IT’S NOT WHO BUT WHAT
Gavel Gamut by Jim Redwine
(Week of 04 April 2016)
All countries are founded on law. A country formed out of a revolution might devolve into a dictatorship. Such a country’s laws might be the changing whims of one person or a cabal. While those laws may be written and published, they are not predictable. Predictability is an essential element if a system of law is to be more than what some powerful person chooses to do.
Franz Kafka’s (1883-1924) protagonist Joseph K in The Trial is an example of a victim of a legal system without predictability.
Other countries formed after revolutions may pass laws that give special status to certain groups based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political party, philosophy, physical handicap or physical advantage. Such countries may continue on a path of discrimination or they may degenerate into a legal system that not only refuses equal status to all people but may even punish members of certain groups. On the other hand, some countries develop legal systems that evolve toward equal treatment based on behavior instead of class. Or as Sir Henry Maine (1822-1888) put it, societies that progress have systems which evolve from basing decisions on one’s status to allowing everyone to freely enter into contracts.
Predictability and freedom without prejudice for or against any person, group or belief has been the goal of America’s legal system. From the time of our Revolution against Great Britain we have by fits and starts edged toward a system of law where the mighty of the moment have been checked. We have sometimes failed egregiously but we have made great progress.
This struggle to develop a legal system where it only matters what one has or has not done, without regard to one’s status is why we celebrate Law Day each year. President Eisenhower declared a national celebration of the Rule of Law over rule by military might to contrast the United States with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union has dissolved but the world’s need to check aggression with predictable and fair laws is still critical.
On Friday, April 29, 2016 in the courtroom of the Posey Circuit Court in Mt. Vernon, Indiana the Posey County Bar Association will once again join the rest of America in a celebration of what truly makes the United States unique, our system of law. Posey County’s two high schools will once again join the Bar in presenting a Mock Trial and this year the Indiana Court of Appeals will hold an actual Oral Argument on a pending court case during the Law Day event.
Mt. Vernon and North Posey high schools will begin the ceremony with their Mock Trial starting at 8:30 a.m. At 11:00 a.m. the Oral Argument before the Court of Appeals will take place.
The public is encouraged to attend all segments of this free event and is invited to join in America’s celebration of our system of law.
