"It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read or so incoherent that they cannot be understood..."
James Madison
Has James Madison been looking over Harry Reid's and Nancy Pelosi's shoulders? Lately, it seems as though congress can't pass any bill that isn't at least 1,000 pages of incoherent gibberish.
There's a difference between justice and the law. The average person can recognize what's right and fair. While our system of laws is supposed to reflect this, it doesn't always. The laws of our country have suffered through a series of evolutions. In the beginning the 10 commandments were all the law anyone needed.
The law carried west with the settlers was condensed into just two commandments: Don't cheat, don't cause harm. This simplified system worked quite well. Cheat at cards and
you'll be shot. Steal a horse and you'll be hanged. Dally with the farmer's daughter and you'd be married.
Sheriff: "Your Honor, this man was caught stealing one of Hoot Smith's horses."
Judge: "What do you have to say for yourself young man?"
Accused: "I want a lawyer."
Judge: "String him up."
Simple. Yet its very simplicity proved its undoing. For in the application of the law, there was little need of lawyers. As the western territories became states, they set up
legislatures. At the time this sounded like a good thing. The bad aspect of this was that the governmental body tasked with creating laws was pretty much made up of only lawyers (since they had little else to do in the old west). Contrary to what you might think, lawyers aren't stupid. They knew that in order to make sure their kind would not only survive but prosper, they would have to create a whole bunch of laws. Laws written in Latin so no one could possibly make heads or tails of any of it. Laws so contradictory you could break several laws just by standing around minding your own business.
Where's James Madison when you really need him?
By Tim Fullerton
James Madison
Has James Madison been looking over Harry Reid's and Nancy Pelosi's shoulders? Lately, it seems as though congress can't pass any bill that isn't at least 1,000 pages of incoherent gibberish.
There's a difference between justice and the law. The average person can recognize what's right and fair. While our system of laws is supposed to reflect this, it doesn't always. The laws of our country have suffered through a series of evolutions. In the beginning the 10 commandments were all the law anyone needed.
The law carried west with the settlers was condensed into just two commandments: Don't cheat, don't cause harm. This simplified system worked quite well. Cheat at cards and
you'll be shot. Steal a horse and you'll be hanged. Dally with the farmer's daughter and you'd be married.
Sheriff: "Your Honor, this man was caught stealing one of Hoot Smith's horses."
Judge: "What do you have to say for yourself young man?"
Accused: "I want a lawyer."
Judge: "String him up."
Simple. Yet its very simplicity proved its undoing. For in the application of the law, there was little need of lawyers. As the western territories became states, they set up
legislatures. At the time this sounded like a good thing. The bad aspect of this was that the governmental body tasked with creating laws was pretty much made up of only lawyers (since they had little else to do in the old west). Contrary to what you might think, lawyers aren't stupid. They knew that in order to make sure their kind would not only survive but prosper, they would have to create a whole bunch of laws. Laws written in Latin so no one could possibly make heads or tails of any of it. Laws so contradictory you could break several laws just by standing around minding your own business.
Where's James Madison when you really need him?
By Tim Fullerton
RSS Feed