Individuals who believe their rights have been violated must challenge the government.
Chip Mellor
Forbes.com
7/12/2011
At a time when the need for constitutional constraints on government has never been greater, the courts have the potential to play a vital role. But courts can only decide cases that come before them. That means individuals who believe their rights have been violated must stand up and challenge the government in court. This is not easy to do. The financial and emotional costs of litigation are enormous burdens for ordinary people to bear in the midst of trying to live their lives. The legal process is overwhelming, disruptive and intimidating for people experiencing it for the first time.
On top of that, the presumption in favor of government that pervades most constitutional law today means that any challenge to state authority faces long odds. When subjected to a constitutionally suspect action by government, the most seductive alternative for the small business person, landowner, or individual is to try to settle with the government and get on with his life. Were that to happen in every instance, the accretion of government power would continue inexorably.
Thankfully though, there are heroic people across the nation who refuse to simply lay down. Typically, they have no legal training and have not read the Constitution, but they know at a very profound level that the principles at the heart of the American Dream are real and vital to their future. And so they go to court in the firm belief that those principles are worth vindicating no matter how hard that may be.
Let me tell you about some of these people…
The article continues at Forbes.com
