"Constitutional Observations"©

This Month’s Issue: From the preamble: To provide "Equal Justice" for all. FF’s goal # 2, Principle # 3.

Question # 1: Why would the FF’s even attempt to write into their preamble: "equal justice for all?"

Answer: Not since Moses recorded the "Law of the Covenant" in his book of Deuteronomy had the world seen any effort to establish "equal justice for all" in written form. The FF’s established "equal justice" as their second goal. ...<>Bad government is the kind which does not meet the people’s needs. People need to have a remedy if they are wronged. This is what we call justice. Most nations at the time America was being created, 1607 - 1787, were ruled by despots and/or tyrants. There was little justice for the common man, or for his family in any nation. The king’s law ruled. ...<>Then, Skousen wrote, the FF’s found Cicero’s, a Roman Consul born in 106 B.C.,"The Republic and The Laws," books on God’s Natural Law. His books inspired the FF’s in their search for a "perfect government." Cicero’s understanding of God’s Natural Laws were in harmony with those they found in Moses’ writings in Deuteronomy. He defined Natural Law as "true law"as "right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions ... We cannot be freed from its obligations by senate or people, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it." Cicero continued with "And there will not be different laws at Rome and Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal law and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times, and there will be one master and ruler, that is God, over us all, for he is the author of this law, its promulgator, and its enforcing judge.." ...<>The FF’s were impressed. Cicero had told them — Nature or Nature’s God is eternal in its basic goodness, it is universal in its application. It is a code of "right reason" from the Creator himself. It cannot be altered. It cannot be repealed. It cannot be abandoned by legislators or the people themselves. In Natural Law we are dealing with factors of absolute reality. It is basic in its principles, comprehensible to the human mind, and totally correct and morally right in its general operation. The FF’s were impressed with Cicero’s words "For these virtues originate in our natural inclination to love our fellow-man, and this is the foundation of justice. Love, Cicero indicated, is the glue which holds a social structure of human beings together — the glue to promote true justice among mankind. Almost Mosaic!...<>Jefferson drew from of Cicero and Moses in his Declaration of Independence. He referred boldly to the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God. Then, said he, "We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness ..."

Question # 2: What is the role of government in provided "equal justice for all."

Answer: These four words in the preamble anticipated the RIGHT of every inhabitant of the United States to be protected in his/her life and liberty and to be treated as innocent until proven guilty when brought before the bar of justice. "When a government protects the unalienable rights of its people and provides an adequate remedy for those whose rights have been violated, then that government is providing equal justice for all. Justice requires an opportunity and a place to complain of an injury as well as the machinery to provide a remedy. For the accused, justice requires the opportunity to hear and understand the charge, cross-examine those who are making the charge, have a fair and speedy trial and have an opportunity to repair the wrong if found guilty."

Questions to ponder regarding "equal justice for all." # 1. Why does it take an enlarged union to safeguard the people from injustice and abuse? # 2. Is "Justice" an inborn sense or a rule of law? # 3. Why is it said that justice delayed is justice denied? # 4. What is the main criterion in administering justice?

Meaningful Quotes: Madison explained the need for a larger union to "insure equal justice for all" with these words: "The lesson we are to draw from the whole (history) is that where a majority are united by a common sentiment, and have an opportunity, the rights of the minor party become insecure. In a republican government, the majority, if united, have always an opportunity. The only remedy is to enlarge the sphere and thereby divide the community into so great a number of interests and parties that, in the first place, a majority will not be likely, at the same moment, to have a common interest separate from that of the whole, or of the minority; and in the second place, that in case they should have such an interest, they may not be so apt to unite in the pursuit of it...." ...<>Thomas Jefferson, on "Man’s instinct for Justice" — "Man was created for social intercourse, but social intercourse cannot be maintained without a sense of justice; then man must have been created with a sense of justice." ...<>On "Equal and Exact Justice" Jefferson said "I deem [one of] the essential principles of our government, and consequently [one] which ought to shape its administration, ... equal and exact justice to all men, of what ever state or persuasion, religious or political." ...<> And on "Justice Must Be Even-Handed" he said "When one undertakes to administer justice, it must be with an even hand, and by rule (law); what is done for one must be done for everyone in equal degree."