My Study and Quest of the law

In the 70’s the I read with interest in the original Akkadian language the first known law code of Hammurabi from around 1750 BC. In 2003, I gazed at Hammurabi’s statue in Baghdad, Iraq recognizing the reverence and pride the Iraqis still hold for him. In college, I also read in the original Greek language the great writings on law of Solon the law giver in Ancient Greece about 600 BC. I have met Greeks who are very proud of him. I have read the Magna Carta in the original Latin issued in 1215. We in the United States take pride on this document as a precursor to our own concept of the law.

Our recent struggles in the area of civil rights have brought many cases before the court as we struggle to apply due process to the states based on the 14th Amendment. Every complaint is not monumental but when one risks jail because of it or loses property because of it, it is significant. Everyone deserves to know the jurisdiction of a court over subject matter before it. An abuse of discretion may seem minor but every accretion of power must be checked or we fall back from our historic pursuit of law and a just legal process.