Should We Obey All Laws?

by Walter Williams

Let’s think about whether all acts of Congress deserve our respect and obedience. Suppose Congress enacted a law – and the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional – requiring American families to attend church services at least three times a month. Should we obey such a law? Suppose Congress, acting under the Constitution’s commerce clause, enacted a law requiring motorists to get eight hours of sleep before driving on interstate highways. Its justification might be that drowsy motorists risk highway accidents and accidents affect interstate commerce. Suppose you were a jury member during the 1850s and a free person were on trial for assisting a runaway slave, in clear violation of the Fugitive Slave Act. Would you vote to convict and punish?

A moral person would find each one of those laws either morally repugnant or to be a clear violation of our Constitution. You say, “Williams, you’re wrong this time. In 1859, in Ableman v. Booth, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 constitutional.” That court decision, as well as some others in our past, makes my case. Moral people can’t rely solely on the courts to establish what’s right or wrong. Slavery is immoral; therefore, any laws that support slavery are also immoral. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions (is) a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.”

Soon, the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of Obamacare, euphemistically titled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. There is absolutely no constitutional authority for Congress to force any American to enter into a contract to buy any good or service. But if the court rules that Obamacare is constitutional, what should we do?

Continue reading: http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2012/05/should-we-obey-all-laws/

Favorite

4 members favorited this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nathan on June 1, 2012 at 5:08pm

"Govt is a concept; concepts change." Claire Wolfe

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nathan on June 1, 2012 at 1:58pm

:)
Good post, Troy!

"The State is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength. I was not born to be forced. I will breathe air after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest." Henry David Thoreau

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nathan on June 1, 2012 at 5:02pm

But the State is a legitimate entity only as long as it fullfills its contractual obligations to it's members.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nathan on June 1, 2012 at 2:59pm

"A strict observance of the laws is doubtless one of the highest duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means." Thomas Jefferson

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Paladin10 on June 1, 2012 at 4:07pm

Having spent 25 years in law enforcement, let me say this about that:

"I refuse to owe my life to a tyrant, a man who flouts the Law by pardoning other men, just as if the Law gave him the right to be their master. The Law does not". Note to Ceaser from Cato after Cato's suicide at Utica.

Semper Fi

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nathan on June 1, 2012 at 5:06pm

And I'll add to your comment, Paladin, with this:

"It is not enough for law to be meticulous, it must also be just. It is not enough for law to be meticulous and just, it must be understanding. It is not enough for law to be meticulous, just and understanding, it must also be compassionate. It is not enough for law to be meticulous, just, understanding and compassionate, it must be rooted in absolute truth. If man is to rise above mere beasthood then he must obey just law, formulated by just men. I repeat, just law, formulated by just men, and not random and expedient law which is the servant of tyrants." Cicero

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Paladin10 on June 1, 2012 at 7:33pm

Well said Cicero, friend of Cato, foe to Gaius Juliuis Ceasar.

While I was in law enfocement we had discretion. Letter of the Law is impossible to enforce, however Spirit of the Law, as Cicero points out is formulated by "just men" for just men.....P.S. Nathan....I did have my moments as a bad cop....child sex abusers got no kindness from me......Semper Fi

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nathan on June 2, 2012 at 11:30am

I did have my moments as a bad cop....child sex abusers got no kindness from me......Semper Fi

If those were your only 'bad cop' moments ....... you, sir, were NEVER a bad cop!

I would call them 'High speed low drag' moments, Marine!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nathan on June 1, 2012 at 5:21pm

:) Very, very well stated.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by karen arsenault on June 2, 2012 at 10:25am

also

"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." Thomas Jefferson

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Cryptocurrency on June 2, 2012 at 6:09pm

Amen to that...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Paladin10 on June 2, 2012 at 12:51pm

Lady Justice is blind folded for a reason and the scales of proof tipped ever so slight. Justice can never practice a double standard or exemption or the belief that some are above the law. All must be treated fairly, equaly and with prudence responsbility and above all respect. The legal system, both criminal and civil provide a proof of guilt, not a proof of innocence. When the justice system enforces laws to crminalize law abiding citizens or congress passes such laws for the same purpose the time of tyranny has arrived. It is by the authority of our God given rights and His law that we are obligated to not only disobey such godless acts but to stamp it out never to have the seed of tyranny sowed again in this great country.

Semper Fi