Law 101 Page 1

Jurisdiction of Government

All men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with a certain unalienable right; the right to life, which includes the rights to liberty (the exercise of a right), property (both real and personal, to own and manage), and the pursuit of happiness. Thus, we have law:

Do not violate a right.

The law of retribution states that those who violate rights waive their own. The act of violating a right is a crime, and those who commit crime do not value rights, and therefore, do not deserve rights.

The American system of law begins with a constitution. All governments, whether federal or local have to be constituted in order to exist. All of the powers that the government is to have must also be constituted to it. Likewise, the jurisdictional boundaries of the government must be established. Any powers or authorities beyond those constituted are reserved to the people.

The American form of government was established as a republic, in which the people assemble and administer it by their representatives and agents. The fundamental bases for it being that the the people are sovereign and that no one individual can give to the government powers that he himself does not possess. Nor can a majority of people give to it that which they do not possess.

The essential reason- and proper role of government- is to protect, ensure, and secure the liberties of the people. To do so, it is necessary for the government to establish curtain rules or codes of conduct (statutes) to be considered laws to do just that. However, as it was pointed out by James Madison, “it is to be remembered that the general government is not to be charged with the whole power of making and administering laws. Its jurisdiction is limited to certain enumerated objects, which concern all the members of the republic, but which are not to be attained by the separate provisions of any.” [James Madison, The Federalist # 14]

There are three types of jurisdiction any government must have in order to enact a statute or hear a case: geographical jurisdiction, which refers to the actual physical location; subject matter jurisdiction, which refers to the issue; and personal jurisdiction, which refers to the governments direct subjugation.

Geographical jurisdiction is limited to the actual boundaries of the state itself. For instance, the United States Code only applies to the District of Columbia as constituted in Article 1 section 8 clause 17 of the Constitution of the United States. Likewise, Utah Code only applies to the State of Utah; Idaho Code to Idaho, and so on as each boundary is legally defined.

Subject matter jurisdiction is limited to the actual constituted authorities. For instance, legally, the United States Code can only contain statutes under the specified topics contained in Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution of the United States, they can write statutes concerning taxation, foreign commerce, naturalization, and so on. Likewise, each State of the Union will also have specific topics over which that State has jurisdiction.

Personal jurisdiction is limited to the actual subjects of the government. In the States of America, and the United States, that jurisdiction is limited to the government itself and its officers, and foreign visitors or residents (aliens). Since the American Citizen is sovereign, none of the States or the United States have that jurisdiction over the naturally born, or naturalized citizens unless they have enumerated themselves subjected.

In any of the States of America and the United States, where citizens are sovereign, there are only two branches of government concerned with law and enforcement: the legislative branch; and the judicial branch.

The legislative branch has been constituted with powers for writing codes of conduct known as statutes, which are to be considered law. The legislative branch itself is separate from that of the other two branches of government, and where it does have the power to write all the statutes that fall within its jurisdictions, it does not have the authority or power to police those rules. That power, since it would specifically involve the rights and liberties of the people, has been reserved with the people.

The purpose of the judicial branch is to hear cases of disputes that arise concerning the statutes. However, just like the legislative branch can only enact statutes where it has constituted authority, the powers and authorities constituted to the judicial branch are restricted to hearing cases concerning the same jurisdictions.