A Confusion of Words in America Today 
By Karen Kerin

Words do matter and sometimes it is wise to take stock of what they mean. The commonly confused words are freedom, justice, liberty, republic, democracy and the law. So let us take those words for what they mean.

Democracy – That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens directly or indirectly through a system of representation as distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy or oligarchy. Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, MN (1990) at page 432. You will note that democracy allows for the "tyranny of the majority" so feared by the founders because by its mechanisms Socrates was forced to take poison hemlock. Bad things can come from mob rule.

Liberty – Freedom from all restraints except such as are justly imposed by law. Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, MN (1990) at page 918. You will note that it was the unjust laws of the King that caused the cry for liberty that drove our move to rebellion and independence from the British Empire. Throughout history there have been many slaves who enjoyed liberty, but theirs was restrained by the master, who could at any time withdraw that liberty and frequently did.

Republic – A commonwealth; that form of government in which the administration of affairs is open to all the citizens. In another sense, it signifies the state, independently of its form of government. Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, MN (1990) at page 1302. You will note that ours is a constitutional republic, meaning that the form and limits of the government are clearly defined setting forth three branches of government, the Legislative, Executive and Judicial in a constitution. 

Freedom- The state of being free; liberty; self determination; absence of restraint; the opposite of slavery. . Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, MN (1990) at page 664. You will note the huge distinction between freedom and liberty and the massive gulf between freedom and slavery because only a free person has the God given right of self determination.

Justice – Proper administration of laws. In jurisprudence, the constant and perpetual disposition of legal matters or disputes to render every man his due. . Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, MN (1990) at page 864. You will note that in our system there are civil and criminal types of issues, unlike other forms of government (such as in Islamic states) that might include religious issues. Our justice system has taken great care to insure a fair outcome by utilizing a jury, something common only in some Western nations. Many in our legal community would like to eliminate jury nullification, that power of a jury to find someone guilty or not guilty, despite the inclinations of a judge.

Law – That which is laid down, ordained, or established. A rule or method according to which phenomena co-exist or follow each other. Law, in its generic sense, is a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having binding legal force. [citations omitted] The ‘Law’ of a state is to be found in its statutory and constitutional enactments, as interpreted by its courts, and, in absence of statute law, in rulings of its courts. . Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, MN (1990) at page 884. It is important to recognize that courts do not make laws except in those rare instances when statutory law or constitutional law are absent. Courts are not to reinvent by ruling based solely on their preference, when either the plain language or the intent of the drafters makes clear what the law requires.

In Vermont there have been some laws made by the courts, and actually, ratified by the legislative body, completely opposite to the Founders intentions. You will notice that all definitions are from the premier law dictionary, substantially the work of lawyers over many years and weighted by that famous Marbury v. Madison case where the U.S. Supreme Court declared itself the arbiter of the meaning of the constitution. From that has sprung the odious practice of stare decisis which simply means that a similar case is determinative of the out come of a new, but similar case. How ridiculous, because today one can use the computer to search the decisions of a huge variety of court decisions and find complete opposites that are used in argument before a court, giving great advantage to the prejudices of the bench. After sufficient iterations, the law becomes twisted out of all recognition. If you doubt it, consider the law of Vermont, which in 1947 consisted of a single book entitled "Vermont Statutes" as compared to the current three bookshelves of "Vermont Statutes annotated". Just what are the annotations? They are the changes in the statutes made by the court and utilized today to even further twist things out of shape from the original intent. 

Rules are even worse as the court has promulgated three books of rules of the various courts and only the Almighty can discern what the administrative rules, regulations, policies and procedures might be, because under the "Administrative Procedure Act", the agencies have created a mountain of material that is not readily searchable and is scattered in the various agencies, apart from the archives maintained by the Secretary of State, but not indexed in any meaningful way that would permit a person to find everything pertaining to an issue.

One of the great tragedies is the destruction of the final portion of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to "redress of grievances". The Eleventh Amendment which reads, "The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of a foreign State." Yet, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, "Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 167 n.14: "Unless a state has waived its eleventh Amendment immunity or Congress has overridden it….a State cannot be sued directly in its own name regardless of the relief sought." In other words, your First Amendment Right to sue your own state for redress of grievances is barred. Now that is a travesty of justice, but our Attorney General uses it to protect government from its own citizens. Are we really free? That question must await another time and more research, but at present, there are serious questions.
 

Karen Kerin is a candidate for Attorney General