They cite Article I, Section 9, of the 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.
Why do they think this section applies? Rotunda and Pham assert that because "(t)he five-member Nobel commission is elected by the Storting, the parliament of Norway ...the award of the peace prize is made by a body representing the legislature of a sovereign foreign state.
Can that be right? It's true that the members of the Nobel Committee are elected by the Storting for six-year terms. They may be reappointed to any number of consecutive terms (one member has served continuously since 1994). It is also true that the Committee's composition reflects the political makeup of the Storting.
This raises three questions: first, why is the Storting involved at all? Second, does the Nobel Committee therefore represent the Storting " is it an instrumentality of a foreign government? And third, if it is, what must Obama do to accept the prize?
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