U. S. Consti ble to children, or descendants, or relations by blood, the idea of a man born a magistrate, lawgiver or judge, is absurd and unnatural." "... nor shall any State . . . deny to any person within its tution, Amt. jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." XIV, Sec. 1 Magna Petition of Bill of Virginia Declaration Mass. Decl. (For State Constitutions, see Book III, §§ 14, 16, 70, 394, 404, 580, etc.) (c) TAXATION "No scutage nor aid shall be imposed in our kingdom unless by the common Council of the realm" (i. e. the Parliament). Describes how the National Council is to be summoned by a writ to all the nobility and tenants in chief. These two clauses were omitted in Magna Carta of Henry III but restored in the Confirmation of Charters of Edward I in the words "From henceforth we shall not take such manner of aids, tasks nor prises but by the common assent of all the realm and for the common profit thereof." "... your subjects have inherited this freedom, that they should not be compelled to contribute to any tax, tallage, aid or other like charge not set by common consent, in parliament." "... that no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like charge, without common consent by the act of parliament." "That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner, than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal." '. . . all men cannot be taxed or deprived of their property for publick uses without their own consent or that of their representatives. . . ." "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent." "Each individual of the society has a right to be protected by of Rights, X it in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and property, according to standing laws. He is obliged, consequently, to contribute his share to the expense of this protection; to give his personal service, or an equivalent when necessary; but no part of the property of any individual can, with justice, be taken from him, or applied to public use, without his own consent, or that of the representative body of the people. In fine, the people of this Commonwealth are not controllable by any other laws than those to which their constitutional representative body have given their consent. And whenever the public exigencies require that the property of any individual should be appropriated to public uses, he shall receive a reasonable compensation therefor." Mass. Decl. of Rights, XXIII No subsidy, charge, tax, impost, or duties ought to be established, fixed, laid, or levied, under any pretext whatsoever, without the consent of the people or their representatives in the legislature. (For State Constitutions, see Book III, §§ 90, 330, 335, 340, 310, 311, 312, 314, 320, 322.) Bill of Virginia Mass. Decl. of Rights, Clause XVI XXI Bill of Mass. Decl. of Rights, Clause XIX XXI Virginia Mass. Decl. of Rights, III Virginia (d) MISCELLANEOUS RIGHTS Freedom of Speech "That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament." "That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotick governments.' "The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a State: it ought not, therefore, to be restrained in this Commonwealth." "The freedom of deliberation, speech and debate, in either house of the legislature is so essential to the rights of the people, that it cannot be the foundation of any accusation or prosecution, action or complaint in any other court or place whatsoever." Right to Petition "That it is the right of the subject to petition the King, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal." "The people have a right, in an orderly and peaceable manner, to assemble to consult upon the common good; give instructions to their representatives, and to request of the legislative body, by the way of addresses, petitions, or remonstrances, redress of the wrongs done them, and of the grievances they suffer." "The freedom of deliberation, speech, and debate, in either house of the legislature, is so essential to the rights of the people, that it cannot be the foundation of any accusation or prosecution, action or complaint, in any other court or place whatsoever." Religion "That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence, and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love, and charity, towards each other." "And every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves peaceably, and as good subjects of the commonwealth, shall be equally under the protection of the law: and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law." Search Warrants "That general warrants, whereby an officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offence is not particularly described, and supported by evidence, are grievous and oppressive, and ought not to be granted.' Mass. Decl. of Rights, XIV U. S. Consti- "Every subject has a right to be secure from all unreasonable searches, and seizures, of his person, his houses, his papers, and all his possessions. All warrants, therefore, are contrary to this right, if the cause or foundation of them be not previously supported by oath or affirmation, and if the order in the warrant to a civil officer, to make search in suspected places, or to arrest one or more suspected persons, or to seize their property, be not accompanied with a special designation of the persons or objects of search, arrest, or seizure: and no warrant ought to be issued but in cases, and with the formalities prescribed by the laws." "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." (For State Constitutions, see Book III, §§ 71, 136.) Bill of Mass. Decl. of Rights, IX U. S. Consti "That election of members of Parliament ought to be free." "That elections [of representatives] ought to be free, and that all men having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to the community have the right of suffrage." "All elections ought to be free; and all the inhabitants of this Commonwealth having such qualifications as they shall establish by their frame of government, have an equal right to elect officers, and to be elected, for public employments." "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not tution, Fif- be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. teenth Amt. Bill of Mass. Decl. of Rights, XXII Virginia Bill of Sec. 2 "The congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." (For State Constitutions, see Book III, §§ 230, 235, 240, etc.) (b) LEGISLATURES "And that for redresse of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening, and preserveing of the lawes, Parlyaments ought to be held frequently." The legislature ought frequently to assemble for the redress of grievances, for correcting, strengthening, and confirming the laws, and for making new laws, as the common good may require. (For State Constitutions, see Book III, § 277.) (c) THEORY OF GOVERNMENT "That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them." Virginia Declaration Mass. Constitution, Preamble Mass. Decl. of Rights, IV VII "That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best, which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration; and that, whenever any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, unalienable and indefeasible right, to reform, alter or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal." "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." "The end of the institution, maintenance, and administration of government, is to secure the existence of the body politic, to protect it, and to furnish the individuals who compose it with the power of enjoying in safety and tranquillity their natural rights, and the blessings of life: and whenever these great objects are not obtained, the people have a right to alter the government, and to take measures necessary for their safety, prosperity, and happiness. "The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals: it is a social compact, by which the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good. It is the duty of the people, therefore, in framing a constitution of government, to provide for an equitable mode of making laws, as well as for an impartial interpretation and a faithful execution of them; that every man may, at all times, find his security in them." "The people of this commonwealth have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves, as a free, sovereign, and independent state; and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America, in Congress assembled." "All power residing originally in the people, and being derived from them, the several magistrates and officers of government, vested with authority, whether legislative, executive, or judicial, are their substitutes and agents, and are at all times accountable to them." " Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men: Therefore the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it." "In order to prevent those who are vested with authority from becoming oppressors, the people have a right, at such periods and Act of Settlement (1700) Virginia Bill of Mass. Decl. of Rights, XXX U. S. Constitution, I, 1 in such manner as they shall establish by their frame of government, to cause their public officers to return to private life; and to fill up vacant places by certain and regular elections and appointments." (For State Constitutions, see Book III, §§ 4, 6, 11, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185.) (d) The Separation of the Powers "That no person who has an office or place of profit under the king, or receives a pension from the Crown, shall be capable of serving as a member of the House of Commons." "That the legislative and executive powers of the State should be separate and distinct from the judiciary; and that the members of the two first may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating the burthens of the people, they should, at fixed periods, be reducted to a private station, return into that body from which they were originally taken, and the vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain, and regular elections, in which all, or any part of the former members, to be again eligible, or ineligible, as the laws shall direct." "In the government of this commonwealth, the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them: the executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them: the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them: to the end it may be a government of laws and not of men." "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States. . . . " (See II, 1; III, 1, similarly expressed as to the other two powers.) |