Magna Carta and the Law that Governs Government
It was a time of abuse of power by the state, high taxes, foreign wars against aggressive, violent Muslims, cronyism, and unrest over civil, commercial and religious rights. Certain similarities between 1215 England and 2015 America are, as our British cousins might say, delicious.Magna Carta is celebrated on June 15, 800 years after its first rendition was forced upon King John at Runnymede. It was Johns brother Richard the Lionheart who raised taxes to pay for the wars. Richards brother-successor King John ruled with arrogance, and never achieved the popularity of his brother.Shortly after affixing his seal to the Great Charter, John asked Pope Innocent III to nullify it for being affirmed under duress. The Pope obliged, and in retrospect we should be grateful. Consent is not legitimate when given under duress. The civil war that prompted the Charter ensued. John soon died of excesses, and was succeeded by his nine-year old son Henry.Magna Carta subsequently became law under young King Henry III, guided by his regent William Marshal,1st Earl of Pembroke, an eminence grise who served both Richard and John, and after legitimate adoption by the Parliament. It has been the touchstone of the common law these 800 years, yet references, relies on, and reclaims the ancient law. Portions of the common law date back to before William the Conqueror and before the Time of Memory, as chronicled by Sir Matthew Hale in his History of the Common Law of England from 1713.Magna Carta is celebrated as a great charter of liberty. Its influence in the founding of America is profound because Magna Carta did something that is essential to liberty, namely, it placed law over government. The Great Charter did not merely say that Englishmen have this or that right. It set forth certain things that government may not do. Its greatness comes from protecting freedom by placing government itself under the rule of law.Magna Carta, like its American cousin the Constitution, is not a mere compact but is law over government. The English law over government, however, has been in the form of statutes and courts decisions. As Hale writes:Those that are now extant, are commonly bound together in the old Book of Magna Charta. By those Statutes, great Alterations and Amendments were made in the Common Law; and by those that are now extant, we may reasonably guess, that there were considerable Alterations and Amendments made by those that are not extant, which possibly may be the real, tho' sudden Means of the great Advance and Alteration of the Laws of England in this King's Reign, over what they were in the Time of his Predecessors.Those celebrating Magna Carta may overlook that it is a document of freedom precisely because it places government under the rule of law. Its major contributions to American law over government such as due process and jury trials are fairly well recognized.Lesser known are its early guarantees of the separation of powers (No sheriff, constable, coroner or any other of our bailiffs is to hold [hear] pleas of our crown.), restrictions on asset forfeiture (No sheriff or bailiff of ours or of anyone else is to take anyones horses or carts to make carriage, unless he renders the payment customarily due . . .), freedom of commerce (All merchants, unless they have been previously and publicly forbidden, are to have safe and secure conduct in leaving and coming to England and in staying and going through England both by land and by water to buy and to sell, without any evil exactions . . .), and religious liberty (In the first place we grant to God and confirm by this our present charter for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity that the English Church is to be free and to have all its rights fully and its liberties entirely.).With the Constitution, however, the Founders added something special to the rule of law over government. The Constitution is, by its very terms, supreme law. Chief Justice John Marshall described it in Marbury v. Madison as our fundamental and paramount law.Its nature is not always understood or appreciated. The Constitution did not merely create, form and constitute American government. It is law governing what the legislature, the executive, the courts, and even the states may or may not do. Unlike the English political institutions, American institutions may not alter or amend our Constitution without following that paramount law itself. Violations of this paramount law are not mere overreach or lawlessness; they are illegal.The Constitution is not simply the rule of law over government; it truly governs government. The Constitution is intended to protect against arbitrary power through the trampling of rights by whims of the majority and their representatives, or the aggressions of the executive. Deference of the judiciary to governments unconstitutional acts is neglect of its own legal duty.Magna Carta and the Constitution are laws of a political nature. It is a fundamental tenet of law that its violations have remedies.The Declaration of Independence was a remedy to the lawbreaking of King George III, and was in part written in the format of an indictment. James Madison describes two remedies under the Constitution: amendments after powers have been usurped (Federalist 49), and replacing elected officials with ones more faithful to the Constitution (Federalist 44). Throwing out the bums is obviously more peaceful than revolution, giving the Constitution greater stability and sustainability than the common law.The other remedy has had a checkered history. It is the authority -- nay, the duty -- of the judiciary to say no to acts of the other two branches when they violate the law that governs government.A political law over government, Magna Cartas purposes were nevertheless more profound than mere politics. It was self-described as written for the salvation of those whose rights were violated by King Johns lawbreaking. Magna Carta was therefore in the spirit of Pauls letter to the Galatians: You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/06/magna_carta_and_the_law_that_governs_government.html#ixzz3d8hXfZVq Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
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Unfortunately many people have no idea of the significance the Magna Carta has regrading the structure of the U.S. Constitution. Actually, when I mentioned to people that this 15th of June was the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, I was met with blank stares, because they had no idea what I was talking about.
I'm no fan of the "American Thinker", but in this caseFitzgibbons is correct; the erosion of due process in this country is increasing to alarming proportions.
Concerned About Due Process? Forget About Drones for a Second ; The Atlantic
FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT-POLICE FAILURE TO PRESERVE EVIDENCE AND EROSIO.. . ; Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology - Northwestern University, School of Law
THE EROSION OF THE PRINCIPLE THAT THEGOVERNMENT MUST FOLLOW SELF-I... ; Fordham Law Review
I believe you're right! It was originally set to music, but he just did the Dance of the Magna Carta in The Great Dictator without the words. One can't really appreciate it unless it's sung in it's original Tomainian
The Jefferson flag is from a parody of the Nazi flag by Charlie Chaplin. IF Jefferson ever does get to be a state (it is never going to happen) and keeps that flag, the two crosses, it is going to be on the butt end of one joke after another and people will not call it Jefferson. They will call it Tomania. The state will become nothing more then a joke with that symbol. In fact that symbol alone will probably make it difficult to get people to sign your petitions, because they don't want to be associated with it. The Great Dictator with Charlie Chaplin is one of the greatest classic films of all time and certainly one of the most insulting made to be made about the Nazis before the war even began. It's famous around the world and so is the flag of Tomania.
Seriously, if you want to become a new state (and you never will) then that flag will guarantee it'll never happen. Even if Charlie Chaplin hadn't invented the symbol, it looks too close to a Nazi flag anyway.
So many predictions ... so little evidence .
The flag was intended to be every bit as insulting to California and Oregon as that flag was to the Nazis and with good reason. Perhaps the state of California should treat its citizens better. We have much the same feelings toward California that Chaplin had toward the Germans. We'll keep the 1941 flag because you don't like it, and spiting the rest of California is a great thing to do.