Code of Hammurabi, King of Babylon, 1770 BCE, Photo: ancient pages.com Example: “If someone is too lazy to keep their dam in proper condition, and then the dam rupture and all fields are flooded, the land whose dam the rupture occurred in will be sold for money, and the money must replace the corn it caused to be ruined.”
by Mary W Maxwell, LLB
Where does law come from? Non-human animals don’t seem to have it. I mean they don’t have the externalized kind like we have. They can’t go “look it up in a book.” They may have a way of enforcing justice in a particular matter. If one squirrel finds another squirrel looting her buried acorns, she might give the looter a boot, but she can’t bring the whole society in to adjudicate the matter or determine if compensation is due.
When did humans have written law? Well, it must have been sometime after writing was invented, which was perhaps 3,000 years BC. Even before there was writing, though, and even during the time that preceded language, humans had some laws.
A person comes into the world as a member of a family and a community. The adults have already got a way of doing business and the kid absorbs the routine. Children readily express distress if they see things being done the wrong way. Perhaps the sentiment of the maxim, Lex semper dabit remedium — “Law always provides a remedy,” came about in the distant past.
This series arises from the book Eusociality by EO Wilson (my mentor for the last 43 years). He is trying to figure out if the dear H sapiens species belongs in the category with the 17 species that have so far been discovered to have eusociality. A eusocial society has such tight social coordination that it can act as a unit. Somehow each individual member knows enough to carry out its part in the program.
Law
The idea of humanity as eusocial rings a bell with me, in that I feel our species has created law as a sort of exoskeleton. Law holds a society together the way a turtle’s shell (known as an exoskeleton) holds that animal together. Although law is not biological in the way that a turtle’s shell is biological, the creating of law is nonetheless a biological characteristic of our species.
It is possible for an animal to use environmental resources to create a thing, as when a beaver builds a dam. Or it may use material in its own body, as when a spider spews out the threads that make a spiderweb. What is it that human are using when they create law? I think the answer is contained in the law maxim: Lex est dictamen rationis — “Law is the dictate of reason.”
Humans have a terrific reasoning ability. Thus, when they are asked to answer a question about right-and-wrong, they start to reason it out. Law has developed in the Western world (and probably the Eastern world but I am only familiar with the West) by applying reason.
Justice
Frederic Bastiat, writing in 1850, defined law as justice. During the Paris Commune, he saw that law was being presented as something that should make people conform for conformity’s sake. No, he cried, law exists to protect each persons’ life, liberty, and property. Bastiat’s book, The Law, says:
“What, then, is law? It is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense…. If every person has the right to defend — even by force — his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows that a group of men have the right to organize and support a common force to protect these rights constantly. … Law is justice. And it is under the law of justice — under the reign of right; under the influence of liberty, safety, stability, and responsibility — that every person will attain his real worth and the true dignity of his being.”
Many people have the notion that justice exists as a sort of thing. It’s up there in the sky; it’s real. I don’t think it’s real. The real part of justice is the carrying out of individual decisions, particularly judicial decisions, about conflicts between people.
A Word about Truth
We can’t get anywhere on enforcing justice if all our words are lies. In the last ten years I have seen many court cases that are completely fake. This is technically known as abuse of process, but it is much more than that. It turns society upside down..
Lately I have written a book, Unreality, about the Sandy Hook massacre where 20 children are said to have been shot dead. I believe it’s not a true story. I think that the government put on a show of school violence, for the purpose of scaring the nation. They told a story of a man, Adam Lanza, killing his mother at home, then breaking into the school, and killing 26 persons plus himself.
There is basically no physical evidence that this happened. “Skeptics” who search for the death certificates get punished. Frederic Bastiat would not approve!
So who can go to court to seek justice? I think the American citizenry deserves a day in court to get “declaratory relief” sorting out that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax (if indeed it was a hoax). Deception has become a terrible part of our public life.
Under current law, “the citizenry” does not have standing in court. But through their elected politicians, citizens have standing to advise government prosecutors to charge the relevant persons with crime. (or simply to do it by a citizen-led Grand Jury.) Below I present an abbreviated list of criminal charges that seem appropriate if Sandy Hook was a hoax.
Punishing the Hoaxers of Sandy Hook
The following crimes will be considered briefly: misprision, homicide, child abuse, slavery, moral neglect, threatening a whistleblower, obstruction of interstate commerce, tampering with a witness, terrorism, imposture, and menticide.
Misprision. This is an old-fashioned crime, meaning you did not do your duty of keeping your society on the up and up. Federally it is codified at 18 USC 4:
“Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.” [Emphasis added]
I recommend that when you want to report a crime to the police, and they try to dismiss you, just read them 18 USC 4.
Homicide. This crime has no statute of limitations. One person kills another. So who killed Adam Lanza? or his mother Nancy Lanza? Is either of them really dead? Under Connecticut penal code, murder is the intentional killing of another person, punishable by up to 60 years in prison and up to $20,000 in fines. The minimum sentence served is 25 years.
