and it’s not his inexperience. From Article I, Section 9 of “that neglected curio,” the U.S. Constitution:
“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
Per Wikipedia, the Nobel Prize is awarded as follows:
“…the Norwegian Nobel Committee consists of five members elected by the Norwegian Storting (the Norwegian parliament).[9] In its first stage, several thousand people are asked to nominate candidates. These names are scrutinized and discussed by experts in their specific disciplines until only the winners remain. This slow and thorough process is arguably what gives the prize its importance. Despite this, there have been questionable awards and questionable omissions over the prize’s century-long history.”
While the Norwegian Parliament has no say in who receives the prize, the role it plays in selecting the committee ties it to the state. Congress will have to vote on whether to allow Obama to accept the prize.
Continues at Washington Examiner.
And, from The Volokh Conspiracy, a similar article by Eugene Volokh, “Would an Act of Congress be Required to Allow President Obama to Accept the Nobel Peace Prize?”
