Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others

George Orwell, in his 1945 novella Animal Farm, includes the oft-quoted passage, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".

Our hard-working Federal regulators take this passage literally.  This week, it was reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is poised to issue the first-ever permit to a wind farm to kill bald eagles, our national symbol.  It is estimated that the proposed wind farm, to be located in Minnesota's Goodhue County, may kill up to 15 (per year) of the majestic birds that appear on our coins, bills, and other symbols of our republic.  Keep in mind that it is against the law to so much as possess an eagle feather.


Meanwhile, in North Dakota, the Federal government was moving in the opposite direction.  The U.S. Attorney there attempted to prosecute 7 local oil companies for the deaths of 28 ducks.  At an average of 4 ducks per company, that's only about a quarter of the kill rate that the Feds were o.k. with here in Minnesota.  A Federal judge threw out the North Dakota case.

Back in 2009, ExxonMobil was not so lucky.  The oil company was ordered by the Feds to pay $600,000 for the deaths of 85 birds (no eagles) over five years over a five state area.  That works out to 3.4 birds per state per year, well under the Goodhue wind power take.  The dollar fine works out to more than $7,000 per bird.

Yes, some birds are more equal than others.  Now an oil company does not make for a sympathetic defendant, but a dead bird is a dead bird.

The lesson here is that wind power can kill birds, but not oil power.  I guess that justice is not blind, after all.

The Upcoming Magna Carta Octocentennial

We are only two years away from the octocentennial (I looked it up, it's word meaning 800-year anniversary) of the Magna Carta, western democracy's founding document.  Watch this space for more news of this year's commemoration.

Meanwhile, read Daily Telegraph columnist Philip Johnston on that piece of parchment that made England a nation.

Magna Carta on Display

The Minneapolis Star Tribune carries a wire report in the Sunday Travel section on the Magna Carta.  A 1297 version of the document is on display at the National Archives in Washington, DC.  If you are going to visit the imperial capital this summer, add a stop to your itinerary.

Magna Carta To Be Back on View

The only copy in the U.S. of the Magna Carta will soon be soon be back on view at the National Archives.  The great document has been undergoing restoration and will be on public display Feb. 17th.

Town Hall Athens?

Via InstaPundit, a report of spontaneous democracy breaking out amidst the anarchy in Greece.

"Amid all the economic misery, unemployment, slashed payrolls, and indecision about the future, they are holding ongoing discussions in the main square where anyone — just like in ancient Greece — is allowed to voice opinions without repercussions.  They have established an ancient Greek agora, where Socrates, Plato, and their contemporaries created the world’s first democracy.  They hold daily seminars and discussions in search of a way forward.  Instead of joining the anarchists, these protesters are conducting intelligent, serious discussions."

Celebrate Magna Carta Day!

Wednesday, June 15^th, marks Magna Carta Day.  It has been 796 years since that day in 1215 when the seal of King John of England was affixed to the Great Charter of Liberties.

The importance of the document to Western Civilization and the fate of the English-speaking peoples cannot be overstated.  It established, in writing, the essential principle that no person, not even the ruling monarch, was above the law.  In addition, it established that under the same rule of law, individuals had rights.

I recently finished reading A Brief History of The Magna Carta:  The Story of the Origins of Liberty (Running Press, 2008), by Geoffrey Hindley.  Although our modern republic bears little resemblance to the feudal society of medieval England, it is amazing how little our political concerns have changed.  Issues surrounding the relationship between the individual and the state, as well as concerns over property rights, taxation, and the administration of justice, are as important today as they were in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

On anecdote that Hindley includes in his book jumped out as being very relevant to our current situation.   In 1209, the town of Maidford was seized by the King over the death (probably by natural causes) of a deer in a nearby royal hunting preserve.  Today, such arbitrary and collective punishment of a community over the natural demise of a local woodland creature does not seem so farfetched if you simply substitute “Endangered Species Act” for “Law of the Forest”.

True, Magna Carta did not establish a Parliament.  That innovation would take several more decades.  Also, it is not clear how far below the baronial classes these hard won rights extended.  But it is hard to imagine how we would have had a functioning democracy or a robust legal system if it were not for the events in that meadow in Runnymede nearly eight centuries ago.

Walter Russell Mead Calls It: California a Failed State

Walter Russell Mead takes note of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that forces California to release up to 46,000 prisoners to ease overcrowding.  Mead writes,

"California meets the strict test of state failure: it can no longer enforce the law within its frontiers.  Let there be no mistake: when you produce so many criminals that you can’t afford to lock them up, you are a failed state.  Virtually every important civil institution in society has to fail to get you to this point."

What we need is a new compact between citizen and state.  Clearly the old one is no longer working.

(Updated) Decline is a Choice: the Regulatory State and Magna Carta

As a recovering regulator myself, I read with even greater interest Mark Steyn's syndicated column this week on the subject of the regulatory state.

As always, Steyn says it best himself,

"The hyper-regulatory state is unrepublican.  It strikes at one of the most basic pillars of free society: equality before the law.  When you replace "law" with "regulation," equality before it is one of the first casualties.  In such a world, there is no law, only a hierarchy of privilege more suited to a sultan's court than a self-governing republic."

In reading Steyn's column, and musing on the subjects of regulation and equality before the law, I recalled the decade-old case of John Thoburn, of Fairfax County, Virginia, who committed the unpardonable crime of owning a golf driving range in America.  Actually his crime was owning a range in competition with the County's range.  A crime for which he was eventually jailed.

Also this weekend, I am reading more of the history of Magna Carta.  The 800-year-old document that established the principle that no-one, not even the Crown, is above the law holds more relevance than ever.  Let us celebrate the anniversary of this indispensable document on June 15th.

(Updated:  Mark Steyn's old boss, Conrad Black, touches on similar themes in his column in Canada's National Post.  H/T InstaPundit)

Signs of Life for Magna Carta in IN?

Heartened to see this report that the Indiana Attorney General may seek reconsideration of that state's supreme court decision overturning 800 years of English common law.  Hope the AG tries and succeeds.

Meanwhile, I'm reading a book on the history of Magna Carta and concluding that now is the time to readopt the document as law.

Magna Carta Now Dead

Well, 800 years is a long run for anyone.  Overturning common law dating back to Magna Carta in 1215, the Indiana State Supreme Court has ruled that citizens have no right to resist illegal entry by police.  Please turn out the lights on your way out.
Perhaps now is the time, as was done in centuries past, to reissue Magna Carta as law.

See the commentary on The Volokh Conspiracy.
Michael Walsh comments in National Review Online's Corner.

Love this quote from William Pitt,

"The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storm may enter; the rain may enter; but the King of England cannot enter – all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!"