The Abuse Of The Rule Of Law (2)

Posted: 4/23/2014  Updated: 11/26/2015, 7/22/2014

Trigger

I have recently seen several quotes by famous men that every high school student should learn and understand.

Previously, I have blogged here about this subject.

Quotes To Remember

1. “Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.”
   Charles de Montesquieu (De l'Esprit des Lois [The Spirit of the Laws], Book XXIX, Chapter 16; 1748; source)
2. “More law, less justice.”
   Marcus Tullius Cicero (De Officiis, Book I; 44 BC; source)

3. “The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be.”
   Lao Tse (Tao Te Ching; 4th century BC;  source)

4. Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges (Translation: The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government)
   Tacitus (Annals; 68 AD; source)
5. Lex iniusta non est lex (Latin: An unjust law is no law at all), is a standard legal maxim. It originates with St. Augustine, and was used by St. Thomas Aquinas.
6. “The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law [prohibition of alcohol in the U.S. Constitution]. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in the United States is closely connected with this.”
   Albert Einstein ("My First Impression of the U.S.A."; 1921 AD)

Interpretation

Democracies are in crisis (I blogged here about this subject). Over several decades our elected, inept politicians and judges have accumulated more and more silly laws and regulations severely and increasingly endangering individual liberty.

Lao Tse may have very well addressed the possibility of ever increasing overcriminalization as we have observed for decades in the U.S.

Martin Luther in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail said following about unjust laws:

“How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. … A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law.”

Speed limit laws in the U.S. are a perfect example of laws that should never have been passed in a free and open society. I have blogged here about the unconstitutionality of speed laws.