WrongHanded
Member
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2017
- Messages
- 4,771
Does anyone happen to know if there's anything specific in the Constitution or elsewhere in Federal law, protecting the individual Right to self defense?
According to SCOTUS, there is a natural right to self preservationDoes anyone happen to know if there's anything specific in the Constitution or elsewhere in Federal law, protecting the individual Right to self defense?
Does anyone happen to know if there's anything specific in the Constitution or elsewhere in Federal law, protecting the individual Right to self defense?
Self defense is grounded in Common Law
Common Law is the collection of generally accepted judicial opinions related to questions not addressed in statutes. It's origins date back to England in the Middle Ages, when local Justices of the Peace had to rule in disputes without the guidance of a specific Royal Decree, legislative bodies not yet existing.Could you please go into more detail about "Common Law"
Could you please go into more detail about "Common Law"
Common law is law that is derived from judicial decisions instead of from statutes. American courts originally fashioned common law rules based on English common law until the American legal system was sufficiently mature to create common law rules either from direct precedent or by analogy to comparable areas of decided law. In the 2019 Supreme Court case of Gamble v. United States, Justice Thomas issued a concurring opinion discussing common law and, in particular, the role of stare decisis in a common law system. ...
At the state level, legislatures often subsequently codify common law rules from the courts of their state, either to give the rule the permanence afforded by a statute, to modify it somehow (by either expanding or restricting the scope of the common law rule, for example) or to replace the outcome entirely with legislation.....
...the requirement that courts follow decisions of higher level courts within the same jurisdiction....
A digression --
- Common law is:
- The foundation of our legal system is the Common Law of England as described almost 300 years ago by William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England. A basic attribute of the system is stare decisis:
- Today law in United States comes from enactments of legislative bodies, like Congress or the legislatures of the States and case law (judicial interpretation and application of legal principles). See this outline of "Basic Concepts of American Jurisprudence."
- The the legal system decides, through judicial process, disputes, disagreements, controversies, or legal questions. Law, including constitutions, statutes, regulations, and decisions of courts of appeal, is a tool used by courts to decide the the issues brought to court for resolution. While the parties may argue what the law is that is applicable to the case, it's up to the court, in the exercise of its judicial function to decide what law actually does apply and how it applies to the facts to decide the outcome. As the Supreme Court ruled back in 1803 (Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 2 L. Ed. 60, 1 Cranch 137 (1803), 1 Cranch at 177), "...It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is....
How about "the right to life"?Does anyone happen to know if there's anything specific in the Constitution or elsewhere in Federal law, protecting the individual Right to self defense?
In your mind, perhaps, but Heller said differentlyPhilosophically, there's no such thing as an "inherent" or "God-given" right
I think each state defines specifics of "self defense".Does anyone happen to know if there's anything specific in the Constitution or elsewhere in Federal law, protecting the individual Right to self defense?
Well, there's a whole lot of people, including the Founders of this country, that would disagree with that. If you disagree with the Founders, then I suggest you have another Constitutional Convention and come up with a new country, one that more suits your philosophy of humanity and your view of the world.Philosophically, there's no such thing as an "inherent" or "God-given" right. The only thing that's "inherent" is the law of the jungle: the strong eat the weak. Every one of our rights was wrested by force from our reluctant rulers. And we will only keep our rights through eternal vigilance.
Does anyone happen to know if there's anything specific in the Constitution or elsewhere in Federal law, protecting the individual Right to self defense?
Does that translate to "no"?I think each state defines specifics of "self defense
Philosophically, there's no such thing as an "inherent" or "God-given" right. The only thing that's "inherent" is the law of the jungle: the strong eat the weak.
. From the syllabus of Heller:protect(s) the individual Right to self defense
The Declaration of Independence has no legal standing. It's a lofty-sounding work of propaganda. According to historians, even the list of complaints against the rule of King George III was grossly overstated.It's not in the Constitution; it's in the Declaration. "...certain inalienable rights...that among these (rights) is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." If we have a right to life, then it is inferred that we have a right to protect that life.
The principal author of the Declaration,Thomas Jefferson, was a Deist (he believed, basically, that God set the universe in motion and then washed his hands of humanity). His words about God-given rights, therefore, were hypocritical. Even more hypocritical was his idea that "all men are created equal" since he himself was a major slaveholder. He didn't even free most of his own children with his longtime slave mistress upon his death!Well, there's a whole lot of people, including the Founders of this country, that would disagree with that.
The Heller decision is not what you think it is. Historically and logically, it's a confused mess, full of nonbinding dicta. It can be cited by anyone for any thing, and indeed it has been cited by the antigunners in arguing for things such as assault weapon bans.The Heller decision is common law at the Federal level.