We speak of the "rule of law," but what is it? The law school answer is complex. The "rule of law" has different facets, depending on the context. In general, the two most significant for everyday life are these:So, how are we doing with the rule of law in the US and North Carolina? What do you say, Roy Cooper?
- No one is above the law; the law applies to and is enforced with everyone equally. The President has no more exemption than the drunk bum in the gutter. Similarly, he deserves no better or worse treatment than the bum. When symbolized in art, Justice is often blindfolded and carrying a scale and sword to represent this ideal of equal justice under the law.
- The law is what governs, not the whim of a person or group in positions of power. For a society to be flourish the people must know what the rules (laws) are and have confidence that they are both supreme and stable. Whether or not the President, the NC Attorney General (AG) or some judge like a law is irrelevant. They are still bound by it and bound to enforce it. Businesses must know that the plants they build today will not be rendered unusable tomorrow because a bureaucrat decided to make a new emission rule that would cost millions of dollar to comply with. In other words, established law is supposed to govern the nation and the states, not the President's phone and pen or his EPA, not the AG's opinion or a statist judge's "living document" "interpretation" of the constitution.
