[Modernman]

Every human being has fundamental rights that cannot be justly infringed. This is the founding philosophy of our republic.

I have to ask the question again: How do you propose that we go about determining when fundamental rights have been unlawfully infringed upon? (and remember, no right, not even fundamental rights, are absolute) There needs to be a mechanism that is better than "everyone gets to decide for themselves." If you can think of any system other than an independent judiciary (which, granted, makes mistakes sometimes)which balances all of the competing factors.....

[thoughtomator]

I propose that the judiciary follow the law, as is the duty with which it is charged. This is the mechanism that our system was designed with, and it is to this that we must return. As a modest step in that direction, I propose that all court orders must include a direct reference to the law that grants the court the power to issue such an order.

[45Auto]

The problem is that the judiciary is no longer independent, and perhaps it never was. Judges are just humans - they are subject to prejudice, personal opinion, political bias, criminal intent, bribery, blackmail and just plain insanity. The problem is the lack of honor and integrity and intellectual honesty when it comes to basic Constitutional issues. The 2nd amendment is a case in point, but we needn't go into that here.

While I agree that there is a lot of room for interpretation of case law, certain basic Constitutional provisions should be far less fluid, in my opinion.

[Don Joe]

I have to ask the question again: How do you propose that we go about determining when fundamental rights have been unlawfully infringed upon? (and remember, no right, not even fundamental rights, are absolute) There needs to be a mechanism that is better than "everyone gets to decide for themselves." If you can think of any system other than an independent judiciary (which, granted, makes mistakes sometimes)which balances all of the competing factors.....

As one of the founders pointed out, laws are not written for the decent people. If everyone was decent, we wouldn't need laws. We have laws because we have criminals, basically. Laws are simply a way of putting down on paper the sort of behavior that a civilized society cannot endure.

That, at least, is what the founders intended.

Now, when the laws veer from that standard, and those who decide the law and enforce the law become corrupt, chaos ensues.

[GregoryFul]

The Constitution was written to be plain enough for the common man to understand it. The trouble is, lawyers have so damaged the language that they can make a case for common misunderstanding of the word 'is'. And judges sometimes rule in a paradoxical way, suddenly reversing hundreds of years of people's previous understanding of the law.