How the Common Law Can Save Our Republic.

King John signs the Magna Carta on the Fields of Runnymede, June 15, 1215, guaranteeing our right to a jury, to no unreasonable searches and seizures and to no taxation without representation and vote, among other rights.

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Lex Rex: The Common Law Is King
How the Common Law and our Constitutions Can Save Our Republic

By Dan Cox, January 20, 2024“Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations:” Psalm 119:89-90 (AV); “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8Outside of England’s Parliament stands a statute of Oliver Cromwell with his sword in hand but at rest, looking down at a resting but alert Lion at his feet. This does not symbolize support for Cromwell’s so-called “Glorious Revolution” and the wrongdoing that occurred with it^[1], but instead stands as a testament to Britain and the world that government – of the People – under the Rule of Law solely issued by the People in their House of Parliament, is supreme. Absolutism by elites cannot stand in the face of law and justice.“Government – of the People – under the Rule of Law, is supreme. Absolutism by elites cannot stand in the face of law and justice.”This principle is not new and is relevant for instructing today’s injustice by the Biden administration just as much as the unjust kings of England. The common law, embracing natural, revealed and self-evident constitutional rights, is as old as civilization itself. The common law’s foundations, including unchangeable and undeniable legal maxims and rules of law, inform the foundations of any righteous Constitution or system of constitutional order. It is a bedrock of freedom.The Common Law: Ruling by Eternal Principles of JusticeOur American Republic is great because our principles of justice and law apply equally to all regardless of religion, race, or social status. A tenant of property has the same right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures as a landowner; here in America as in democracies such as the United Kingdom, the history of the maxim “a man’s house is his castle” was foundational to the establishment of our Fourth Amendment and our very existence as a nation^[2]. Take, for example, the relevance of the famous English case law at common law providing the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and to defend oneself in one’s own home. In 1499 a case was first laid down with this “castle doctrine” rule:If one is in his house, and hears that such a one will come to his house to beat him, he may assemble folk of his friends and neighbors to help him, and aid in the safeguard of his person; but if one were threatened that if he should come to such a market, or into such a place, he should there be beaten, in that case he could not assemble persons to help him go there in personal safety, for he need not go there, and he may have a remedy by surety of the peace. But a man’s house is his castle and defense, and where he has a peculiar right to stay.Y.B. Trin. 14 Henry 7 (1499), reported in Y.B. 21 Henry 7, fol. 39, Mich., pl. 50 (1506) (‘‘Anonymous.’’ No case name).In 1591 a manual on the Office of the Justice of the Peace stated that “our law calleth a man’s house, his castle, meaning that he may defend himselfe therein”^[3].More famously at common law still cited regularly today in court^[4], in 1604 a man named “George Berisford died while still owing a debt to one named Peter Semayne, so Semayne secured a writ for the Sheriff of London to seize Berisford’s goods and papers from his home to satisfy the debt. But Berisford’s home now belonged to Berisford’s former joint tenant, Richard Gresham, who refused to let the sheriff in. When Semayne sued Gresham for frustrating the execution of the warrant, the King’s Bench ruled in Gresham’s favor. Sir Edward Coke summarized the court’s decision by emphasizing that one’s home is his “castle,” “fortress,” and “surest refuge”:That the house of everyone is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence, as for his repose; and although the life of man is a thing precious and favored in law; so that although a man kills another in his defence, or kills one per infortun’, without any intent, yet it is felony, and in such case he shall forfeit his goods and chattels, for the great regard which the law has to a man’s life; but if thieves come to a man’s house to rob him, or murder, and the owner of his servants kill any of the thieves in defence of himself and his house, it is not felony, and he shall lose nothing, and therewith agree . . . every one may assemble his friends and neighbours to defend his house against violence . . . because domus sua cuique est tutissimum refugium [to everyone his house is his surest refuge].Semayne’s Case, 77 Eng. Rep. 195, 5 Coke Rep. 91a (K.B. 1604).The home secures its residents from all forms of injustice by government or society. As William Pitt the Elder (Prime Minister from 1766–68, whose son William Pitt the Younger was Prime Minister who worked with William Wilberforce in banning slavery in the United Kingdom) famously explained in 1763,The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail—its roof may shake—the wind may blow through it—the storm may enter—the rain may enter—but the King of England cannot enter!— all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!William Pittenger, ORATORY SACRED AND SECULAR 146 (1878).