Child abuse. Many children were interviewed on TV saying how they reacted to the events of December 14, 2012. I say it was child abuse to make all those kids lie. (That is, assuming my hypothesis is correct.) But I didn’t expect I could nail it down as a Connecticut crime. Aha, yes, I can! In Chapter 939, Offenses against the Person, we find: sec 53-21 (a) Any person who willfully or unlawfully:
“permits any child under the age of sixteen years to be placed in such a situation that the life or limb of such child is endangered, the health of such child is likely to be injured or the morals of such child are likely to be impaired, or does any act likely to impair the health or morals of any such child … such person shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of which five years of the sentence imposed may not be suspended ….”
Slavery. Any child who is made to do immoral things for an adult, by coercion, is acting as a slave. Thanks to the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, slavery is a crime. See 18 USC 1589:
“(a)Whoever knowingly provides or obtains the labor or services of a person … (4) by means of any … pattern intended to cause the person to believe that, if that person did not perform such labor or services, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint, shall be (d) imprisoned not more than 20 years. (This applies to adult as well as child slavery, of course.)
Moral Neglect. The following is not part of the penal code, but of the Child Protection Service, re issues of child custody. Moral neglect is:
“Exposing, allowing, or encouraging the child to engage in illegal or reprehensible activities by the person responsible for the child’s health, welfare or care or person given access or person entrusted with the child’s care. Evidence of Moral Neglect includes but is not limited to: stealing, using drugs…, and involving a child in the commission of a crime…”
(Note: per Keith Harmon Snow’s book, In the Worst Interests of the Child, Connecticut courts do terrible things to children. Yes, I said the courts.)
Tampering with a Witness. Under Connecticut General Statutes, sec 53a-151, this is a Class C felony:
“(a) A person is guilty of tampering with a witness if, believing that an official proceeding is pending or about to be instituted, he induces or attempts to induce a witness to testify falsely, withhold testimony, elude legal process summoning him …”
That law should have the effect of encouraging Connecticut state employees to yield up the needed information where they know that witnesses were tampered with.
Obstruction of Interstate Commerce. There are many federal laws against a free flow of commerce over state borders, for example, the one that covers insurance: 18 USC 1033:
(a) (1)Whoever is engaged in the business of insurance … and with the intent to deceive, makes any false material statement or report or willfully and materially overvalues any land, property or security— (2) The punishment for an offense under paragraph (1) is a fine or imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both,
Whoever is engaged in the business of insurance and whose activities affect interstate commerce or is involved (other than as an insured or beneficiary under a policy of insurance) in a transaction relating to the conduct of affairs of such a business, knowingly makes any false entry of material fact in any book, report, or statement of such person engaged in the business of insurance with intent to deceive any person, … shall be punished as provided in paragraph (2).
Terrorism. I think the entire nation was assaulted by the Sandy Hook story of a massacre. All parents would have added a new worry to their list of worries, even if only subconsciously. Their kid is away all day at school — maybe something terrible is happening. Just look up 18 USC 2332 on terrorism:
(1) activities that (A) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the US or of any State…. (B) appear to be intended—to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy …
Providing financial support to terrorists is a separate crime. Ahem.
Threatening a whistleblower. From the website cga.ct.gov:
“Connecticut’s whistleblower law, like other state laws and the federal law, provides a process for public employees to disclose information about a statutory or code violation, mis-management, abuse of authority, or waste of public funds, among other things. The law protects these whistleblowers by making it illegal for other employees, officers, or appointing authorities to take any personnel action against them in retaliation for their disclosure of improper activities.”
Financial Fraud. Anyone who collected a donation on the basis of being a victim of the massacre (or a bereaved person), but who was not actually a victim or bereaved, can be punished. Some money came in via the United Way, and some from Facebook pages or other personal advertisements. Many 501(c) foundations were approved by IRS in connection with the tragedy. There were also trips made by the bereaved to attend functions sponsored by government or by charitable organization. Expenses paid to the traveler were perhaps frauds against the payer.
The largest potential donation to be made to the families is the $33 million settlement that has been offered by the maker of the Bushmaster gun in Soto et al v Remington/Bushmaster. If it gets paid out, and if Sandy Hook was a hoax, the plaintiffs could be charged with the crime of fraud and perhaps extortion.
Larceny. Under Connecticut General Statutes 53a-119
(6) Defrauding of public community. A person is guilty of defrauding a public community who (A) authorizes, certifies, attests or files a claim for benefits or reimbursement from a local, state or federal agency which he knows is false; or (B) knowingly accepts the benefits from a claim he knows is false.
(5) Extortion. A person obtains property by extortion when he compels or induces another person to deliver … by means of instilling in him a fear that, if the property is not so delivered, the actor or another will: (A) Cause physical injury to some person in the future; … (D) accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be instituted against him; or (E) expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule; … or (H) use or abuse his position as a public servant by performing some act within or related to his official duties, or by failing or refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some person adversely… [Emphasis added]
Conclusion
I argue that law is the dictate of reason. Lex est dictamen rationis.
Via law, we have a big protection over us, holding society together. I described law as an exoskeleton and compared it to the shell of a turtle.
In regard to the Sandy Hook matter, you may think I was just looking for an excuse to air my grievances. Correct! I see the various Connecticut and Federal laws listed above as the proper way to overcome a division in society and to battle against fakery.
It is normal to prosecute crimes and it is so strange that we have gone all shy.