“Equal Justice Under Law” is chiseled in Stone on the front of the U.S. Supreme Court building.

Created Equal

All men are created equal is one of the most important doctrines that our founders espoused. It means that no one is above the law. Kings are not above the law, groups are not above the law, no individual is above the law but there is “equal justice under law.”

In 1776, the idea that no one is above the law was popular during the founding of the United States.  Thomas Paine in the pamphlet Common Sense said, “in America, the law is King, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.”

In the United States, the Supreme Court is the final authority on the interpretation of the Constitution and all the statutes and regulations created pursuant to it. We may not agree with all their interpretation of the laws and statutes but they become the law of the land.

All government officials in the United States, the President, the Justices of the Supreme Court, and all members of Congress, pledge first and foremost to uphold the Constitution. These oaths affirm that the rule of law is superior to the rule of any human leader.

The opening of the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, states as follows:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Law is King

When Thomas Jefferson first wrote these words in the Declaration of Independence it was the opposite of the political theory of the day The Divine Right of Kings.  The Divine Right of Kings was the doctrine of the British Crown asserting that Kings got their right to rule from God and were subject to no one.

Plato wrote around 350 BC:
Where the law is subject to some other authority and has none of its own, the collapse of the state, in my view, is not far off; but if law is the master of the government and the government is its slave, then the situation is full of promise and men enjoy all the blessings that the gods shower on a state.

This Rule of Law and Equal Justice under the law is a far cry from the statement by our current President during his campaign where he said:

“We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old – and that’s the criterion by which I’ll be selecting my judges.”

Throughout the world, states and nations use the symbol and statues of Lady Justice. Lady Justice is blindfolded but not blind and she holds a set of scales symbolizing the balance and the strengths of hearing both sides of the issue.

The law is not our feelings, our background, our empathy but is the interpretation of the law and the Constitution. A document that was written by our founders and has served us well throughout our history. A document that was sealed in the blood of those who fought and died for our ideals and values.

Citizen Journalism

So what does this have to do with real estate, blogging?

Nothing and yet everything.

Just as our Founding Fathers utilized the strength of citizen led journalism and pamphleteering to spread their message of freedom and launch the American Revolution, we must seize upon the power of the internet and blogging to defend the Liberty they fought so hard to deliver to us.

If Thomas Paine were alive today he would be a blogger. Blogging provides opportunities for everyday citizens to speak about issues that truly matter. Thomas Paines first pamphlet Common Sense was first printed anonymously to spread the fires of the American Revolution.

The opinion expressed here is the authors own and not necessarily those of all the bloggers on Agent Genius.

Photo Credit Supreme Court Building

Photo Credit Lady Liberty