Making Political Differences a Felony Undermines Democracy for Everyone

What You Need To Know:

• The indictment of Donald Trump highlights the foundational principles of everyone being answerable to God’s law and the idea of one law for all.
• The article discusses the importance of a public, known law, and the danger of complex laws that can be used to silence political opponents.
• Making political differences a felony undermines democracy, and it is essential to hold to the principles that make constitutional government real.

The indictment of former President Donald Trump has brought to the forefront two fundamental constitutional principles. The first of these is the idea that everyone, including the king or the president, is answerable to the law of God.

This principle is traced back to Biblical law and is a cornerstone of the English Common Law tradition. This tradition sees itself as sanctioned by God’s law and assented to willingly by the people to bring peaceable governance to the nation. Even presidents are under the law and have immunity from prosecution only while in office.

The article highlights the importance of one law for all and how the public grasps the unfairness of a two-tiered legal system. The author notes that if, for the same action forbidden by law, some people go to prison while others enjoy their liberty, corruption has taken hold.

The author argues that it is essential to hold to the principles that make constitutional government real and to have a public, known law that is not overly complex. This is necessary to avoid having laws that can be used to silence political opponents, criminalizing their political differences.

The author stresses the danger of making political differences a felony, which undermines democracy for everyone. The article concludes that the right of trial by jury of equals, only for offenses known to the law, makes the difference between bond and free.

The author questions the legal theory behind the indictment of Donald Trump and argues that everyone should have known in advance to guide their conduct by a theory that even now is not known to ardent supporters of most everything anti-Trump. Politics is politics, and the people should decide by their vote.

Source: spectator.org