James Farmer Quotes

We just need to make sure that we get somebody in there that respects the Constitution, respects the rule of law, that restores the proper balance between the states and federal government. I have great confidence Jeb Bush would do that.

I believe in enforcing the laws as written by the Legislature, as signed by the governor.

Mayors do not have that authority to pick and choose what laws they're going to enforce.

We need to make clear the federal government does not have authority to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens without due process or, for that matter, to use lethal force on U.S. citizens on U.S. soil if they don't pose imminent threats.

The rule of law should be upheld by all political parties. They should neither advise others to break the law, nor encourage others to do so even when they strongly disagree with the legislation put forward by the government of the day.

If the jury have no right to judge of the justice of a law of the government, they plainly can do nothing to protect the people against the oppressions of the government; for there are no oppressions which the government may not authorize by law.

Many civil rights came about, not when they were passed into law, but because the federal government did what it should and saw them enforced.

No branch of the law is of more importance to the counsellor, the statesman, or the citizen, than a thorough acquaintance with the Constitution and laws of the Federal Government, as they are administered and as they affect the rights of the people.

Are all the laws to go unexecuted and the government itself go to pieces, lest civil liberties be violated?

Unless the courts have the power to review the legislative and executive decisions of the nation, we do not have the rule of law… If we don’t follow our own rules, our own Constitution, then, my God, what are we fighting for?

The [Federal] constitution and the laws thereof are supreme ... they control the constitution and laws of the respective states, and cannot be controlled by them.

Judges will have the expounding of those laws when they come before them; and they will no doubt stop the operation of such as shall appear repugnant to the constitution.

The arm of the Federal government is long, but it is far too short to protect the rights of individuals in the interior of distant States. They must have the power to protect themselves, or they will go unprotected, in spite of all the laws the Federal government can put upon the national statute-book.

Always, as in this case, the government urges hasty decision to forestall some emergency or serve some purpose and pleads that paralysis will result if its claims to power are denied.

One of the main goals of the reforms is to broaden the rights of Mexicans. We needed a standard criminal code, the same rule of law all over the country. Instead of having different laws in every state, there will be the same law all over the country — at the federal and the local level — for any criminal procedure.

My job is to follow the law, not to make up the law that has been promulgated by the people or the people's representatives.

If the law is upheld only by government officials, then all law is at an end.

I rise in support of the separation of powers as established by our Founding Fathers in the Constitution. The Constitution clearly delegates the power to deal with criminal matters, like the use of drugs, to the States.

You might think otherwise, but it doesn't naturally follow that because a law has been passed by Congress and signed by the president, said law actually has to be implemented.

I am the constitutionally and legitimately elected sheriff, and I absolutely refuse to surrender my responsibility to the federal government.

Of the powers conferred upon the General Government by the Constitution of the United States much the most important are those given to the legislative body.

History has shown us that, on extraordinarily rare occasions, it becomes necessary for the federal government to intervene on behalf of individuals whose 14th Amendment rights to legal due process and equal protection may be violated by a state.

I learned a couple things. The government can do to you whatever they want. They can break the laws, federal laws, as they see fit... You can't turn laws on and off as you deem fit.

If you have a federal government that's not enforcing the law and does not preserve the integrity of its own borders, then naturally, states are going to take matters into their own hands.

Why do we have U.S. attorneys? Because we need a mechanism to make sure people obey the laws that we pass, for societal reasons.