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High Tech
Latest
developments.
Internet Journals
Alternative media.
Extracting
energy from the vacuum
Some ways it can be done.
Further.
Monetary
Reform Act
One way to solve the problem of
excessive national debt, from Milton Friedman
Calendar
Reform
A better system
How to
Survive a Solar Proton Flare
One or
more solar proton events may have caused a mass extinction event
12900 years ago, and could happen again.
Earth
Changes
What may
be coming.
Earth
Rule
In the end there can be only one.
Where
Aren't They?
The galaxy may be crowded with aliens.
Crossings
through Space and Time
(near death experience)
Direct and
Indirect tax
, Jon Roland
Coup
against U.S.
Coup plots against U.S
Suffolk
Resolves
(1774) Developed the issues that led to the
Declaration of Independence.
The North Briton, Number 45
,
John Wilkes. (1763) Inspired the Americans to demand their
rights, and when Wilkes and others were prosecuted for seditious
libel for this article, led the Americans to conclude there was
to be no reconciliation with the English crown; it also inspired
the First and Fourth Amendments.
Howell's State Trials
A Collection of important State Trials, from 1063 through
1815, compiled and edited by Thomas Bayly Howell, in 33 Volumes.
These cases provide precedents that defined many of the terms
used in the U.S. Constitution.
Ferguson
Grand Jury
A
Caveat Against Injustice, or An Inquiry into the Evils of a
Fluctuating Medium of Exchange
, Roger Sherman, 1752.
One of the Framers presents his theory of money.
A
Treatise on the Law of Citizenship
, Prentiss
Webster, 1891. Early classic treatise.
A
Treatise on American Citizenship
, John S. Wise,
1906. Early classic treatise.
The
Legal-Tender Acts, considered in relation to their
constitutionality and their political economy
,
Samuel T. Spear, 1875. Early classic treatise.
The
Theory of the Common Law
, James M. Walker, 1852.
Early classic treatise.
A
Treasury of Legal Quotations
, ed. Paul C. Cook,
1961. Excellent collection.
A
Treatise on the Law Concerning Names and Changes of Name
,
Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, 1906. Early classic treatise.
The
Treaty Power under the Constitution of the United States
,
Robert T. Devlin, 1908. Early classic treatise.
Trading
with the Enemy in World War II
, Martin Domke, 1943.
Review of cases.
Money
and Civilization
, Alexander del Mar, 1867. Early
classic treatise.
History
of Monetary Systems
, Alexander del Mar, 1895. Early
classic treatise.
History
of Money in America
, Alexander del Mar, 1899. Early
classic treatise.
Natural
Law of Money
, William Brough, 1896. Early classic
treatise.
Gold
and Silver Coinage under the Constitution
, U.S.
Statutes, 1789-1896.
Legal
Tender: A Study in English and American Monetary History
,
S.P. Breckinridge, 1903.
The
First and Second Banks of the United States
, John
Thom Holdsworth, Davis Dewey, 1910.
State
Banking Before the Civil War
, Davis Dewey;
The
Safety Fund Banking System in New York: 1829-1866
,
Robert Paddock, 1910.
Observations on the new
Constitution, and on the Federal and State Conventions
,
Columbian Patriot [Mercy Otis Warren], (1788) Opposition to
ratification of the U.S. Constitution without a bill of rights,
from a leading intellectual leader of the American Revolution.
History of the rise,
progress, and termination of the American Revolution
,
Mercy Otis Warren. (1805) History from one of the leading
intellectual leaders of the American Revolution.
Founding-Era
Translations of the United States Constitution
The
Constitution was translated from English into German and Dutch
at ratification, for the substantial number of people in
Pennsylvania and New York who did not speak English. This
document sets out the different texts and translations alongside
one another.
U.S.
Treasury Reports
, complete collection, 1789-1980.
Politics and the English
Language
, George Orwell (1946) Short essay on the
political uses of English.
Nineteen
Propositions from Parliament to Charles I, and his answer
,
(1642) Parliament demanded power from the king, and he made a
defense of mixed government. This was the break that led to the
English Civil War.
Women's
Rights in Early England
, Christine G. Clark,
Brigham
Young University Law Review
1, 1995.
Journals
of the Continental Congress
, 1774-1789 Government under
the Articles of Association and Articles of Confederation.
What
Is Enlightenment?
, Immanuel Kant tr. Mary C. Smith
(1784)
A
Readable Edition of Coke upon Littleton
, ed. Thomas
Coventry (1830) Cleaned but with the margin notes omitted.
HTML version still needs some work.
A
Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations Which Rest Upon
the Legislative Powers of The States of the American Union
,
Thomas M. Cooley (1868) Commentary reflecting constitutional
thought at the time.
The
General Principles of Constitutional Law in the United
States of America
, Thomas M. Cooley (1891)
Introduction by the leading constitutional scholar of his era.
An
Inquiry into the Principles and Policy of the Government of
the United States
, John Taylor (1814) A response
to John Adams'
A Defense of the Constitutions of Government
of the United States of America
by a leading theorist of
the Jeffersonian republicans.
Letters
of Junius
, Unknown (1767-72), Volume I Letters
from an English Whig and ally of Lord Camden against the efforts
of Lord Mansfield to restrict the role of juries, and on other
constitutional topics.
Institutes
of natural law
, Thomas Rutherforth (1754, Second
American ed. 1832) Lectures on Grotius
De jure belli et
pacis
.
Law
Dictionary
, Jacob Giles, 6th Ed. 1750.
Reading
recommended to the Continental Congress
Indicating what
works may have influenced the drafting of the U.S. Constitution
Iberian Constitutional History
,
600-1492. May have inspired development of constitutional
thought in England and other countries.
