An update from Rep. Schwaderer
One of the lesser celebrated legal characters in modern-day United States is Sir Edward Coke. His contributions to the development of common law and the rule of law are very important to the society we enjoy today.
Coke was a lawyer in 16th and 17th century England (during the time of the sailing of the Mayflower); he also served as a Member of Parliament, Solicitor General and Attorney General to several monarchs, and finally held the highest legal position at the time as Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. As Chief Justice he was second only to the King in legal authority.
Most appointees would gratefully accept an honorable position and quietly submit to the King in order to maintain their own power and interests. Coke did not. He actively sparred with the King; once arguing that the Law was above him. King James I rebuffed that he was above the Law and rather “protected” it.
With such upsetting challenges to his power, eventually King James I had Sir Edward Coke removed from his post.
Unfinished, Sir Edward Coke was re-elected to Parliament and continued the fight, being ultimately imprisoned in the Tower of London (and eventually released) for arguing that Members of Parliament should have freedom of speech while in debate.
His legal writings are thought of by many to be the foundations of our common law.
One of our oldest, if not our single oldest, legal traditions in the United States is that no man nor institution nor organization is above the law. Indeed for a true representative government to function and for law to have any meaning at all this must be the case.
Today we have a concerning development where this tradition is on the verge of being wholly disregarded by various federal bureaucracies.
The National Security Agency’s recently revealed actions are amongst the most offensive towards this doctrine. These include secret surveillance of innocent American citizens, storing records of every single phone call made in and out of America and directly accessing encrypted Outlook messaging and Skype video calls. This stands as a significant threat to historic Constitutional freedoms and rights.
This threat is not salved by the creation of the FISA Court which “approves” surveillance; as it operates outside of the normal legal scrutiny of Constitutional challenge. It has also rubber stamped nearly every surveillance request brought to it.
Great Britain has a Constitutional Doctrine of “Parliamentary Sovereignty”; that no law can ever reduce the power of Parliament. In America we have the opposite. We have a Constitution that permanently limits the powers of Congress and those powers may never be increased but by an arduous Constitutional Amendment.
Using the tools of the PATRIOT ACT and secret backroom courts to violate the privacy rights of all Americans flies in the face of the traditions we have honored for centuries.
No King, no bureaucracy, no government is above the law.