The Rule of Law?

Some Americans are having their lives ruined by over-intrusive judges who often "legislate from the bench." We tend to be over-regulated with an abundance of abusive lawsuits.

One case happened on October 28, 2003, when federal "regulators" entered the home of George Norris, a retiree who raised orchids in his home, as a part-time business. His home was "raided" by federal agents who ransacked his house and confiscated his plants! He was later indicted on seven charges of violating the Endangered Species Act. George was imprisoned for 17 months! Today, his orchids are gone and his retirement plans are in shambles, because he and his wife have had to spend all their life savings on legal fees! His "crime" was a paperwork violation. This lawsuit was a case of "over-criminalization" of the law. He had done nothing wrong. He was a victim of "over-zealous" prosecution of the Endangered Species Act.

When The Heritage Foundation heard of the Norris case, they brought together the "first ever" committee hearing on such cases. With the help of Heritage they put together potenial questions for members of the committe to ask. The whole committee hearing was videotaped with victims of over-criminalization testifying.

The next case is a study in judicial activism, and an example of legislating from the bench. In the 2000 election, Californians approved Proposition 22 by a 61% to 39% margin. It passed with the help of many black and Hispanic voters. The initiative stated that "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognize in California." In 2008, an "all wise" California Supreme Court overturned the law, saying it was not "politically correct," and did not reflect the voting majority. So there was nothing left but to do it again! In the November in 2008, it again passed by 52%, inspite of the ugliness surrounding the election.

Another case tells the story of abusive litigation. This lawsuit had to do with a chain of department stores and their cosmetics manufacturers. They were accused of price fixing on lipstick and other beauty products. A class-action lawsuit was filed in 2003 and after a great delay in 2005, a federal court approved a settlement. The defendants admitted no wrongdoing, and the case was settled out of court. In the settlement the defendants agreed to give away $175 million worth of cosmetics to the aggrieved shoppers. Most of them received cosmetics worth about $18 to $25 dollars. The lawyers who filed the suit got $24 million in legal fees! (I've never been in favor of class-action lawsuits.)

These are not isolated cases! They illustrate that for decades we have seen, spreading throughout the American legal system, an erosion of the integrity of our court system.

We are being regulated to death! I don't mean to question the Rule of Law, I mean to uphold it! And as President Abraham Lincoln once declared:


"Let every American, every lover of Liberty, every well wisher to his posterity,
swear by the blood of the revolution never to violate in the least particular the
laws of the country, ... [and] to the support of the Constitution and [its] laws, let
every American pledge his life, his property and his secred honor. Let every man
remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his fathers, and to
tear the charter of his own and his children's liberty. Let reverence for the laws
be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her
lap, let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges, let it be written in
primers, in spelling books and almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, [and]
proclaimed in legislative halls, enforced in courts of justice. In short, let it become
the political religion of the nation."


Or as John Locke said in his book, Two Treatises of Civil Government, "The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom."

Without the Rule of Law, no matter what we preserve, it will all be for naught!



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