Constitution of the Holy
Roman Empire
, (962-1806) A dominant European
nation that was a confederation of states, headed by an elected
monarch with limited power. It's "constitution" provided some
ideas to the American Framers.
Fonet: A
new phonetic alphabet for English
Essential for spelling
reform.
Dissoi
Logoi: Two-Fold or Contrasting Arguments
, Anonymous (c.
425 BCE), Presentation of the method of using opposing arguments
to elicit understanding, and as a tool of the sophists.
Select Documents of English
Constitutional History
, George Burton Adams and H.
Morse Stephens (1904) Collection of excerpts from the main
documents that comprise the English "constitution".
The
English Constitution
, Walter Bagehot (1872)
Discussion of the English "constitution" as of that time.
Statute
of Quo Warranto
(1290) Codified the writ of
quo
warranto
as a pleading in English courts, and laid the
basis for the writ of
habeas corpus
.
Swiss
Federal Charter
(1291) The beginning of the Swiss
federal republic that inspired Locke's notion of the social
contract and the American Constitution.
Union of
Utrecht
, (1579, tr. Herbert H. Rowen 1972) Treaty that
formed the basis of the constitution of the United Provinces of
the Netherlands and was the inspiration for the American
Articles of Confederation.
Brevissima Relacion, or Short
Report on the Destruction of the Indies
, Bartolom
de las Casas (1474-1566) Spanish Dominican priest, early
champion of the rights of indigenous peoples. One-sided but
influential polemic that brought pressure to better treat Native
Americans and recognize natural rights of people everywhere.
Elementary Catechism on the
Constitution of the United States
, Arthur J.
Stansbury (1828) Q&A for the teaching of students.
Early State
Constitutions
State constitutions in use from
independence through adoption of the U.S. Constitution, for
which they served as models.
Liber
Augustalis, or, Constitutions of Melfi
(1231) Holy
Roman Emperor Frederick II established basic laws for the
Kingdom of Sicily that provided model for later constitutions of
government.
Charter
of the Forest (Carta de Foresta)
(1217) Henry III
established rights of freemen to use forest resources.
Reforms
of Simon de Mortfort
(1258-65) Had he not lost a battle,
his reforms might have ended monarchy and established republican
government four centuries before Cromwell and Lilburne.
Internment
and Resettlement Operations
, U.S. Dept. of the
Army, FM 3-39.40, February, 2010 The manual outlines policies
for processing detainees into internment camps both globally and
inside the United States.
U.S.
Grand Jury Standards
, Jon Roland Specification for a
grand jury system to comply with original understanding of the
U.S. Constitution.
Internal
Revenue Regulations
Through 2003.
De
Moneta
, Nicholas Oresme, 1484. Translated from Latin
by Charles Johnson Classic treatise on money and coinage.
The crisis: or, Essays on the
usurpations of the federal government
, Robert James
Turnbull, Brutus (pseud.) (1827) Discusses the
misconstructions of the Constitution by the Supreme Court and
Congress from a Jeffersonian standpoint, and develops the
concept of state-level nullification.
Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act
. Act of Congress,
sometimes called "Obamacare", which threatens our constitutional
liberties.
Varieties
of jurisdiction
, Jon Roland.
Judicial
Tyranny and Your Income Tax
, Jeffrey Dickstein, 1990, 2010
Review of leading cases, showing compensation for labor is not
"income" subject to taxation.
Georgicum: or a supplement to
the mirror of justices; being an account of some instances
of the practice of former times, in order to the improvement
of justice and safeguard of the constitution
,
Anonymous (1716) Recounts how corrupt judges were held
accountable.
Contemporary
Opinion of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
, Frank
Maloy Anderson,
The American Historical Review
, No. 1,
pp. 45-63 (October 1899), and No. 2, pp. 225-252 (December 1899)
Review of reactions to those resolutions.
Section
1706
Example of tax code being used to suppress small
competitors.
Lectures
on the Constitution
Jon Roland, 2008-2009.
Continental
Congress 2009 Videos
Including those from the Oct. 3,
2009, Meet the Candidates gathering at the Silver Eagle
Taphouse, McQueeney, Texas, and the Austin election Oct. 10,
2009.
Logic of
Judges
, by Jon Roland Discussion of how judges are
logically challenged.
The Laws and Liberties of
Massachusetts
, Excerpts (Adopted 1647, published 1648)
Codification of major parts of the common law that served as a
constitution for Massachusetts into the 18th century.
Draft
Amendments to U.S. Constitution
A few amendments that
might help return constitutional construction to original
understanding.
Military
Affairs
. Reports to the U.S. Congress on military
and militia matters. Volume 1 contains reports from Mar. 3,
1789, through Mar. 3, 1819. See particularly the reports on
militia organization and militia returns showing organization
and strength. Provides insight into original thinking on militia
and the right to keep and bear arms.
Parliamentary
Procedure
Links to resources on making decisions in
deliberative assemblies.
Wikipedia
Articles of Interest
. Check these for fidelity to their
subjects.
U.S.
State Legislative Rules of Procedure
Rules for each
state.
Translations
of Robert's Rules of Order, Revised
First translation is
into Portuguese.
Mostly
Unconstitutional: The Case Against Precedent Revisited
,
Gary Lawson, 5
Ave Maria L.R.
1 (2007).
The
Constitutional Case Against Precedent
, Gary Lawson, 17
Harv.
J.L. & Pub. Pol'y
23, 24 (1994).
Black's
Law Dictionary
, 2nd Ed. 1910.
The
English Constitution
, John Louis De Lolme (1771)
Discusses separation of powers, the jury system, and habeas
corpus.
Purchase Links for the Liberty
Library
Convenient links to purchase print
editions of our online works.
