OUR NATIONAL ARMY

It is to protect these rights, rather than property itself, that communities have their police, that states have their militia, and that the nation has its army and its navy.  Among the chief causes that led us into war with Germany was the fact that Germany was violating the property rights of our citizens.  While our Constitution provides for state militia and a national army for the defense of our rights, property rights included, it has always been our national policy to maintain as small a standing army as is consistent with the national safety; and this for the very reason that a large standing army and a large navy are not only a great burden of expense, but also, as the founders of our nation believed, a menace to the liberties of the people and to the peace of the world.

THE SERVICE OF THE COURTS

We have seen that no person may be deprived of property by the government “without due process of law.”  This means that the procedure provided by law must be followed, and that the citizen whose property is taken may have his side of the case presented, the value of the property in question appraised by impartial judges, and so on.  It is the business of the courts to see that justice is done.  They inquire into the facts in the case, and interpret the law bearing on it.  The courts are the final safeguard to our liberties.  Our government comprises, therefore, not only a law-making branch and a law-enforcing branch, but also a law-interpreting, or judicial, branch—­the courts.

THE RIGHTS OF ACCUSED PERSONS

The Constitution guarantees justice to persons accused of violating the property rights, or other rights of citizens, by theft, fraud, or otherwise, as well as to the citizen who has been wronged.  “In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed ... and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense” (Amendment vi).  “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Amendment viii).

Investigate and report on: 

How are property rights guaranteed in your state constitution? in the national Constitution?

Read the charges made in the Declaration of Independence against the King of England with respect to the violation of property rights.

“Due process of law.”

The violation of property rights by Germany as a cause for war.

Are property rights as sacred in time of war as in time of peace?