Lack of Faith.

One of the cornerstones of society is a court system.

A redress of grievance for an injured party.

If someone is wronged, it should be made right.

But what happens when the vehicle used to make it right becomes corrupt?

Can a criminal enterprise judge right from wrong with impartiality?

Can they have jurisdiction over truth and justice?


Societal Faith

A society must have faith in a Judicial system for that system to have any power.

As our Declaration of Independence states:

...That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

 But, if the system for justice acts in bad faith, then people begin to lose their faith in that systems impartiality.

How does an organization begin to act in bad faith?

By violating their own rules and regulations.

Officers of the court are deemed to know the law (Owen v. Independence, 100 S.C.T. 1398, 445 US 622).

Knowing the law creates an issue of intent. If they know the law and it's consequences, and they still violate the law, then they do so with intent and purpose. If the court is purposely violating their own rules and procedures in order to bring a person to trial, let alone secure a conviction, does that not taint the entire proceedings? If they are knowingly violating their own rules and regulations in order to appear in court, do they not give up their jurisdiction because of the criminal element of their procedure?

Does this not taint their "just powers" and nullify them?

If their powers are tainted and suspect, this creates an air of "lack of faith" in that government.

Historically, this leads to more vigilante justice, and eventually revolution.

Take the American Revolution for instance.

Did they not fight against the oppression of the British government in an effort to enjoy freedom?

Our society stems from the idea of a need for faith in our government.

We as a society have come full circle to where we were during the time of the Declaration of Independence.

Our judiciary enforces laws passed by the legislature and enforced by the executive branch.

The government is actively seeking to make money by criminally violating our rights.

Crime and corruption are rife in our government, and I for one have lost all faith in them.

The Real Due Process.

"The Fourteenth Amendment, in declaring that no State 'shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,' undoubtedly intended . . . that equal protection and security should be given to all [and] they should have like access to the courts of the country for the protection of their persons and property, the prevention and redress of wrongs, and the enforcement of contracts...."

- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Steven Field, Barbier v. Connolly, 113 U.S. 27, 35 (1885)


Due Process is a term that is difficult to define. Many courts have tried to define it, to create tests to measure it, and show equality in it.

But, if you look at it, and think about it, Due Process is a rather simple concept.

The base version of Due Process is that it has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

All three parts are equally important. Without any of those three elements, there would be a violation of Due Process.

This leads us to the question of:

"Where is the beginning of Due Process?"

When this country was created, it was done so with the understanding that the government drew it's power from the permissions of it's citizens.

As the source of the sovereignty, we have a right to have our legislation passed in accordance to the social contract created with the Constitution.

Every time that a law is passed outside of the original construction methods that the Constitution lays out, our Due Process rights are being violated.

The Legislative Branch does in fact have the ability to suspend our rights for a time. That leads us to an understanding of the two types of Due Process.

Procedural Due Process

"Procedurally, due process prescribes the manner in which the government may deprive persons of their life, liberty, or property. In short, the procedural guarantees of due process entitle litigants to fair process." Excerpt from TheFreeDictionary.com

To take that quote and to think about it leads one to understand that our Procedural Due Process rights guarantee us that our rights will only be suspended by certain methods.

Procedural Due Process is the method by which the government can suspend our rights for a time.

Substantive Due Process

"Substantively, the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments protect persons from legislation infringing on certain individual rights. Such individual rights may be expressly enumerated in a constitutional provision, as are the liberties that are enumerated in the Bill of Rights and have been incorporated into the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."

"These unenumerated rights have been derived from Supreme Court precedent, common law, history, and moral philosophy. Such rights, the Court said, "represent the very essence of ordered liberty" and embody "principles of justice so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people as to be ranked fundamental" (Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319, 58 S. Ct. 149, 82 L. Ed. 288 [1937])" Excerpt from TheFreeDictionary.com

Substantive Due Process is the safeguards against encroachment of our rights by the government.

Now we can explore the idea of:

"Where is the 'middle' in Due Process?"

The "middle" in Due Process is the breaking of a law, and the beginning of the Court process.

This is the portion that most people try to define when talking about Due Process.

Here is where people mix up the idea of "Due Process OF law" vs. "Due Process IN law."

"Due Process OF law" is the entirety of Law.

"Due Process IN law" is merely in the Court Room.

And lastly:

"Where is the 'end' in Due Process?"

The 'end' in Due Process is exactly that, the end of a courts sentence on a person.

The finality of a sentence. The completion.

Without that end in a sentence, not only is our Due Process rights violated, but we are put into a form of Involuntary Servitude.

To recap, Due Process has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It is very limited in it's allowance of suspension of rights, and exponential in it's protection of rights.

A simple concept to understand, but a hard one to put into practice.

Until you know where the boundaries are...

The Nature Of 'Political Power' And What It Means To The Average Joe

Many State Constitutions around the Country say that "All political power is inherent in the people."

To show it a little more in depth, the Washington State Constitution states in Article One, Section One:

"All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights."

So as I look at this section of my State Constitution, I try to understand the concepts that are wrapped up in it's language.

All political power is INHERENT in the people.

Before there was a Government, the political powers resided in the people. These powers are so ingrained in who we are as a country that they were written into our constitutions. As our constitution was written, it was these powers that gave it the strength to set us aside from other countries.

Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Without the people agreeing to being governed, our government would cease to exist. The government holds no power that we do not give it, or agree to.

Governments... are established to protect and maintain individual rights.

We the people, using our authority as sovereigns, created a government that was to "protect and maintain our individual rights." Our population was getting big enough that we created a government to help protect us, and to make sure that our rights were maintained. They were to be maintained not only from the usurpation of others citizens, but also from the laws created, as well as in the court system.

It is the constitution that defines and assigns the powers that the government enjoys. It was the sovereignty of the people that gave that constitution power.

Without the consent of the governed, the government has no power.

So here is a question:

If all political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their "just powers" from the consent of the governed, then what happens when they don't "protect and maintain individual rights?"

Our government is starting to believe that "it" is the sovereign. They have forgotten in their greed and corruption that it is us that gave them any power to begin with.

Remember, YOU are a sovereign. Does that mean that you have the right to take other sovereigns powers? NO. It just means that when it comes to political power, it comes from you, not the government.

I write this article in the hopes of teaching my fellow citizens about the nature of political power. With the understanding of that nature, you are better suited to help protect not only your own powers, but the powers of your friends, family, and neighbors as well.

When faced with a problem, without action, there can be no solution.