Letters of Marque and Reprisal
Collection
of historical examples with analysis.
Militia
Reading
Published works that discuss matters related to
the constitutional militia and the constitutional militia
movement.
United
States v. Fenwick
, 25 F. Cas. 1062 (1836); 4 Cranch
C.C. 675 Defense in criminal trial has right to
argue law before jury until bench rules on motion.
Stettinius
v. United States
, 22 F. Cas. 1322 (1839); 5 Cranch
C.C. 573 Defense in criminal trial has right to
argue law before jury until bench rules on motion.
Addressing
the Constitutionality of the Independent Counsel Statute:
Executive Control over Criminal Law Enforcement: Some Lessons
from History
, Harold J. "Hal" Krent,
38 Am. U.L. Rev.
275
, Winter, 1989, Interesting review of private
criminal prosecutions in history.
Revenue
Act of 1942
This was what first introduced withholding
"tax" on wages.
Social
Security Act of 1935
Compare to the present system.
The Law
That Always Was
, Vern Holland (1987) Treatise on the
legitimacy of the income tax.
Works of James Wilson
(1804) Includes "Lectures on Law, 1790-1792" and other
writings of the Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional
Convention.
A
brief disquisition of the law of nature, according to the
principles laid down in the reverend Dr. Cumberland's (now
Lord Bishop of Peterborough's) Latin treatise on that
subject. As also his considerations of Mr. Hobbs's
principles put into another method.
, James Tyrrell
(1692) Disquisition on natural law theory.
Internal
Revenue Code
26 USC, as of January 1, 2002.
Martyrdom of King Charles I
,
W. Delavne (1703) Sermon before House of Commons. Comments on
some of the constitutional issues involved in the trial and
execution of that monarch.
Presumption of Nonauthority and
Unenumerated Rights
, by Jon Roland, Begun November 6,
2005, in progress.
Britton
,
(written ~1290, printed ~1530) Abridged, updated, more
readable, and more widely used codification based on Bracton,
originally in the French of the English court, reflecting
changes in the law, including changes in juries.
Is
Codification of the Law Expedient?
, by William B.
Hornblower. Address delivered before the American Social Science
Association (Department of Jurisprudence) at Saratoga, N.Y.,
September 6, 1888. Discussion of debate over whether and how
to adopt statutes that codify common-law judicial precedents.
The
Trial of Thomas Paine for a Libel
, Thomas Paine.
(1792) British government prosecuted Paine for publishing
Rights
of Man
.
Mansfieldism
Reconsidered
, by Jon Roland Review of evidence for
arguing law in the presence of the jury.
Address on Libels, Case of
John Horne
, John Horne Tooke. (1777) Criticism of
indictment by information, rather than by grand jury. May have
contributed to requirement for grand juries in U.S. Bill of
Rights.
Observations on the Trial by
Jury
, Attributed to John Longley. (1815)
Commentary on the role of the jury in Britain, reflecting the
gain of the Mansfieldian movement.
Observations on the Trial by
Jury
, Anonymous. (1803) Advice to the Pennsylvania
Legislature on the role of the jury.
The Trial of Thomas Hardy for
High Treason
. (1794) Provides insight into the
practice of law in England and the interplay of conflicting
political forces.
The Case, Trevett against
Weeden, for refusing Paper Bills in Payment
. (1787)
This legal tender action may have inspired the prohibition in
the U.S. Constitution of states making anything but gold or
silver legal tender.
The Trial at Large, ... In
the Nature of a Quo Warranto, Against Mr. Thomas Amery, ,
... of the City of Chester
. (1786) This
quo
warranto
action was submitted for decision by a jury.
The Trial of John Almon,
Bookseller, ... For selling Junius's Letter
. (1770)
Publication of the
Letters of Junius
was prosecuted as a
criminal libel of the English government.
The Two Trials of John Fries
for Treason
. (1800) Provides insight into the
practice of law in England and the interplay of conflicting
political forces.
A Complete Collection of
State-Trials
, and Proceedings For High-Treason, And
Other Crimes And Misdemeanours; From the Reign of King Richard
II to the Reign of King George II. in Six Volumes.
The Present Practice of the
Court of Common Pleas
, Joseph Harrison. (1761)
Provides insight into the early practice of law.
The Attorney's Practice in
the Court of Common Pleas
, Robert Richardson. (1778)
Provides insight into the early practice of law.
The English Lawyer, showing
the Nature and Forms of Original Writs, Processes, and
Mandates
, William Bohun. (1732) Provides insight
into the early practice of law.
The Subject's Right of
Petitioning
, Anonymous. (1703) Provides insight
into the original meaning of the right to petition.
Tracts
on Political and Other Subjects
, Joseph Towers
(1796) Followup on his earlier writings on the role of juries.
Essays
and Treatises on Moral, Political, and Various Philosophical
Subjects
, Emanual Kant (1798) Includes some of
Kant's lesser-known writings.
Short Hints upon Levelling
A Charge to the Grand Jury of Middlesex
, William
Mainwaring. (1791) Reveals Tory-Mansfieldian linking of jury
rights to fears of property re-distribution.
Considerations on the
Respective Rights of Judge and Jury; Particularly upon
Trials for Libel
, John Bowles. (1791) Leading
exposition of the Mansfieldian movement to curtail the role of
juries, which spread to the United States.
A General Charge to All Grand
Juries, and Other Juries
, James Astry. (1725)
Provides insight into the early role of juries.
An Argument in Defence of the
Exclusive Right Claimed by the Colonies to Tax Themselves
,
with a Review of the Laws of England, Relative to Representation
and Taxation, to Which is Added, an Account of the Rise of the
Colonies, and the Manner in which the rights of the subjects
within the realm were communicated to those that went to
America, with the exercise of those rights from their first
settlement to the present time. (1774) Arguments of English
members of Parliament who agreed with the protests of the
American colonists.
