Rule of Law

This article asks the provocative question: "Does the rule of law even exist in the U.S. anymore?"
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/06/15/does-the-rule-of-law-even-exist-in-the-us-anymore/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Flaw%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Law+Blog%29

In many ways, the answer is no. Lawmakers essentially change the rules in the middle of the game. Public officials choose to enforce some laws but not others, or enforce laws inconsistently. They even make up stuff on the fly, as we are now seeing our president do with BP. (If you're not aware, there are already laws governing responsibilities in the event of an oil spill.)

You see some people get speeding tickets, others do not. I can show you people literally every week running red lights with impunity because they know that this law is not enforced. As if on cue, yesterday, at a major intersection near my house, I saw a police car run a red light while turning left. You can't make this stuff up.

I have seen city councils change their rules regarding what businesses can be located where. And then when that didn't work (threatened by lawsuits), change the way the the existing rules were interpreted.

And then there is immigration. I have talked about this before; here are a couple of the most relevant posts:

• Address the root cause of illegal immigration, June 14, 2010
• Immigration: "Messed-up system", May 27, 2010
• Ice Cream and Immigration, May 13, 2010

Not only do different government agencies interpret the same laws in different ways, these government agencies often find themselves in conflict. Witness the case of the White House's opposition to the recent Arizona immigration law.


None of this is good. It makes people mistrust the government and ignore or openly flout existing laws.

For example, some people got the Census long form and refused to answer. There is no Constitutional reason to ask all the questions on the long form. Yet when people decline to answer (answering only the questions that are on the short form) they are threatened with prosecution. (One person I know still refused and ultimately the government backed down.)

I happen to believe that the main root cause of such problems is that governments at all levels have too much power. When they have such power, they will use it--not always (not often?) wisely. Furthermore, maintaining such power requires a lot of resources. Taxes and fees go up (check out the price of a pack of cigarettes lately?). And some laws are selectively enforced in order to maximize state revenue, not to protect citizens.