Do You Really Understand Common/Natural Law? www.Constitution.org Gets You Started

 . …http://constitution.org/c5/ studies the highly developed originary British system. The free group championed by the genial Libertarian polymath, environmental activist, child rights watchdog  and more Jon Roland and team group many hard- to- find original resources and provocative suggestions praised by legalists, all so everyday people can use it to better the common law of their own nations and more demanding justice consumers. More on his intriguing schedule at: http://www.constitution.org/jr_cv.htm 

Jon Roland
Civic Curriculum Vitae

Scholarly Works

Work done: A — Authored | R — Scanned, recognized | E — Edited, corrected | F — Formatted, internal links | I — Wrote introduction | W — Incomplete, in progress

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1. 2008/01/19 — The English Constitution, John Louis De Lolme (1771) — Discusses separation of powers, the jury system, and habeas corpus. RE
2. 2007/03/18 — The Law That Always Was, Vern Holland (1987) — Treatise on the legitimacy of the income tax. REF
3. 2006/09/24 — Works of James Wilson (1804) — Includes “Lectures on Law, 1790-1792″ and other writings of the Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention. REF
4. 2006/09/05 — W A brief disquisition of the law of nature, according to the principles laid down in the reverend Dr. Cumberland’s (now Lord Bishop of Peterborough’s) Latin treatise on that subject. As also his considerations of Mr. Hobbs’s principles put into another method., James Tyrrell (1692) — Disquisition on natural law theory. R
5. 2006/02/01 — Martyrdom of King Charles I, W. Delavne (1703) — Sermon before House of Commons. Comments on some of the constitutional issues involved in the trial and execution of that monarch. REF
6. 2005/11/08 — Presumption of Nonauthority and Unenumerated Rights, by Jon Roland, Begun November 6, 2005, in progress.A
7. 2005/08/01 — Mansfieldism Reconsidered, by Jon Roland — Review of evidence for arguing law in the presence of the jury. A
8. 2005/03/22 — The Trial of John Peter Zenger, 1735. 17 How. 675. The jury decided that truth was a defense against libel. RE
9. 2005/03/13 — Citizenship, U.S. War Department Training Manual 2000-25 (1928) — Civics textbook for training Army troops. RE
10. 2005/01/01 — Legal Research by the use of Corpus Juris Secundum, Donald J. Kiser (1924) — Guide for students of the law. RE
11. 2004/12/19 — The Elements of the Common Lawes of England, Francis Bacon (1630) — Treatise on English Common Law. RE
12. 2004/12/16 — An account of Denmark, as it was in the year 1692, Robert Molesworth (1694) — Commentary on Denmark that is really a commentary on constitutional issues in England. RE
13. 2004/12/12 — W The American Manual, or, The Thinker, Joseph Bartlett Burleigh (1854) — Civics textbook focusing on U.S. Constitution. RE
14. 2004/11/01 — Inquiry into the Moral and Religious Character of the American Government, H. W Warner (1838) — Commentary on the relation between government and religious practices. R
15. 2004/05/22 — United States Constitution, Jon Roland. Entry in Encyclopedia of Leadership, Vol. 4, Ed. George R. Goethals, Georgia J. Sorenson, & James MacGregor Burns, Sage Publications, 2004. A
16. 2004/05/18 — Policraticus, John of Salisbury (1159), various translations — Argued that citizens have the right to depose and kill tyrannical rulers. RE
17. 2004/04/19 — The Nature of the Judicial Process, Benjamin N. Cardozo (1921) — Discusses the debate between legal realists and constitutionalists. REF
18. 2003/11/06 — Losing Liberty Judicially, Thomas James Norton (1928) — Examines how courts have gone along with departures from original understanding. REF
19. 2003/09/14 — A Treatise on American Citizenship, John S. Wise (1906) — Discussion of the history and principles of various kinds of citizenship. REF
20. 2003/08/24 — The History of the Common Law of England, Matthew Hale (1713) — Important reference for the Founders. REF