An Analysis of the Laws of
England
, William Blackstone. (1762) Commentary on
early English law.
The
Miscellaneous Works of J. J. Rousseau
(1774)
Includes
Social Compact
and
A Project for a
Perpetual Peace
.
The Dissertation of John
Selden, Annexed to Fleta
. (1771) Commentary on
early English law.
Appeal Brief in
Matson v.
Thomas
, John Valentine (1720) Oldest known legal
brief in British North America, got precedent that British
colonists in North America had inherited the rights of
Englishmen, laying the foundation for the American War of
Independence.
Selected
Works of Edward Coke
(~1628) Commentary on English
common and statutory law, including the
Institutes
and
the
Reports
.
Lives
of the Noble Grecians and Romans
, Plutarch (~75)
See especially the lives of
Solon
,
Lycurgus
,
Pericles
,
Marcus Cato
, and
Cato the Younger
.
The Trial of
John Peter Zenger
, 1735. 17 How. 675. The jury decided
that truth was a defense against libel.
U.S.
Statutes at Large
, complete collection, 1789-2007.
Completed 2009/01/05.
U.S. Code
,
partial collection, 1926
Citizenship
, U.S. War
Department Training Manual 2000-25 (1928) Civics textbook for
training Army troops.
Legal
Research by the use of Corpus Juris Secundum
, Donald
J. Kiser (1924) Guide for students of the law.
The Elements of the Common
Lawes of England
, Francis Bacon (1630)
Treatise on English Common Law.
An account of Denmark, as it
was in the year 1692
, Robert Molesworth (1694)
Commentary on Denmark that is really a commentary on
constitutional issues in England.
The
American Manual, or, The Thinker
, Joseph Bartlett
Burleigh (1854) Civics textbook focusing on U.S. Constitution.
Inquiry
into the Moral and Religious Character of the American
Government
, H. W Warner (1838) Commentary on the
relation between government and religious practices.
Cooper
Union Address
, Abraham Lincoln, February 27, 1860.
United
States Constitution
, Jon Roland. Entry in
Encyclopedia
of Leadership
, Vol. 4, Ed. George R. Goethals, Georgia J.
Sorenson, & James MacGregor Burns, Sage Publications,
2004.
A
Policraticus
,
John of Salisbury (1159), various translations Argued that
citizens have the right to depose and kill tyrannical rulers.
The
Mechanism of the Modern State
, John A.R. Marriott
(1927) An analysis of the British system of government
compared to other systems, especially those of ancient Athens,
Switzerland, and the United States.
A
Summary of the Law of Contracts
, C. C. Langdell.
(1880) Develops an interpretative approach to law based on
private (contract) law, from the formalist standpoint.
A
Brief Survey of Equity Jurisdiction
(Selections), C.
C. Langdell. (1908) Exposition from formalist standpoint.
A
Treatise on the Conflict of Laws
(Selections from),
Joseph H. Beale (1935) The topic is developed with a
historical and theoretical perspective.
The Nature of the Judicial
Process
, Benjamin N. Cardozo (1921) Discusses the
debate between legal realists and constitutionalists.
If It's Not a Runaway, It's Not
a Real Grand Jury
, Roger Roots,
Creighton L.R.
,
Vol. 33, No. 4, 1999-2000, 821 Examines constitutional issues
involved in current practices involving grand juries.
George Mason's Master Draft of
the Bill of Rights
, 1788 June 9.
The Lost
History of the Ninth Amendment: The Lost Original Meaning
,
by Kurt Lash, Professor of Law and W. Joseph Ford Fellow, Loyola
Law School, Los Angeles, Feb. 2004.
Woe Unto You,
Lawyers
, Fred Rodell, Professor of Law, Yale
University, 1939 Criticizes the legal profession.
The Constitution of the
United States
, John Randolph Tucker (1899)
Commentary by the grandson of the editor of
Tucker's
Blackstone
.
Are Cops Constitutional?
,
Roger Roots,
Seton Hall Constitutional L.J.
2001, 685
Examines constitutional issues involved in professional law
enforcement.
Losing
Liberty Judicially
, Thomas James Norton (1928)
Examines how courts have gone along with departures from
original understanding.
Greek
Ligatures
Tables of ancient and medieval character
combinations and abbreviations, useful for rendering manuscripts
into Greek fonts.
De jure
magistratuum
(On the Rights of Magistrates)
,
Theodore Beza (1574) Swiss Calvinist theologian, Knox's
co-pastor in Geneva, argues that lower level magistrates have
duty to defend people from higher level magistrates.
On Misreading John Bingham and
the Fourteenth Amendment
, Richard L. Aynes,
Yale Law
Journal
, October, 1993, Page 57 Argues that the
Fourteenth Amendment was understood by its authors and ratifiers
as extending the jurisdiction of U.S. Courts over cases between
a citizen and his state over rights protected in the U.S.
Constitution.
A Treatise on American
Citizenship
, John S. Wise (1906) Discussion of the
history and principles of various kinds of citizenship.
Liberty, Metaphor, and
Mechanism: "checks and balances" and the origins of modern
constitutionalism
, David Wootton (2003). (In MS Word
version, click on an endnote exponent to open the endnotes
frame.)
The
History of the Common Law of England
, Matthew Hale
(1713) Important reference for the Founders.
The Path of the Law
, Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Jr., 10 Harvard Law Review 457 (1897) Classic
statement of the doctrine of legal realism, that the "law" is
what judges do, or can be expected to do, rather than what is
logically required from first principles or historic enactment
of black letter law.
