Letter to the Editor

Questioning court's decision

Sunday, June 12, 2011

To the Editor:

Recently, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes, a clear violation of the 4th amendment.

Justice Steven David, who voted in favor of the unconstitutional decision stated, "Allowing resistance unnecessarily escalates the level of violence and therefore the risk of injuries to all parties."

The three judges who favored the ruling may deem that if our citizens have nothing to hide from the state, then why not obey this new precedent? And to that, I say, "We may not have a lot to hide, but we certainly have a lot to lose."

For the United States to be a free nation that is guided by a Constitutional Republic, it's necessary for the citizenry to understand where their natural rights come from, so when the state or an individual is violating a natural right of another individual, the individual can then firmly and justly challenge the violation. Only when man's natural rights are not infringed upon, can man truly be free.

Every individual has a natural right to secure life. Through the law of nature, man has developed certain instincts that have allowed him to provide food and shelter for his or her individual needs. In order for man to have freewill to survive, he must have the right to his own life. This natural right of self-ownership is the control over ones own body, soul and mind.

Every individual has a natural right to secure property. In order to secure independent survival, man must be entitled to keep his land and the fruits of his own labor. The right to property, if not infringed, warrants a private place of refuge, and the obtainment of necessary resources to sustain life. Through property taxation, trespassing and compulsory acquisition, the state has been the greatest aggressor upon the sovereignty of man, his land and home.

Every individual has a natural right to secure liberty. When individual liberty is honored, each man has the freewill to do as he pleases, while still being sensitive not to infringe on someone else's natural rights. And freedom is when a man's natural rights are not aggressed upon by a government or an individual. The freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the right to bear arms, the right to privacy, and the right to make contracts, are examples of fundamental liberties, which stem from the property rights of an individual. Individual liberty will grow with increased freedom, but will be oppressed when freedom is restrained or aggressed upon.

Clarence Benjamin Leatherbury,

Senior IUPUI Kelley School of Business,

Indianapolis