21. 2003/06/23 — Journal of William Maclay — Maclay served as senator from Pennslyvania from 1789 to 1791 and kept a private journal of his experiences that is highly revealing. REF
22. 2003/06/14 — Evolving Complex Networks in Constitutional Republics, by Jon Roland — Examines how changing network structures can reveal how political and economic processes behave and misbehave. A
23. 2003/06/10 — Fairfax County Resolves (1774) — Developed the issues that led to the Declaration of Independence. REF
24. 2003/06/08 — Constitutional View of the Late War between the States, Alexander Stephens (1868) — Vice-President of the Confederacy explains why the war was fought. REF
25. 2003/05/23 — Laws, Plato (~348 BCE) — Model laws for a republic, including sortition and militia. REF
26. 2003/05/08 — Discourse on the Constitution and Government of the United States, John C. Calhoun. REFI
27. 2003/04/24 — Still the Law of the Land? — Essays on Changing Interpretations of the Constitution. Forward by Forrest McDonald. © 1987. Hillsdale College Press. REF
28. 2003/03/23 — An Essay on the Lacedæmonian Government, Walter Moyle (1698) — How the Spartan constitution given by Lycurgus inspired English political philosophers. REF
29. 2003/03/10 — Considerations on the Constitutionality of the President’s Proclamations, John Henderson (1854) — Commentary on executive orders. REF
30. 2003/03/01 — Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline, Charles Montesquieu (~1734) — Historical analysis that laid the basis for his Spirit of Laws and Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. R(E pending)
31. 2003/02/07 — Two Essays: On the Foundation of Civil Government, On the Constitution of the United States, Thomas Cooper (1826) — Commentary on constitutional theory. R(E pending)
32. 2003/02/05 — The Leveller Movement, Theodore Calvin Pease (1916) — A study in the history and political theory of the English Great Civil War. R(E pending)
33. 2003/02/04 — Three Human Rights in the Constitution of 1787, Zechariah Chafee, Jr. (1956) — Historical analysis of free debate, prohibition of bills of attainder, and freedom of movement. R(E pending)
34. 2003/01/13 — W Tucker’s Blackstone, William Blackstone, ed. St. George Tucker. R R(E pending)
35. 2003/01/10 — The Civil Law, tr. & ed. S. P. Scott (1932) — Includes the Law of the Twelve Tables (450 BCE), the Institutes of Gaius (180), the Rules of Ulpian (222), the Opinions of Paulus (224), the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian (533), which codified Roman Law, and the Constitutions of Leo. R(EF pending)
36. 2002/12/19 — Case of the Imprisonment of Edward Bushell, for alleged misconduct as a Juryman, 1670. 22 Charles II. 6 How. 999. Having failed to convict Penn, the prosecution sought to punish the jurors, but failed, thereby establishing the right and duty of juries to judge the law as well as the facts in criminal trials. RE
37. 2002/12/19 — The Trial of William Penn and William Mead, at the Old Bailey, for a Tumultuous Assembly, 1670. 22 Charles II. 6 How. 951. Established the right of religion. RE
38. 2002/12/04 — Principles of Constitutional Interpretation, Jon Roland. A
39. 2002/12/02 — Sortition for Judges, by Jon Roland.
40. 2002/08/12 — Selected Works of Marchamont Nedham (~1650) — English columnist comments on political issues of his era. REFI
41. 2002/08/04 — W Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, Albert Venn Dicey (8th Ed., 1914) — Comparative analysis of the constitutional orders of several nations, focusing on Britain. R
42. 2002/08/04 — Lex, Rex (The Law is King), Samuel Rutherford (1644) — Theological arguments for the rule of law over the rule of men. REFI
43. 2002/07/19 — The General Principles of Constitutional Law in the United States of America, Thomas M. Cooley (1891) — Introduction by the leading constitutional scholar of his era. RE
44. 2002/06/27 — The Evolution of the Constitution of the United States, Sydney George Fisher (1897). Traces each of the clauses of the U.S. Constitution back to previous colonial, state and other government documents. REF
