Rights in Court

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Since the Mosaic code, societies have recognized certain procedures in court, in order to protect the innocent from wrongful conviction. For example, Judaic interpretation of Exodus 23:7 required that a man be brought back into court if somebody came forward with new evidence of the convicted man's innocence, but not if somebody came forward with new evidence of a man's guilt.

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“How on the basis of Scripture do we know that, if someone goes forth from court having been declared guilty, and one [of the judges] said “I have arguments to offer in behalf of a verdict of innocence,” that we bring the convicted man back? Scripture says, “You shall not kill the guiltless” (Ex. 23:7). And how do we know on the basis of Scripture that one who goes forth from court having been declared innocent, and one of the judges said, “I have arguments to offer in behalf of a verdict of guilty,” that we do not bring the man back? Scripture says “And the one who has been declared righteous you shall not slay” (Ex. 23:7).” (The Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin)

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There is historical evidence indicating that subsequent models that recognized certain limitations on government's prosecutorial power were based upon the Hebrew model (Marinov). For example, the Greeks practiced a form of jury trial and the Romans required witness examination prior to the plaintiff laying hands on an unwilling defendant and bringing him into court (Plato; The Twelve Tables).

 

The Anglo-Saxon legal system as promulgated in America included many protections otherwise unknown outside the Ancient Hebrew Republic. For example, the Bill of Rights includes the following provisions:

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"Amendment V

 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

 

Amendment VI

 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

 

Amendment VII

 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law."

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The right against self incrimination and double jeopardy cannot be found in any system outside the ones originally influenced by English common law, or that of the Ancient Hebrew Republic. Nor can such a strong right to trial by the community rather than the state be found anywhere else. As these rights come under attack, the Camden Institute says: "These rights are our constitutional heritage, they are connected to our basic human freedom and dignity, they originate in our Judeo-Christian culture, and those that oppose them stand in the way of progressive improvement in the area of law and justice." These rights in their entirety must be defended, and in fact they must be strengthened. Not only was a man not to be compelled to criminalize himself under a Biblical judicial system, he was not allowed to do so. Jesus Christ even comments on this and strengthens this command in the New Testament (Matthew 5:33-36).

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Another example is the 8th amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. The Bible also limits the amount of punishment the state can impose (Deuteronomy 25:3). In fact, the only punishments applicable to modern situations found in the Bible are restitution for most crimes, death for a few forms of violent assault (rape and murder), and strictly limited corporal punishment for a limited set of crimes. There would be no incarceration crisis under a Biblical legal system, because under that system imprisonment would be called what it is: government-sanctioned kidnapping. In fact, because of the extreme psychological duress and violence perpetrated by a prison system, there is some weight to the argument that a prison penal system is illegal under our current 8th amendment.

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In the system currently practiced by the United States, the rights of the accused under the common law and the Constitution are trampled, and therefore even if we merely accept the statement of our rights as is, with no expansion based on the Hebrew legal system, we must still stand up for them, for the threat is real and current.

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Property Rights and Civil Liberties

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Other civil liberties, such as the right to free speech and the right against unreasonable search and seizure, spring directly from the root of property rights.

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More coming soon.