Posted by Paul Andrew Mitchell, B.A., M.S. on September 22, 1998 at 00:17:07:
In Reply to: for Paul Mitchell: "the discussion on point"? posted by KatNip on September 21, 1998 at 23:12:18:
: With all due respect...
: you wrote, "We try to keep the discussion on point,
: and that is the Supreme Law in America."
: As I'm kind'a new to this group I'd appreciate
: you letting me, and perhaps other newbies, know
: exactly what "the discussion on point" is. I'm not
: certain what you mean by "Supreme Law in America."
: Are you referring to God's Law as being supreme Law
: in America or are you referring to a certain
: constitution? Again, with due respect...if it is
: a constitution to which you refer...isn't it, that
: constitution, simply the supreme 'Statute' in America...
: since Law proper, God's Law, is immutable whereas a
: constitution may be amended?
: Thanks!
: (-:
Yes, it is the supreme Law, as that term is
used in the Supremacy Clause. The supreme Law
embraces the Constitution, Laws, and Treaties
of the United States.
Of course, no discussion of this subject would
be complete without considering carefully the
decisions of courts.
Article III -- Judiciary -- authorizes constitutional
courts to exist. Other courts are authorized
by Articles I and IV. In chief, Article I addresses
the Congress (law making), and Article II
addresses the Executive (law enforcement).
Thus, you have the three key, coordinate branches
of the federal government.
Defined in this fashion, there is no way to avoid
the study of American history, but we prefer
to couch history in the context of laws,
treaties, amendments, and cases which have
set the signposts of that history.
We are NOT a forum for interpersonal bickering,
slander, libel, defamation, or insults.
We had THOUGHT this much was obvious, but
alas it was not.
Constitutional law is considered to be the
premier practice, in the profession of law.
It calls for the utmost in professional
integrity, mutual respect, and close
adherence to the highest standards of
conduct and intellectual honesty,
in all situations.
Constitutional lawyers are required to be
learned in law. Thus, to know that statutes
granting original jurisdiction must be
strictly construed, constitutional lawyers
are expected to master the principles of
federal statutory construction.
For some of the flavor we recommend and prefer,
confer at "Counsellor at Law" in Bouvier's
Law Dictionary (1856). This dictionary
is now published on the Internet.
The connection between the supreme Law, and
the religious convictions and values of the
early Colonists, is a topic which is quite
worthy of consideration here. The Bill of Rights,
for example, is widely considered to be a
stunning embodiment of high moral conduct --
a blueprint for effective social justice,
meted out by imperfect human institutions.
Nevertheless, the First Amendment is expressly
written to prevent the federal government from
establishing or respecting any particular religious
institution, just as it guarantees that
the People shall forever retain the fundamental
Right to petition that government for redress
of their legitimate grievances with it.
The U.S. Constitution is, quite simply,
a magnificent work, and it deserves to be
preserved, protected, and defended for the
high human ideals it seeks to institute, for the
essential human freedoms it seeks to perpetuate,
and for the further development of human potentials
it seeks to realize, for all generations, now,
and those to come.
It is substance over form, principles over
partisans, that America may be a government
of laws, and not of men.
This much is certain.
And for this much, I have now dedicated my life,
for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer,
in sickness and in health, until death do us part.
It has been a challenging yet happy marriage,
to be sure, and promises to remain so.
Sincerely yours,
/s/ Paul Andrew Mitchell, B.A., M.S.
Counselor at Law, Private Attorney General,
Federal Witness, and Agent of the Most High