Journal of William
Maclay
Maclay served as senator from Pennslyvania
from 1789 to 1791 and kept a private journal of his experiences
that is highly revealing.
Evolving
Complex Networks in Constitutional Republics
, by Jon
Roland Examines how changing network structures can reveal how
political and economic processes behave and misbehave.
Fairfax County Resolves
(1774) Developed the issues that led to the Declaration of
Independence.
Constitutional
View of the Late War between the States
, Alexander
Stephens (1868) Vice-President of the Confederacy explains why
the war was fought.
Abuse of
Judicial Discretion
, Jon Roland.
Laws
,
Plato (~348 BCE) Model laws for a republic, including
sortition and militia.
A
Short Treatise on Political Power
, John Ponet (1556)
Argues political power is limited by natural law, and no ruler
may exercise absolute power.
Discourse
on the Constitution and Government of the United States
,
John C. Calhoun.
Still the Law of the Land?
Essays on Changing Interpretations of the Constitution.
Forward by Forrest McDonald. 1987. Hillsdale College Press.
An Essay on the Lacedmonian
Government
, Walter Moyle (1698) How the Spartan
constitution given by Lycurgus inspired English political
philosophers.
Considerations
on the Constitutionality of the President's Proclamations
,
John Henderson (1854) Commentary on executive orders.
Considerations
on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their
Decline
, Charles Montesquieu (~1734) Historical
analysis that laid the basis for his
Spirit
of Laws
and Gibbon's
Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire
.
Lopez Speaks, Is Anyone
Listening?
, David B. Sentelle DC Circuit Justice reviews
reception to
U.S. v. Lopez
. 45 Loy. L. Rev. 541, Fall,
1999.
Two
Essays: On the Foundation of Civil Government, On the
Constitution of the United States
, Thomas Cooper
(1826) Commentary on constitutional theory.
The
Leveller Movement
, Theodore Calvin Pease (1916) A
study in the history and political theory of the English Great
Civil War.
Three
Human Rights in the Constitution of 1787
, Zechariah
Chafee, Jr. (1956) Historical analysis of free debate,
prohibition of bills of attainder, and freedom of movement.
Tucker's
Blackstone
The
Commentaries on the Laws of
England
by William Blackstone was the canonical
codification of the Common Law, but it needed to be adapted to
the needs of the U.S. Constitution. This was done in 1803 by St.
George Tucker, one of the Founders, who republished the
Commentaries, and added commentaries of his own, making the
needed adaptations.
The
Civil Law
, tr. & ed. S. P. Scott (1932)
Includes the classics of ancient Roman law: the Law of the
Twelve Tables (450 BCE), the Institutes of Gaius (180), the
Rules of Ulpian (222), the Opinions of Paulus (224), the
Corpus
Juris Civilis
of Justinian (533), which codified Roman
Law, and the Constitutions of Leo.
The Common Law
,
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Discussion of some but not all of
the elements of the Anglo-American common law.
Nondelegation
and the Administrative State
Questions of the legitimacy
of delegations of legislative powers to executive branch
agencies.
Case of the Imprisonment of
Edward
Bushell
, for alleged misconduct as a Juryman, 1670. 22
Charles II. 6 How. 999. Having failed to convict Penn, the
prosecution sought to punish the jurors, but failed, thereby
establishing the right and duty of juries to judge the law as
well as the facts in criminal trials.
The Trial of
William Penn and William Mead
, at the Old Bailey, for a
Tumultuous Assembly, 1670. 22 Charles II. 6 How. 951.
Established the right of religion.
Principles of Constitutional
Interpretation
, Jon Roland
Sortition for Judges
, by Jon
Roland.
The
Sortition Option
Articles and links on this method.
Selected
Works of Marchamont Nedham
(~1650) English columnist
comments on political issues of his era.
Introduction to the Study of
the Law of the Constitution
, Albert Venn Dicey (8th
Ed., 1914) Comparative analysis of the constitutional orders
of several nations, focusing on Britain.
Lex,
Rex (The Law is King)
, Samuel Rutherford (1644)
Theological arguments for the rule of law over the rule of men.
Texas
Textbook Review
Efforts to reform the ways textbooks are
written.
The
General Principles of Constitutional Law in the United
States of America
, Thomas M. Cooley (1891)
Introduction by the leading constitutional scholar of his era.
The
Evolution of the Constitution of the United States
,
Sydney George Fisher (1897). Traces each of the clauses of the
U.S. Constitution back to previous colonial, state and other
government documents.
A Constitutional History of
the United States
, Andrew McLaughlin (1936)
Perhaps the best single textbook on the subject, winner of the
1936 Pulitzer Prize.
State
Documents on Federal Relations
, Herman V. Ames
(1911) Debates among the states on the Constitution,
1789-1861.
Construction
Contrued and Constitutions Vindicated
, John Taylor
(1820) A commentary on some of the misconstructions of the
Constitution by the Marshall Court.
Tyranny
Unmasked
, John Taylor (1821) An attack on the
constitutionality of protective tariffs and other violations of
the original understanding of the Constitution, as seen by the
leading spokesman for the Jeffersonian "Old Republicans".
A
Healing Question
, Sir Henry Vane (1656) He was tried for
writing this in a famous trial that tested the right of free
speech.
A Dissertation on the Nature
and Extent of the Jurisdiction of the Courts of the United
States
, Peter Stephen Du Ponceau (1824) Discusses
the various kinds of jurisdiction,
in locum
,
in
personam
, and
in subjectam materiam
, and the
limits of the jurisdictions of each kind of court.
A Brief View of the
Constitution of the United States
, Peter Stephen Du
Ponceau (1831) Introduction to the Constitution for students
and foreigners.
