you sue me, I sue you

    Today is "Law and Order" day, according to an email I received from your government and mine. Law and order, including civil law and order, is the American way, in a way. Our famous pilgrims, for example, landed on Plymouth Rock and then sued each other frequently. Reading their court records makes them seem like an obnoxious bunch of people who couldn't settle their differences without going to court. The most outrageous example was the two men who sued each other over a foot and a half of land for thirty-five years. But when you consider the alternatives to going to court--starting fights, making trouble to get your way, suing people starts to look like the civilized way to go.

law and order

     Some of the oldest written history in the world is in the Old Testament. The society described in the Old Testament had a hereditary priesthood, and a code of laws, both civil and criminal. These laws included the distinction between murder in a fit of passion and murder in cold blood. They included financial liability laws, such as who should bear the financial burden of a deceased cow, when the cow was left in care of someone else. Their civil laws also provided for the cancellation of a contract to borrow money, if done within three days--something we have only instituted recently. The Old Testament people had laws against rape, including a provision that if the woman could have been heard by her neighbors, she should have cried for help. If the woman could not have been heard by anyone, crying out was not deemed necessary to prove a case of rape. Our modern investigators use a technique similar to what Daniel did when he was sure two men were lying--he separated them, and each told a different story.
     The genesis of all law codes is the people. Those who believe that we have the right to govern ourselves also believe that we are all more prosperous and secure when we have the capacity to insist on a set of  standards, and to enforce them in such a way that the "public" is satisfied with the result. For instance, murder has been known to start a blood feud that can last for generations, and endanger all of the people in the community. If we want our community to survive, crimes have to be dealt with in a way that convinces people that the law works for them.