^[5]The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail—its roof may shake—the wind may blow through it—the storm may enter—the rain may enter—but the King of England cannot enter!— all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement! – William Pitt the Elder, Prime Minister, 1763Restoring the Common Law and Our Constitutional Principles Can Save our RepublicThe common law and our Constitution, if enforced by Congress against the Biden administration for instance, would immediately halt the illegal collapsing of our Borders and the weaponization of the Biden administration’s agencies against conservatives and President Trump. Joe Biden is not permitted to be a dictator, yet that is what he is doing and every federal agency official who goes along with his bitter attack against Americans who believe America should be great again are each acting completely outside their constitutional, statutory and common law authority.Judges can also end this tomorrow – the Judiciary can still help save America – if they begin to enforce the Constitution against this tyrannical regime which is presently sending in federal agents to target peaceful Americans who Joe Biden wishes to silence. Peaceful law-abiding Americans such as your local gun shop owners, sheriffs, and Catholics and protestant Christians who are pro-life.These words by William Pitt were also of inspiration to me in fighting the tyrannical lockdowns and “mandates” of 2020-21 because of a similar right – the right to leave one’s home and obtain work, earn money to live and buy food, to speak and engage in societal association, all without harassment from any absolutist “ruler” misusing emergencies and arrogating to himself authority that does not exist under the rule of law. For after all, what does a right in one’s home matter at all if one has no right to live in it, and such right to live necessitates the right to work, to earn money to eat and feed one’s family, and to engage in association and society.Equal justice means equality at law, and this is the essence of the historic common law. But these principles have not always been upheld nor followed by civilized “law abiding” nations.On June 15, 1215 the people of England convened in several rag-tag armies on the Fields of Runnymede near the banks of the Thames River and surrounded by force the King pro tempore, King John, and established a lasting guarantee of constitutional rights for its citizens upon the laws of nature and nature’s God. That document, the Magna Carta, is known worldwide as the guardian of justice; its principles are laid down in the English Common Law, a treatise on which I possess, study and cite by Blackstone, titled “The Commentaries on the Laws of England.”Maryland enacted the Magna Carta as part of its supreme law of the land in its Constitution and Declaration of Rights. Article 5 sets it down along with all those rights in existence in England “on July 4, 1776.” One of the more famous phrases from the Magna Carta is recited word for word or in similar principles in our Declaration of Rights, such as no suspending of laws except by the Legislature itself (Art. 9), free speech (Arts. 2 & 10), jury trials (art. 5), requirement of warrants (Art. 26), and in Article 24 a near word-for-word rendition of the Magna Carta’s most famous lines guaranteeing due process: That no man ought to be taken or imprisoned or disseized of his freehold, liberties or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or, in any manner, destroyed, or deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or by the Law of the land. Const. of Md., Decl. Rights, art. 24, amend. by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978.The ancient Scottish axim, Lex Rex, meaning the Law is King, was merely a recitation of the fact that Rex Lex, or, the King is Law, is self-defeating and circular in logic; no one may invent to themselves their own law, for laws that change by emergencies or by dictate of men and not by due process before a Legislature not departing from the common law and its maxims, are therefore not law at all. This is why we have checks and balances in our government: so that if the Legislature were to make laws contrary to the constitution or common law, the courts must overrule it as not law and nullify the same. Similarly, no Executive authority may violate such constitutional law or the common law, for any reason, even in times of war. This is not a new concept; our Founders said the same and it is enshrined in our constitution in Maryland at this very moment: That the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, apply, as well in time of war, as in time of peace; and any departure therefrom, or violation thereof, under the plea of necessity, or any other plea, is subversive of good Government, and tends to anarchy and despotism. Const. of Md., Decl. Rights, art. 44, amend. by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978.