Union
Now
, Clarence K. Streit (1939) Classic treatise on
international conflict and federalism.
Discourse on Voluntary
Servitude
, tienne De La Botie (1548, tr. Harry
Kurz 1942) People are ultimately responsible for their
servitude, and non-violent resistance can win their freedom.
A living
constitution or fundamental law?
, Herman Belz (1998)
American constitutionalism in historical perspective.
Cato
(A
Tragedy in Five Acts)
, Joseph Addison (prem. 1713) Play
about Cato the Younger, which inspired the Founders, especially
George Washington.
The
Student Council
, Harry C. McKown (1944) Classic
treatise on the subject that the webmaster used to draft a
student constitution in high school.
First
Principles
, Herbert Spencer (1862-99) Spencer sets
forth the fundamentals of his philosophic views.
Criminal
Libel and the Duty of Juries
, Joseph Towers (1764, 1784),
Francis Maseres (1792) Three essays on the right of
defendants, especially in criminal libel cases, to have the jury
decide the law as well as the fact issues.
The
Elements of the Art of Packing, As Applied to Special
Juries, Particularly in Cases of Libel Law
, Jeremy
Bentham (written 1809, published 1821) Critical treatise on
abuses of the English jury system and ways to reform it, which
provides a historical background to practices that continue to
this day. The first publisher in 1817 of excerpts from this work
was prosecuted twice for doing so, and the second three times,
but in each attempt, juries acquitted them.
Sources
of the Constitution of the United States
, C. Ellis
Stevens (1894) Traces each of the key provisions of the
Constitution and Bill of Rights to their historical sources.
The
Law of Treason in the United States
, James Willard
Hurst (1945, 1971) The Constitution imposes strict limits on
what can be punished and how it can be proven.
Hurst's
Law of Treason
, Introduction by Jon Roland,
Published in
University of West Los Angeles Law Review
,
Vol. 34, 2002.
Conflict
of Criminal Laws
, Edward S. Stimson (1936)
Jurisdiction for a criminal offense is limited to the territory
where the offender is when the offense is committed, not where
the effects occur.
The
New Organon (Novum Organum)
, Francis Bacon (1620),
tr. Spedding. et al. Includes
The Great Instauration
and
Preparative toward a Natural and Experimental History
Discourses
Concerning Government
, Algernon Sidney (1698)
Built principles of popular government from foundation of
natural law and the social contract.
Patriarcha
, Robert
Filmer (1680) This defense of absolute monarchy provoked Locke
and Sidney to write their major works.
The
Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution:
1625-1660
, Samuel Rawson Gardiner, ed. (1906) The
English "commonwealth" led by Cromwell didn't endure, but many
of its ideas did.
New
Views of the Constitution of the United States
, John
Taylor (1823) A discourse on the constitutional nature of the
American union reflecting views of Jefferson and Madison.
Selected
Political Writings of Voltaire
, (~1764) Includes
The
Philosophy of History
and
A Treatise on Toleration
.
De
Republica Anglorum
, Thomas Smith (1565, 1583)
Written while he was ambassador to France, describes the
constitution of England under Elizabeth I in a way that
indicates tendencies toward republican ideals.
The
American Republic: its Constitution, Tendencies, and Destiny
,
O. A. Brownson (1866) Argument against secession,
distinguishes the constitution of government from the underlying
constitution of the society, and territorial from socialistic or
egoistic democracy.
Utilitarianism
, John
Stuart Mill (1863) Ethical theory that formed the basis for
his political theory.
Politica
,
Johannes Althusius (1614, Abr. & tr. Frederick S. Carney)
First presented a comprehensive theory of federal republicanism
based on a covenantal model of human society.
Selected
Political Works of John Milton
Includes
Areopagitica
(1644),
Tenure of Kings and Magistrates
(1649), and
Defense
of the People of England
(1651).
Sources
of English Constitutional History: 600-1937
, Carl
Stephenson & Frederick George Marcham (1937) Collection of
the documents that define the English "constitution".
The
Origins of Modern Constitutionalism
, Francis D.
Wormuth (1949) Historical analysis of the key constitutional
concepts.
The
Elements of Law Natural and Politic
, Thomas Hobbes
(1640) Discussion of the natural law foundations of
government.
The
Law of War and Peace
, Hugo Grotius (1625) Sets out
principles of natural law and the laws of nations.
Against Writs of Assistance
,
James Otis, 1761 February 24
Disquisition
on Government
,
John C. Calhoun (1831)
Constitutionalism: Ancient
and Modern
, Charles Howard McIlwain (1947)
Discourse on the origins and development of constitution theory.
The
Principles of Morals and Legislation
, Jeremy Bentham
(1781) Introduced utilitarianism, to provide a better
theoretical foundation for penal statutory law than natural law
theory.
Of
Crimes and Punishments
, Cesare Beccaria (1764) Set
out rights of the accused in criminal proceedings. Argues for
crime prevention over punishment, and against the death penalty
and torture.
Selected
Works
, Harvey Wheeler Papers on Francis Bacon and
constitutional history and law.
Intent of the Fourteenth
Amendment was to Protect
All
Rights
, Jon Roland
The
Revival of Natural Law Concepts
, Charles Grove
Haines (1930) Review of natural law theory as the foundation
of constitutional law.
The
Principles of Natural and Politic Law
, J. Burlamaqui
(1748, tr. Thomas Nugent 1752) Commentary on the natural law
ideas of Grotius, Hobbes, Puffendorf, Barbeyrac, Locke, Clarke,
and Hutchinson.
Points
of Rebellion
, by William O. Douglas Supreme Court
justice reveals the breadth and depth of official corruption and
abuse of constitutional rights and limits on powers.
Public
Safety or Bills of Attainder?
