A Government of Laws, Not of Men
Right now, U.S. news is full of dire predictions for America. Some pundits say our form of government faces an existential crisis. Some say democracy itself is nearing extinction. Some warn we are on the verge of another civil war — the one in the 1860’s remains the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history as more than 600,000 Americans were killed by other Americans. Is that what we truly believe is about to happen?
My assessment of the current situation could not be more different. I believe the U.S. Constitution is working overtime as the best bulwark against tyranny ever designed. It was made for this moment. It helped free us from the hereditary monarchy of Great Britain, and it has kept us from having a dictatorship in the United States for more than 200 years. Can we all agree as Americans, regardless of political party, that we love our Constitution? And love it or not, do we even remember what it says?
Be honest, when was the last time you read the U.S. Constitution? Just looking up the exact wording of the 1st or the 2nd Amendment to try and settle a Thanksgiving debate doesn’t count. There is so much more to the single most important document ever written. It doesn’t take long to read it. It only contains 7,591 words including all 27 amendments. This makes it one of the shortest written constitutions of any major government in the world and I believe it is the best. To put it in perspective, George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is around 30,000 words, so the U.S. Constitution is about a quarter of the length of that novella.
When I was commissioned an officer in the United States Marine Corps in 1999, I swore an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” I had read the Constitution a few times at that point, but I decided to read it again as I was about to raise my right hand and swear an oath to sacrifice my life for it. I had read it on my 5th Grade Safety Patrol trip to Washington, D.C. where we saw it in the National Archives Museum. I had read it in my high school Advanced Placement Government class. I had read it in college both as a part of the U.S. Naval Academy’s core curriculum and also as a Political Science major who took a senior level course on Constitutional Law. I am not an expert on the U.S. Constitution, but I love it, so I read it again. Right now, we would all benefit from reading it and deeply considering how it applies today.
I will save you some time by summarizing the points I believe are most relevant:
1) Popular Sovereignty: the power and authority of the U.S. government is derived from the consent of the governed. The Constitution begins with the empowering words, “We the People of the United States,” indicating that the Constitution’s authority comes from the people, not from a monarch, religious figure, or dictator. The Constitution provides for democratic elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate. While the President is technically elected by the Electoral College, this body is itself chosen by the people, indirectly reflecting the will of the populace.
2) Supreme Law of the Land: the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution is found in Article VI, Clause 2, and it states: “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” This establishes that federal laws, as long as they are made in accordance with the Constitution, are the highest form of law in the U.S. legal system.
3) Separation of Powers: the Constitution divides the government into three branches — Executive, Legislative, and Judicial — each with its distinct responsibilities. This ensures that no single branch has too much power.
4) Checks and Balances: each branch of government has the ability to check, or limit, the power of the other two. For example, the President can veto legislation, but Congress can override a veto. Similarly, the Supreme Court can declare laws or executive actions unconstitutional. The President nominates federal judges, including Supreme Court Justices and the Senate has the power to confirm or deny the President’s nominations.
5) Federalism: power is divided between the national government and state governments. This protects against the concentration of power at the national level. The Constitution specifically enumerates the powers of the federal government, and the Tenth Amendment asserts that powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
6) Inalienable Rights: the first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, explicitly protect individual liberties and rights against government intrusion.
7) Religious Freedom: not only does the First Amendment state: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Article VI, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibits religious tests for federal office. It states: “…but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” Also, the U.S. Constitution itself does not explicitly reference God, any higher power, or any particular religion.
8) Judicial Review: although not explicitly stated in the Constitution, the concept of judicial review, established in the case of Marbury vs. Madison, allows the judiciary to review and nullify any government action it finds unconstitutional.
9) Rights to Due Process and Equal Protection: The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments protect against arbitrary government action and guarantee equal protection under the law.
10) Oath of Loyalty: On top of all of this, The U.S. Constitution includes specific provisions regarding oaths of office, emphasizing the importance of loyalty and fidelity to the Constitution itself. There is the Presidential Oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” There are Constitutional Oaths for all Other Federal and State Officials — like the one I took as a military officer.
This is all important background information as we head into unprecedented territory with our first former U.S. President ever indicted for a felony — in fact, he’s been indicted for 78 felony charges across three cases with a fourth case likely bringing more charges soon. This is where that 5th Amendment language, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…” is being applied in full force. Not one, not two, but three or more Grand Juries of peer American citizens each had to have at least 12 jurors concur that a crime had been committed in order for the prosecutor to bring forward any of the 78 charges.
Now it’s time to allow the “due process of law” guaranteed in our U.S. Constitution to take its course. It won’t be a “dark day for democracy” if a former U.S. President is found guilty of a felony he committed while in office, is imprisoned, and barred from ever holding office again. No, a dark day for democracy is having a sitting U.S. President fraudulently overturn our Presidential election results just to stay in power, disenfranchising millions of Americans by discarding their precious right to vote. A joint statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said the November 3rd, 2020, election was the most secure in American history.
When John Adams helped to write the Massachusetts Constitution, a precursor to the U.S. Constitution, he wrote we are “a government of laws, and not of men.” This concept emphasizes the rule of law and the idea that no individual is above the law, and it had a profound impact on the framing of the U.S. Constitution. My great hope is that the United States forever remains a government of laws, not of men and the U.S. Constitution forever remains the Supreme Law of the Land.
