Most Americans would agree that in this country people are rightly considered to be innocent until proven guilty. There is a law, however, which holds its victims not merely guilty until proven innocent, but for those who find themselves under its control, absolutely, arbitrarily and indefensibly guilty.
No defense is permitted or possible against the function of this law or the penalties imposed by it, as its operation is not based upon any debatable question of any act that may or may not have been committed by the accused. It is instead based purely upon his or her “status”. Once the victim’s status is thus determined, thereby subjecting him to this law’s penalties, the exact nature of punishment is determined by a mathematical formula.
This formula and the law in question, itself, were designed and debated in secret. The law was furthermore passed by secret vote, without the names of anyone directly involved in this process being known or discoverable. Any legal criticism or challenge to the validity of the reasoning for, or rationale underlying the enactment of this law, is prevented, by virtue of the fact that any such rationale is not disclosed or objectively knowable. Only a small amount of effectively irrelevant speculation on this matter can be found.
This law arbitrarily transfers the assets of its victims to others. The above mentioned formula is essentially a simple calculation of fifty percent of the victim's assets, as legitimately and legally acquired by him or her during a particular time period in their lives and clearly held or titled, exclusively, in their own individual names. Perhaps even worse than what has so far been described is the fact that virtually ALL of the victim's assets, even above and beyond those above mentioned as acquired during a particular time period, can very easily be likewise subject to arbitrary confiscation for transfer to another individual, based upon the aforementioned calculation.
Such law may seem disgraceful and outrageous, particularly in this modern age of great concern with justice and, in particular, the natural right of a person to retain the product of his own labor. However, it has proven extremely resilient in the face of any efforts to challenge, eliminate or reform it. It has even been challenged in the United States Supreme Court as being in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits “..seizure of assets without due process”. This challenge failed.
I would like to know if there is anyone reading these words who can think of any such law as above described, but which law would nonetheless in some way be just or defensible, how he would so justify or defend it, and what name he would assign to it.
-------------------- "There is no force so powerful as an idea whose time has come."
...Everett Dirksen
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