, Jon Roland. Published in
University
of West Los Angeles Law Review
, Vol. 34, 2002.
Man
the Reformer
, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841).
Pro Se
Handbook
Local copy of guide available from
here
.
On
the Duty of Man and Citizen According to Natural Law
,
Samuel Pufendorf (1673, 1682 tr. Frank Gardner Moore) Based
law and right on natural law.
Art of War
, Sun Tzu
(475-221 BC) Maxims for military strategists.
Plato Redivivus
,
Henry Neville (1681) Argued for limits on the powers of
government.
Selected Works of
Thomas Jefferson
Includes complete
Writings of
Thomas Jefferson
, Albert Ellery Bergh, ed., 19 vol.
(1905).
Selected Works of
Walter Moyle
, (~1696-1721, pub. 1796) Includes
Constitution
of the Roman State
, a commentary on English constitutional
issues from a Whig perspective.
Second
Amendment Law Library
Scholarly articles, federal and
supreme court decisions, and legal briefs.
Selected
Works of the Levellers
(1645-9) Militia leaders who
sought legal reforms later sought by the American Revolution and
embodied in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Includes
An
Agreement of the Free People of England
, an early attempt
at a republican constitution.
Communist
Manifesto
, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1848)
Statement of their objectives.
The
Man versus the State
, Herbert Spencer (1884) How
the servants try to become the masters and majorities become
oppressive.
The
Doctrine of Fascism
, Benito Mussolini (1932)
Provided tyranny a formal doctrine.
Utopia
,
Thomas More (1516) Satirical analysis of shortcomings of his
society and a vision of what could be.
The
Moral Equivalent of War
, William James (1906)
Seeks solution to problem of how to sustain political unity and
civic virtue without war or a credible threat.
Selected
Political Works of Richard Price
Includes
Civil
Liberty
(1776) and
Importance of the American
Revolution
(1784).
Six
Books of the Commonwealth
, Jean Bodin (~1590 tr.
Richard Knolles 1606, tr. & abr. M.J. Tooley 1955)
Originated modern ideas of
sovereignty
, the
state
,
and
citizenship
.
Relectiones
,
Franciscus de Victoria (lect. 1532, first pub. 1557) Includes
De Indis
and
De iure belli
, arguing for humane
treatment of native Americans and of enemies in war, providing
the basis for the
law of nations
doctrine.
Undermining
the Constitution
, Thomas James Norton (1950)
Constitutional scholar examines departures from constitutional
compliance arising from New Deal.
The Virginia Report
,
J.W. Randolph, ed. (1850) Documents and commentary arising out
of the controversies attending the Alien and Sedition Acts,
including the
Kentucky Resolutions
of 1798 and 1799 and
the
Virginia Resolution
of 1798, which set forth the
"Doctrine of '98" concerning constitutional interpretation, and
led to the "Revolution of 1800", the dominance of the
Jeffersonians, and the demise of the Federalist Party.
Art
of War
, Niccol Machiavelli (1520) Argues for a
strong militia system.
Discourses
on Livy
, Niccol Machiavelli (1517) Argues for the
ideal form of government being a republic based on popular
consent, defended by militia.
LaRosa
Reports
, by Benedict D. LaRosa Report on Ruby
Ridge, Mt. Carmel, and Davidian trial.
Votescam
,
by James & Kenneth Collier Report of investigation of vote
fraud in the United States. Guide for how to conduct such
investigations.
Documentary History of the Bill
of Rights
From the English Bill of Rights through the
proposed amendments of the state ratifying conventions to the
drafts debated in Congress before adopting the final version.
Militia
Treatises
, James B. Whisker Standard references on
the subject. Includes
The Militia
(1992) and
The
American Colonial Militia
(1997).
A
Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United
States of America
, John Adams (1787-89) Argued for
a broad interpretation of national powers. Comprehensive
collection of quotes from political philosophers and historians
that influenced the Founders.
Perpetual
Peace
, Immanual Kant (1795) Further discussion of
natural right and the plan for peace.
Questions
of Public Law
, Cornelius van Bynkershoek (1737)
Develops the law of nations and constitutional (public) law
beyond Grotius and Pufendorf.
Federal
Usurpation
, Franklin Pierce (1908) Historical and
constitutional analysis of how corruption, zealotry, and
incompetence combined to violate the Constitution.
The
Constitution of the United States: Its History, Application,
and Construction
, Chapter 5: Legislative Powers,
Chapter 25: Police Power, David K. Watson (1910) Comparison of
the powers of the national and state governments.
Vindiciae
Contra Tyrannos (Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants)
,
"Junius Brutus" (Orig. Fr. 1581, Eng. tr. 1622, 1689) In 1683
it was ordered to be burned.
Introduction
to the Metaphysics of Morals
, Immanual Kant (1785),
tr. W. Hastie (1785).
Fundamental
Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals
, Immanual
Kant (1785), tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott (1785).
Selected
Writings of Thomas Paine
Includes
Common Sense
(1776) and
Rights of Man
(1792).
Selected
Works of Edmund Burke
Commentary on the American and
French Revolutions and the political issues they raised.
The
Law of Nations
, Emmerich de Vattel (1758) Based
constitutional and civil law on the law of nations.
The
Grand Jury
, George J. Edwards (1906) Classical
treatise on the grand jury, unequalled to this day.
The
New Atlantis
, Francis Bacon (1626) Utopian vision
of the new world.
Constitutional
Conventions
, Roger Sherman Hoar (1917) Treatise on
the way a body politic manifests its sovereignty.
A Discourse of Government
with Relation to Militias
, Andrew Fletcher (1698)
Analyzes importance of the militia to legitimate government, law
enforcement, and national defense.
