Monday, July 30, 2007

Barbara Jordan on the Constitution

"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminuation, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution."

Congresswoman Barbara Jordan in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, July 25, 1974

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Power and Transformative Change

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.”

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

-- Frederick Douglass

Saturday, July 21, 2007

The Founders' Constitution

A compendium of foundational texts:

http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/

John Adams on Representative Government and Trial by Jury

"The constitution is not grounded on 'the enormous faith of millions made for one.' It stands not on the supposition that kings are the favourites of heaven; that their power is more divine than the power of the people, and unlimited but by their own will and discretion. It is not built on the doctrine that a few nobles or rich commons have a right to inherit the earth, and all the blessings and pleasures of it: and that the multitude, the million, the populace, the vulgar, the mob, the herd and the rabble, as the great always delight to call them, have no rights at all, and were made only for their use, to be robbed and butchered at their pleasure. No, it stands upon this principle, that the meanest and lowest of the people, are, by the unalterable indefeasible laws of God and nature, as well intitled to the benefit of the air to breathe, light to see, food to eat, and clothes to wear, as the nobles or the king. All men are born equal...

"The judges answer to questions of law: but no further. Were they to answer to questions of fact as well as law, being few they might be easily corrupted; being commonly rich and great, they might learn to despise the common people, and forget the feelings of humanity: and then the subjects liberty and security would be lost. But by the British constitution, ad questionem facti respondent juratores, the jurors answer to the question of fact. In this manner the subject is guarded, in the execution of the laws. The people choose a grand jury to make enquiry and presentment of crimes. Twelve of these must agree in finding the Bill. And the petit jury must try the same fact over again, and find the person guilty before he can be punished. Innocence therefore, is so well protected in this wise constitution, that no man can be punished till twenty four of his Neighbours have said upon oath, that he is guilty. So it is also in the tryal of causes between party and party: No man's property or liberty can be taken from him, till twelve men in his Neighbourhood, have said upon oath, that by laws of his own making it ought to be taken away, i.e. that the facts are such as to fall within such laws.

"Thus it seems to appear that two branches of popular power, voting for members of the house of commons, and tryals by juries, the one in the legislative and the other in the executive part of the constitution are as essential and fundamental, to the great end of it, the preservation of the subject's liberty, to preserve the balance and mixture of the government, and to prevent its running into an oligarchy or aristocracy; as the lords and commons are to prevent its becoming an absolute monarchy. These two popular powers therefore are the heart and lungs, the main spring, and the center wheel, and without them, the body must die; the watch must run down; the government must become arbitrary, and this our law books have settled to be the death of the laws and constitution. In these two powers consist wholly, the liberty and security of the people: They have no other fortification against wanton, cruel power: no other indemnification against being ridden like horses, fleeced like sheep, worked like cattle, and fed and cloathed like swine and hounds: No other defence against fines, imprisonments, whipping posts, gibbets, bastenadoes and racks...

"What a fine reflection and consolation is it for a man to reflect that he can be subjected to no laws, which he does not make himself, or constitute some of his friends to make for him: his father, brother, neighbour, friend, a man of his own rank, nearly of his own education, fortune, habits, passions, prejudices, one whose life and fortune and liberty are to be affected like those of his constituents, by the laws he shall consent to for himself and them. What a satisfaction is it to reflect, that he can lie under the imputation of no guilt, be subjected to no punishment, lose none of his property, or the necessaries, conveniencies or ornaments of life, which indulgent providence has showered around him: but by the judgment of his peers, his equals, his neighbours, men who know him, and to whom he is known; who have no end to serve by punishing him; who wish to find him innocent, if charged with a crime; and are indifferent, on which side the truth lies, if he disputes with his neighbour."

John Adams, Clarendon, No. 3, January 27, 1766


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I believe the above to be the origin of this paraphrased quote, which is often attributed to Adams:

"Representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty. Without them we have no other fortification against being ridden like horses, fleeced like sheep, worked like cattle, and fed and clothed like swine and hounds."

Surveillance Society

1) "Microchip Implants Raise Privacy Concern," Associated Press, 7/21/07.


2) Justice Brandeis' dissent in Olmstead v. U.S., 277 U.S. 438 (1928) [and see here]:

The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man's spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his intellect. They knew that only a part of the pain, pleasure and satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone-the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. To protect, that right, every unjustifiable intrusion by the government upon the privacy of the individual, whatever the means employed, must be deemed a violation of the Fourth Amendment...

"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding...

"Decency, security, and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means-to declare that the government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal-would bring terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this court should resolutely set its face."

3) Minnesota Public Radio piece.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Jefferson on instilling a healthy amount of fear

"When the people fear the government, you have tyranny. When the government fears the people, you have liberty."

--Thomas Jefferson

Quotes from Lady Bird Johnson

The following quotes come from the mind of Claudia Taylor (Lady Bird) Johnson:

The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom.

Any committee is only as good as the most knowledgeable, determined and vigorous person on it. There must be somebody who provides the flame.

The way you overcome shyness is to become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid.

Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.

Every politician should have been born an orphan and remain a bachelor.

It's odd that you can get so anesthetized by your own pain or your own problem that you don't quite fully share the hell of someone close to you.

No news at 4:30 a.m. is good.

Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.

The First Lady is an unpaid public servant elected by one person - her husband.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

On the Passing of Lady Bird Johnson

Lady Bird Johnson died today at the age of 94.

Let her be remembered as a true lady, one who possessed uncommon courage and decency, as well as a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature.

The following link discusses her landmark whistle stop tour through the South after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. The grace she displayed in the face of deep-seated hostility proved her to be the original steel magnolia.

http://www.pbs.org/ladybird/epicenter/epicenter_report_train.html

"As she had expected, but had hoped to avoid, Lady Bird encountered angry southerners protesting her husband and his civil rights agenda. She continually found herself having to placate people who called her husband a "n----- -lover" without condoning their racism. As she pulled into Richmond, Va., Lady Bird was greeted by a big banner that read "Fly Away Lady Bird. Here in Richmond, Barry [Goldwater] is the Cat's Meow." In Columbia, South Carolina, people booed and heckled Lady Bird during her speech so that she could not be heard. The state hosts were unable to quiet the hecklers, but with a raised, white-gloved hand and a firm voice, Lady Bird silenced the crowd.

"This is a country of many viewpoints," she told the Columbia crowd. "I respect your right to express your own. Now it is my turn to express mine. Thank you."