Freedom Issues How Law Protects Freedom: Speech/Model Op-Ed Article How Law Protects Freedom "Freedom" is a word of deep reverence for Americans. But what exactly do we mean by it, and how are freedoms protected by law? Freedom House, a nonpartisan organization devoted to strengthening free societies, analyzes the world's countries every year to determine the extent of freedom around the world. The criteria this group uses for its analysis are a helpful tool for defining freedom, and showing how it is impossible without the protections of the law. In the category of "political rights," for example, the group's criteria include, among others: Free and fair elections Fair electoral laws, equal campaigning opportunities, fair polling and honest tabulation of votes The ability to endow elected representatives with real power. All of these criteria are addressed by the U.S. Constitution and our laws. More than half the amendments passed since the Bill of Rights deal with qualifications to vote (always extending the franchise) and procedures for electing public officials. In addition to these constitutional provisions, thousands of state and federal laws regulate elections, to guard against arbitrary abuses of power. Of course, the Constitution as a whole is a device for assuring that a free people can govern themselves—it's a kind of blueprint for democratic power—including an independent court system that can assure that these rights are enforced. Political rights aren't the only freedoms. Freedom House's checklist for civil liberties provides another way for measuring freedom—and the need for a legal system that can protect it. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is our way of protecting a host of civil liberties identified by Freedom House as crucial components of freedom: Free and independent media Open public discussion Freedom of assembly Free religious institutions and free religious expression The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees another of the group's building blocks of freedom--equality under law and access to an independent, nondiscriminatory judiciary. The due process amendments of the Bill of Rights address another civil liberties criterion--protection from unjustified imprisonment, exile or torture. The protections of private property embodied in the Constitution and protected through numerous laws, as well as legislation against discrimination, extend legal protection to other components of freedom identified by Freedom House, such as: Free businesses Free professional and private organizations Equality of opportunity Of course, other criteria are possible. And we could choose many other ways of defining America's freedoms. But under any definition, the role of our Constitution and system of law and independent courts would be paramount. That's because freedom does not exist in a vacuum. It does not exist in the absence of laws—that would be chaos, in which the most aggressive, the most ruthless, and the strongest would flourish at the expense of the others. It exists under the nurture and protection of an orderly society, governed by laws, in which rights are respected. The writer Hannah Arendt expressed this point in her book The Origins of Totalitarianism. She wrote that "to abolish the fences of laws" between people, as tyranny does, is to take away our liberties and destroy freedom, for the place between people, as it is hedged in by laws, "is the living space of freedom." The great Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., expressed the same point more pungently. "The right to swing your fist," he wrote, ends at the point of another person's nose. So "celebrating freedom" is more than Fourth of July oratory and fireworks. It's a recognition that freedom does not happen by itself. For men and women to be free, they need protections from tyrants, and bullies—and sometimes from each other. That protection, that structure, is provided by law and independent courts. And it's that structure we celebrate today on Law Day, when we celebrate our freedom. Speech Ideas/Talking Points Home | Freedom Issues Home Tips on Volunteering Home