Sept 27, 2006

OUTLINE

American Heritage
English Sources of the Founding

Day 2: The Rule of Law

I. Natural Law
  A. Derives form moral law (inborn sense of right and wrong)
  B. Follows from natural rights
  C. Society's laws are process of discovering natural law

II. The Rule of Law
  A. Generality
  B. Prosperity
  C. Publicity
  D. Consent
  E. Due Process

III. Impact of Rule of Law principles on the Founding

LECTURE NOTES

MUSIC CLIP: "Your daughters and Your Sons," North Seas Gas

Paper #1 is due in Labs next week (friday)

Rule of Law

"End of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom; for in all the states of created beings capable of laws, where there is no law, there is no freedom."
-John Locke

A set of principles that, if respected, ensure that laws protect natural rights.

In nations with the rule of tlaw, society's workings are predictable, stable and fair.

Natural Law___
If you assume you have a natural law to life, there ought to be a law to protect life

Examples of natural law
Code of Hammurabi
Magna Carta
Common Law
Law of Moses

5 Principles of the Rule of Law you need to know:

1. Generality
MEDIA CLIP: Malibu coastline, private beaches vs. public beaches

2. Prospectivity
MEDIA CLIP: Truck driver, paid penalties, then the penalties changed

3. Publicity
MEDIA CLIP: New York, should not put chains around trees, locked his bike to a tree

4. Consent
MEDIA CLIP: Iraqis voting, shi'ites, kurds, 14 milllion+ voters, 50-70% votership

5. Due Process
MEDIA CLiP: Chinese court system, police seize news camera, wang convicted of trying to overthrow the government by writing articles about democracy (15 years)

5 Principles of the Rule of Law you need to know:
1. Generality: laws must apply to people in general, not discriminate against individuals or groups
2. Prospectivity: Laws cannot be ex post facto: they cannot apply to actions that took place before the law was enacted
3. Publicity: Laws must be well known and consistently enforced
4. Consent: Those subject to the laws must give their consent to them, either directly, or through elected representatives
5. Due Process: The legal process must be impartial, regular, and well established to ensure fairness

Reading of Miranda rights "you have a right to a lawyer" a good example of due process

impact of Rule of Law principles of the Founding
Josiah Quincy quote (see slides)

MEDIA CLIP: Thomas Moore (A man for all ages)
Henry the 8th, abolished the catholic church and changed to the angelic church
The Rule of Law: Generality, it has to protect everyone
Moore would not arrest a man just for being dangerous, he would have to do something first.

Another example: Supreme Court case 20 years ago, an amendment to flag burning

Boston Masscre: snowballs thrown at british soldiers, killed 5 kids
John Adams defended the british soldiers as their lawyer, gave them due course even though he didn't like the british soldiers