^[6]Socialism Threatens Civilization by Eliminating Natural Rights to PropertyThe sad rising embrace by the West and the Biden administration of socialism and the bloody tenets of communism – those ideas ignorantly displayed in Marx’s Communist Manifesto that our institutions and families are evil and must be toppled and as Obama said “permanently changed” – are not only self-defeating as they always have been, but are evil and must be opposed as the medieval demons of injustice that they are. Take, for instance, the recently announced fleecing of Maryland real property owners with the 30-50% rise in property taxes, all while the liberal newspapers lie to Marylanders that the current administration has “not raised taxes.” Lies like this will destroy our freedom. Like the horror where a “doctor” claims to be helping his patients only to be discovered that he is killing them, lies that undermine the rule of law as to our property rights are evil because that impacts our ability to live, to raise a family, to enjoy the fruits of our labor as God designed us to do.All of this is also subject to the terrifying fact that reckless spending by wealthy and out-of-touch politicians have put our country in financial peril, with an over 130% unsustainable national debt-to-GDP output ratio. Our nation is nearly $34 trillion dollars in debt and that number is growing daily by millions, much of this being owed to Communist China. That is over $100,000 per person born at this time owed in their lifetime to government debt.Justice is never capricious; it is settled, stable, unchangeable and sure. The rule of law means the rule of the unchanging principles of justice. This is what brings peace and happiness to the civil society.No society is perfect, but the rule of law allows change according to the principles of justice and peace. Case in point is William Wilberforce’s triumphant victory over slavery in England as depicted in the movie Amazing Grace without firing a shot but according to the rule of law. Contrast that with the bloody and horrific French Revolution, which was so outside of law and justice that the end resulted in the guillotine for the man who put so many to the same death.Until recently in America, we have tended to take for granted the principles of justice. For instance, it seems that not many Americans understand that we are in a fight for the very life of our country and the rule of law. Everyone, even many Members of Congress, seem to not have a sense of urgency about our unstable legal and economic condition.Possibly because they are not “poking the bear” by speaking up in their communities against the injustice occurring, they may wish to ignore what is happening because they are not yet feeling the personal power of it. But President Trump is dead-on when he says we need to “Save America.” President Reagan said the same over and over again as well, that without work to preserve our principles of law, we will “descend into 1000 years of darkness.” And this is not new: the prophet Jeremiah said nearly 2,700 years ago that we must “work for the peace of the City… and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” (Jeremiah 29:7 (AV)). The way back is for every American to begin enforcement of the common law and the constitution through challenging every lawless behavior that rears its ugly head toward us. If they overtax you, appeal it. If everyone does this, they may get the message. If they threaten you, expose it publicly; darkness is not overcome unless brought into the light. If they fire you from your job because of your faith or disability, sue them for discrimination. If they require you to sign something against your better judgment, or demand to track your healthcare information at your doctor’s office, refuse. If a government-paid social worker or healthcare “worker” comes into your private medical appointment to sit in with your doctor or nurse, reject them and demand they leave (this has happened in Maryland). You have a right to medical privacy. If they require you to submit to masking or injections of any kind, tell them where their evil mandates can go – back to hell where they belong. Above all else, do not be silent. Now is the time to speak publicly. “Silence in the face of evil, is evil” wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer.Americans may not realize how close we could be to this darkness at this moment. But this is why we must act, it is why we must be involved, and it is why we must vote. To not do so would be to hold God in contempt of the liberties our forefathers bequeathed to us. To not do so would be to spit on the graves of those brave men and women buried at Arlington. To not do so would be to surrenderour children to the Devil’s tyranny. God forbid, and long live freedom and victory.This article is educational and does not constitute either legal or medical advice and may not be relied upon as such. This disclaimer is required by the Bar of Maryland and the government Boards of Medicine and Nursing.^[1] Such as religious intolerance and banning Christmas, among other wrongs.^[2] Cuddihy, William J., ‘The English Law of Search and Seizure, 1485–1642’, The Fourth Amendment: Origins and Original Meaning 602 – 1791 (New York, 2009; online edn, Oxford Academic, 1 Jan. 2009), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367195.003.0003, accessed 20 Jan. 2024.^[3] William Lambarde, EIRENAR- CHA 257 (1591); cited by, Firearms Policy Coalition in its Amici Curiae brief filed with the Supreme Court in the case Caniglia v. Strom, no. 20-157.^[4] Id., Firearms Policy Coalition in its Amici Curiae brief filed with the Supreme Court in the case Caniglia v. Strom, no. 20-157, pgs. 6-7.^[5] Id.^[6] Const. of Maryland, adopted by the Convention of 1867. Official Md. Manual online. https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/00dec.html , accessed January 20, 2024.