I'm no lawyer. I refuse to be something that low. Leaches, ticks and parasites do need something to look down on... so I suppose they are necessary. For my lawyer friends... you know I'm just kidding right...
Unfortunately we have allowed lawyers to hammer their existence into everything in our lives. I point this out from two differnet speakers that recently spoke to the TED conference in San Diego this month. It has become the primary way of doing big business in our day. To use political influence to write laws to monopolize or restrict the marketplace and thus we continue on a path towards a meltdown because justice is no longer the concern of the legal system. Even the police have switched from being 'peace officers' to being 'law enforcement.' The system has to change, because in a free society the law has to be respected or the system will not continue. We will either devolve into tyranny or have a revolution.
The land of the free has become a legal minefield, says Philip K. Howard -- especially for teachers and doctors, whose work has been paralyzed by fear of suits. What's the answer? A lawyer himself, Howard has four propositions for simplifying US law.
Mr. Howard makes some excellent points but failed to mention that our legal system did have a simple check and balance in place. In fact, it remains in place, yet few acknowledge it or know about it. It's called the jury and the grand jury. Two of the three votes each citizen has. The jury not only has the power to decide and determine the facts but also (and this is what few know) judge the law.
In 1794 the Supreme Court conducted a jury trial and said "...it is presumed , that the juries are the best judges of the facts; it is, on the other hand, presumed that the courts are the best judges of law. But still both objects are within your power of decision."
"You have the right to take upon yourselves to judge of both, and to determine the law as well as the fact in the controversy." (State of Georgia v. Brailsford, et al, 3 Dall. 1)
This role came under attack in the 1850s when prosecutions under the Fugitive Slave Act were largely thrown out buy juries. Since then, judges have eroded the role of the jury.
Thomas Jefferson warned in 1789 that the judiciary, if given too much power might ruin our Republic. "The new Constitution has secured these [individual rights]in the Executive and Legislative departments: but not in the Judiciary. It should have established trials by the people themselves, that is to say, by jury."
Effectively, the judge is just the administrator, the referee, the judge of the facts and the law is the jury. If this was practiced today and the judge and citizens honestly prepared the jury for their role... much of this complicated law and legal system would be erased. We would return to the simple system Mr. Howard advocates for.
Even creativity is under assault. Larry Lessig, the Net’s most celebrated lawyer, cites John Philip Sousa, celestial copyrights and the "ASCAP cartel" in his argument for reviving our creative culture. We have to restore competition!
The legal system has gotten out of control. There are numerous books on this subject, to name just a few:
Three Felonies a Day:How the Feds Target the Innocent by Harvey Silvergate - The average professional in this country wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, eats dinner, and then goes to sleep, unaware that he or she has likely committed several federal crimes that day. Why? The answer lies in the very nature of modern federal criminal laws, which have exploded in number but also become impossibly broad and vague.
The Tyranny of Good Intentions: How Prosecutors and Law Enforcement Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of Justice by Paul Craig Roberts - The wars we've waged against perceived social ills carry with them a hidden cost of harrowing proportions: the loss of personal liberties as old as the Magna Carta.
Go Directly to Jail: The Criminalization of Almost Everything by Gene Healy - There are over 27,000 pages of the US Code which incorporates violations of federal regulations that are in turn spread throughout tens of thousands of pages of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Citizens need to inform themselves not only on their rights but also their role in the system of government we have. The individual has a great deal of power but only if the have the knowledge. The Citizen's Rule Book. With that knowledge our Republic can be restored and we can have a future worthy of the American Dream and the sacrifices made to keep it the greatest country on earth!
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