Life, liberty, justice for all and so on and the legal system that was designed to ensure that the people enjoy the pursuit of happiness efforts without being unfair to others,will always be an incomplete system with room to improve. Justice is not in the law books; it is in the hearts of men and women who make value judgments on various matters. But I believe that there is a fundamental guiding principle that helps judges and the jury and the government to use of proper discresion in making decisions of complex nature.
2006-07-15 15:28:30 · 5 answers · asked by stvenryn 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
They summed it up better than anyone could...
2006-07-15 15:34:12 · answer #1 · answered by john_stolworthy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The basic guiding principle behind drafting the U.S. Constitution is explicitly stated in its Preamble:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
2006-07-15 22:35:28 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My answer is probably not what you were looking for, based on the discussion after the question, but there is a "basic guiding principle behind drafting the US constitution--in 1 sentence":
The constitution is intended and designed to prevent despotic single persons or bodies of persons from ruling unrestrained.
The document maps out the not only proverbial but actual checks and balances. Power is limited. It is limited in term. It is limited in scope. It is limited in balance with others, also of limited term and scope, to various respective basic purposes.
2006-07-15 22:36:59 · answer #3 · answered by Rabbit 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The single guiding principle is that the government's roles are clearly defined and limited to a specific set of tasks so as not to impede on the private freedoms and rights of individuals.
2006-07-15 22:32:16 · answer #4 · answered by jonny c 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe the strongest line there - that was some many years ago, remember - is "to govern with the consent of the governed."
2006-07-15 22:35:13 · answer #5 · answered by whoknew 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