Bending the Rule of Law
Trevor Morgan
Mrs. Schroeder
APE 12
29 March 2012
Bending the Rule of Law What is the rule of law? It is often heard—from the mouths of politicians, judges, CEOs, and the President himself—but does anyone stop and ponder its true meaning and implications? The rule of law is the belief that all people fall equally under the law. This means that no one person or group is above the law, and conversely, no one person or group is below the law. The reason the concept of the rule of law is so powerful is because it is an idea accepted shared by many; and ideas do not die, as V from V for Vendetta so vehemently pointed out. The rule of law does not deal with specifics of how people should live, but the concept that everyone should live under the same rules. It does not differentiate among wealth, title, birth, social standing, or stature; that is why the rule of law is of such immeasurable importance. The United States is founded on the principle of the rule of law—this notion that all people play on fair grounds. The Founding Fathers repeatedly pushed the idea that if a government’s rule were to be legitimate and just, it would impose the law equally to all (Greenwald). Thomas Jefferson frequently expressed the significance of equality under the law.
"In America, no other distinction between man and man had ever been known but that of persons in office exercising powers by authority of the laws, and private individuals. Among these last, the poorest laborer stood on equal ground with the wealthiest millionaire, and generally on a more favored one whenever their rights seem to jar" (Forman 407). Those who built our country did so with this kind of equality in mind: The “poorest laborer” can go up against the wealthiest
elites and stand a fair chance. It was of the utmost importance that this was possible, because the alternative is unthinkable: Of distinction by birth or badge, [Americans] had no more idea than they had of the mode of
Mrs. Schroeder
APE 12
29 March 2012
Bending the Rule of Law What is the rule of law? It is often heard—from the mouths of politicians, judges, CEOs, and the President himself—but does anyone stop and ponder its true meaning and implications? The rule of law is the belief that all people fall equally under the law. This means that no one person or group is above the law, and conversely, no one person or group is below the law. The reason the concept of the rule of law is so powerful is because it is an idea accepted shared by many; and ideas do not die, as V from V for Vendetta so vehemently pointed out. The rule of law does not deal with specifics of how people should live, but the concept that everyone should live under the same rules. It does not differentiate among wealth, title, birth, social standing, or stature; that is why the rule of law is of such immeasurable importance. The United States is founded on the principle of the rule of law—this notion that all people play on fair grounds. The Founding Fathers repeatedly pushed the idea that if a government’s rule were to be legitimate and just, it would impose the law equally to all (Greenwald). Thomas Jefferson frequently expressed the significance of equality under the law.
"In America, no other distinction between man and man had ever been known but that of persons in office exercising powers by authority of the laws, and private individuals. Among these last, the poorest laborer stood on equal ground with the wealthiest millionaire, and generally on a more favored one whenever their rights seem to jar" (Forman 407). Those who built our country did so with this kind of equality in mind: The “poorest laborer” can go up against the wealthiest
elites and stand a fair chance. It was of the utmost importance that this was possible, because the alternative is unthinkable: Of distinction by birth or badge, [Americans] had no more idea than they had of the mode of
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