De
Cive (The Citizen)
, Thomas Hobbes (1641-47)
Discussion of the natural law foundations of government.
Recent
Changes in American Constitutional Theory
, John W.
Burgess (1923) Constitutional scholar surveys departures from
constitutional compliance from 1898 through 1920.
Selected Works of James Madison
Selected writings bearing on constitutional interpretation.
A
Vindication of the Rights of Women
, Mary
Wollstonecraft (1792) Set forth the arguments for women's
rights. Mother of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of
Frankenstein
.
An
Essay on the History of Civil Society
, Adam Ferguson
(1767) The evolution of societies and their forms of
government.
The
Subjection of Women
, John Stuart Mill (1869)
Argues for full equality of women.
|
A
David
Hoffman,
The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of
Terror
, 1998, Feral House Pr. Expos of the Oklahoma
City bombing.
Manual of Parliamentary
Practice
, Thomas Jefferson (1811).
Invisible
Contracts
, by George Mercier Presents interesting
theory of the legalistic fictions used by usurpers.
How
to render documents
Short manual on scanning printed
documents and converting them into web pages.
The
Spirit of Laws
, Charles de Montesquieu, (1748, tr.
Thomas Nugent 1752) Laid the foundations for the theory of
republican government, particularly the concepts of the
separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judicial,
a federal republic, representatives elected from political
subdivisions, a bicameral legislature, and a system of checks
and balances.
The
Commonwealth of Oceana
, James Harrington (1656)
Outline of a plan for republican government.
The
Social Contract
, Jean Jacques Rousseau (1762)
Discussed legitimate government as the expression of the general
will.
A
Discourse on Political Economy
, Jean Jacques
Rousseau (1755) Discussion on the economic principles
affecting the politics of a society.
A
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
, Jean Jacques
Rousseau (1754) Discussion on political inequality, its
origins and implications.
Political
Treatise
, Baruch de Spinoza (1677) Constitutional
considerations of various forms of government, including ideas
that later influenced the Founders.
De
Cive (The Citizen)
, Thomas Hobbes (1641-47)
Discussion of the natural law foundations of government.
A
View of the Constitution
, William Rawle (1829)
Early commentary on the Constitution and how it should be
interpreted. Made point that the Bill of Rights also applied to
the states, something that would later be denied, then partially
reassserted by the 14th Amendment and the doctrine of
(selective) incorporation.
Code
of Hammurabi
(~1700 BCE) Early Mesopotamian legal code
laid basis for later Hebraic and European law.
The
Debates in the Several Conventions on the Adoption of the
Federal Constitution
, Jonathan Elliot (1836) A
collection of documents, including proceedings of the ratifying
state conventions.
Of
the Original Contract
, David Hume (1748) Discussed
the balance between coercion and consent in actual societies and
their governments.
Politics
,
Aristotle (350 BC) Laid out the alternative forms of
government.
Liberty
Library of Constitutional Classics
Gathers together
links to the classic literature on constitutional government,
either already on this site or planned for the future. May be
offered on a CD-ROM.
Commentaries
on American Law
, by James Kent (1826) Kent's
Commentaries
succeeded
Tucker's Blackstone
by reformulating the
relevant content of Blackstone's
Commentaries
and
integrating Common Law with Constitutional Law up to that time.
The complete 5-volume work is being converted. Here is what has
been converted so far.
Commentaries
on the Constitution of the United States
, by Joseph
Story (1833) Authoritative commentaries by an early Supreme
Court justice who helped shape interpretation of the
Constitution for the next century. The complete 3-volume work is
being converted. Here is what has been converted so far.
Madison's
Notes on the Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787
.
These are the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention held
in Philadelphia. an essential guide to interpreting the intent
of the Framers.
Freedom's Frontier Atlantic
Union Now
, by Clarence K. Streit Classic treatise
on international conflict and federalism. Also see a
Review
by Jon Roland.
Robert's Rules of Order
Revised
Online version of 1915 edition. Essential
manual for parliamentarians of deliberative assemblies.
Oklahoma
City Bombing
, April 19, 1995 Page devoted to this
atrocity. Reports on possible exposure of the real culprits.
U.S.
National Militia Directory
Subsites for each state with
links to local sites.
The
meaning of the phrase "well-regulated" in the 2nd amendment
,
Brian T. Halonen Newsgroup posting.
Law
Dictionary
, John Bouvier (1856). Also available as
two self-extracting executables:
Part
1
and
Part 2
.
Let's Revive Private
Prosecutions
by Jon Roland. Calls for use of private
prosecutors in cases of public corruption and abuse where public
prosecutors unwilling to prosecute.
Brief on Private Prosecutions
Provides cites for recent cases involving use of private
prosecutors.
U.S.
Citizen Crime Prevention & Law Enforcement Directory
Guide to neighborhood watch, cellular on patrol, citizen police
academy, and related programs.
Talk/News
Radio & TV Directory
Keep the talk hosts informed on
what is going on among reformers and dissidents.
Constitution Violated, Not
Suspended
Letter to Dr. Gene Schroder from Jon Roland,
May 14, 1995.
Is
the Constitution Suspended? Article from
The New American
by Thomas A. Burzynski, Feb 5, 1996.
Landmark
U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
Selected decisions with
commentaties.
Battle of
Athens
Report of 1946 confrontation between militia of
McMinn County, Tennessee, and corrupt local officials.
U.S.
State Constitutions and Web Sites
Directory of links to
all 50 Web sites, some local copies of state constitutions.
National
Constitutions
Collection of links to national
constitutions, both remote and local.
Jurisdiction over
Federal Areas within the States
Report of the
Interdepartmental Committee for the Study of Jurisdiction over
Federal Areas within the States (1956).
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