I once heard a cop say he should have every right to search my home any time he pleases. If I have nothing to hide, then I should have nothing to fear.
I'll give him credit for this much: Perfectly summarizing the philosophy of the police state.
James Madison: "Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions", and:
"Government is instituted to protect property of every sort. . . This being the end of government, that alone is a just government, which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own."
"Government is instituted no less for protection of the property than of the persons of individuals."
John Adams: "[t]he moment that idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the Laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.
Daniel Webster: "No other rights are safe where property is not safe."
An eighteenth century judicial opinion best reflects this concept, wherein the Court noted that "the right of acquiring and possessing property, and having it protected, is one of the natural, inherent and inalienable rights of men.... The preservation of property, then, is a primary object of the social compact." Vanhorne's Lessee v. Dorrance, 2 U.S. 310 (1795).
As we know, early American common law descended from English common law. What did the English think of private property?
Magna Carta: No Freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or be disseised [deprived wrongfully of real property] of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any otherwise destroyed; nor will we pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful Judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the Land. 1297
John Locke: "The great chief end therefore, of Mens uniting into Commonwealths, and putting themselves under Government, is the Preservation of their Property." He also said, "Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience..." --2nd Treatise of Government, 1690 the principal absolute rights which appertain to every Englishman,"
William Blackstone: The principal absolute rights which appertain to every Englishman [are] personal security, personal liberty, and private property.
Yeah.
And, that cop's been posting a lot on FR too.
Take such a murky concept and further subdivide it into public property and private property, and there is the second degree of murkiness -- murkiness to a murky power.
This is the absolute source of debate in the world and such poor definition cannot lead anywhere than continued chaos in law and in government. Civilizations rise and fall because of this, and always will.
I think you can see this expressed repeatedly by our resident statists and in the remark of that cop.
You all take care,
CATO
Substittute "dog" or "child" for "flag" to see ow ridiculous this statement is.
Ping for reference and dissemination.
With all due respect to Mr. Greenhut
free speech
Free speech for me, but not for thee, seems to be the dominate philosophy on most university campuses
free exercise of religion
A federal court jury has awarded more than $78,000, including $60,000 in punitive damages, to two Minnesota prison employees who were reprimanded for reading Bibles during mandatory staff training on gays and lesbians. After a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, a nine-member jury found unanimously late Thursday that the state Department of Corrections had discriminated against Thomas Altman and Ken Yackly on the basis of their religion and violated their rights to free speech and equal protection. Altman, a prison painter, and guards Yackly and Kristen Larson attended the training session at the Shakopee women's prison in 1997 although they considered it "state-sponsored propaganda" promoting homosexuality, according to their lawyers from the public-interest American Center for Law and Justice of Virginia Beach, Va. The employees read their Bibles during the training as a silent protest and later were reprimanded for "inappropriate and unprofessional conduct." Subsequently, Altman received a negative job review and Larson and Yackly were passed over for promotion. "When the state of Minnesota tried to force these employees to change their beliefs about homosexuality, the government crossed the line and violated their constitutional rights," said Francis Manion, senior counsel for the center, in a news release Friday. Larson previously settled her part of the four-year-old lawsuit out of court, said Gene Kapp, a spokesman for the center.
Good news the good guys won...this time.
right to peaceably assemble
Three words...campaign finance reform.
The forgotten fundamental right