Re: Napster destroys Western Civilization

On Thu, 11 May 2000, Marty Hayes <9ball[_at_]hostsite.net> wrote in part:
>
> [...]
> there is no *natural* right to ANYTHING. As an individual, I can
> choose to do anything I want to -- the only caveat is whether or
> not I'll violate any laws in my actions. Therefore, any *right*
> we have is conferred by law -- the right to free speech; the right
> to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness; etc.

I don't know what Mr. Hayes's legal or historical basis for this claim is. The fundamental difference between the United States Declaration of Independence and Constitution, on the one hand, and the notions of human and civil rights (if any) recognized in other countries, on the other, is that, in the US system, rights are emphatically NOT conferred by law. They are natural, they inhere in the people, and the people either retain them or relinquish them as they alone see fit. The Bill of Rights make sense only in the context of rights inherent in the people. You don't have to believe, if you don't want to, that "all men are CREATED equal, that they are ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR with certain fundamental rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ..." But an unwillingness to accept that does NOT necessitate the notion that rights are conferred by law. Laws that confer rights can also take away rights. The founding fathers expressly did not want to permit that -- hence the preclusions beginning "Congress shall make no law ...".

> Robert C. Cumbow
> Graham & Dunn, P.C.
> 1420 Fifth Avenue, 33rd Floor
> Seattle, Washington 98101-2390
> Phone: 206-340-9619
> Fax: 206-340-9599
> E-mail: rcumbow[_at_]grahamdunn.com
> Website: http://www.grahamdunn.com/
>

		Big law firm experience
	without the big law firm experience.SM

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