June 23, 2022 | AmericasFuture.net
Continuing to educate our fellow Americans in the core ideas and founding principles of our great nation is central to the mission of America’s Future. We look back to different periods in our history, its documents, symbols, and mottos to remind us of where we are going as a nation. In this week’s newsletter, we focus in on the phrase “rule of law” as the Supreme Court of the United States rounds out June with important decisions that will shape our lives while voices grow stronger questioning whether fair and equal justice for all exists or whether it is merely an aspiration.
Our rule of law means that all citizens and institutions are subject to the same laws uniformly applied, as opposed to the notion that some, especially from a ruling regime, are above it. The idea of “rule of law” is a fundamental part of who we are as a nation. We have our Founding Fathers to thank for it and a history of nearly 250 years to test its veracity.
In writing the Constitution, our Founders were establishing the supreme law for a free people created in the image of God. Therefore, they were all created equal. Consequently, they must all be subject to the same laws and treated equally by those charged with enforcing and administering justice.
This governing principle of the new United States was a cornerstone pillar of America’s strength and exceptionalism and distinct from that of the British tyranny they had just overthrown. The former Colonists no longer subscribed to the “divine right of kings,” a doctrine presuming a monarch could not be held accountable to any earthly authority. Indeed, these new Americans had themselves held the king accountable by routing his forces in the field and forcing them from the land.
To guarantee that all men would be treated equally under the rule of law, Article III of the Constitution created an independent judiciary. It states: “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.”
And these “lower” courts, as Alexander Hamilton wrote, “were designed to be an intermediate body between the people and their legislature” in order to ensure that the people’s representatives acted only within the authority given to Congress under the Constitution.
The job of the Courts is to uphold the Constitution and, in doing so, interpret federal and state laws passed by Congress and state legislatures, striking down any law that conflicts with the Constitution.
And, as Hamilton further stated, “the Constitution ought to be preferred to the statute, the intention of the people to the intention of their agents.”
In light of recent laws passed and actions taken by our elected agents in the executive and legislative branch that many argue violate the Constitution, it is vital that the courts dutifully carry out their responsibility to uphold the law of the land, one law for one people.
America’s Future believes that it is our faith that the rule of law will continue to guide our policies that keeps America united and at peace. And yet there is growing evidence that some seek to privilege their own interests by subjecting political opponents to deprivations and punishments under laws that they, themselves, do not abide by. Being a free people, the efforts to undermine the principle of “rule of law” shall not divide us and break our peace. We join all Americans in prayer that the wisdom of our Founders may guide the wayward.
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