In his Two Treatises of Government, the English philosopher John Locke wrote the following:
Where-ever law ends, tyranny begins, if the law be transgressed to another’s harm; and whosoever in authority exceeds the power given him by the law, and makes use of the force he has under his command, to compass that upon the subject, which the law allows not, ceases in that to be a magistrate; and, acting without authority, may be opposed, as any other man, who by force invades the right of another.GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
Thursday, December 10, 2020
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Recently I wrote about the importance of the diversity of judges in the Rhode Island courts with particular focus on potential nominees for the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
At the time of that article, there was just one vacancy on the Court due to Justice Indeglia’s retirement. But shortly thereafter, another vacancy occurred thereby changing the calculus of who the governor might nominate for senate approval of now two nominees to the Court.
Too many of our fellow Rhode Islanders are relegated to the fringes of society. They feel at the mercy of institutions which, at best, treat them like fungible cogs in a labyrinthian machine. This not only strips their spirit but their humanity.