45. 2002/06/25 — A Constitutional History of the United States, Andrew McLaughlin (1936) — Perhaps the best single textbook on the subject, winner of the 1936 Pulitzer Prize. REF
46. 2002/06/24 — State Documents on Federal Relations, Herman V. Ames (1911) — Debates among the states on the Constitution, 1789-1861. REF
47. 2002/06/01 — Construction Contrued and Constitutions Vindicated, John Taylor (1820) — A commentary on some of the misconstructions of the Constitution by the Marshall Court. REF
48. 2002/05/23 — Tyranny Unmasked, John Taylor (1821) — An attack on the constitutionality of protective tariffs and other violations of the original understanding of the Constitution, as seen by the leading spokesman for the Jeffersonian “Old Republicans”. REF
49. 2002/05/10 — A Healing Question, Sir Henry Vane (1656) — He was tried for writing this in a famous trial that tested the right of free speech. REF
50. 2002/05/07 — A Dissertation on the Nature and Extent of the Jurisdiction of the Courts of the United States, Peter Stephen Du Ponceau (1824) — Discusses the various kinds of jurisdiction, in locum, in personam, and in subjectam materiam, and the limits of the jurisdictions of each kind of court. REF
51. 2002/05/05 — A Brief View of the Constitution of the United States, Peter Stephen Du Ponceau (1831) — Introduction to the Constitution for students and foreigners. REF
52. 2002/04/18 — Union Now, Clarence K. Streit (1939) — Classic treatise on international conflict and federalism. REF
53. 2002/04/14 — Discourse on Voluntary Servitude, Étienne De La Boétie (1548, tr. Harry Kurz 1942) — People are ultimately responsible for their servitude, and non-violent resistance can win their freedom. REF
54. 2002/04/10 — A living constitution or fundamental law?, Herman Belz (1998) — American constitutionalism in historical perspective. REF
55. 2002/03/09 — Cato (A Tragedy in Five Acts), Joseph Addison (prem. 1713) — Play about Cato the Younger, which inspired the Founders, especially George Washington. REF
56. 2002/03/04 — The Student Council, Harry C. McKown (1944) — Classic treatise on the subject that the webmaster used to draft a student constitution in high school. REF
57. 2002/02/16 — Criminal Libel and the Duty of Juries, Joseph Towers (1764, 1784), Francis Maseres (1792) — Three essays on the right of defendants, especially in criminal libel cases, to have the jury decide the law as well as the fact issues. REFI
58. 2002/01/14 — The Elements of the Art of Packing, As Applied to Special Juries, Particularly in Cases of Libel Law, Jeremy Bentham (written 1809, published 1821) — Critical treatise on abuses of the English jury system and ways to reform it, which provides a historical background to practices that continue to this day. The first publisher in 1817 of excerpts from this work was prosecuted twice for doing so, and the second three times, but in each attempt, juries acquitted them. REF
59. 2002/01/07 — Sources of the Constitution of the United States, C. Ellis Stevens (1894) — Traces each of the key provisions of the Constitution and Bill of Rights to their historical sources. REF
60. 2001/12/20 — The Law of Treason in the United States, James Willard Hurst (1945, 1971) — The Constitution imposes strict limits on what can be punished and how it can be proven. REF
    1. 2001/12/20 — Hurst’s Law of Treason, Introduction by Jon Roland, Published in University of West Los Angeles Law Review, Vol. 34, 2002. A
61. 2001/12/15 — Conflict of Criminal Laws, Edward S. Stimson (1936) — Jurisdiction for a criminal offense is limited to the territory where the offender is when the offense is committed, not where the effects occur. REFI
62. 2001/09/16 — The New Organon (Novum Organum), Francis Bacon (1620), tr. Spedding. et al. — Includes The Great Instauration and Preparative toward a Natural and Experimental History REF
63. 2001/09/14 — Discourses Concerning Government, Algernon Sidney (1698) REF
64. 2001/09/10 — Patriarcha, Robert Filmer (1680) REF
65. 2001/09/01 — The Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution: 1625-1660, Samuel Rawson Gardiner, ed. (1906) REF
66. 2001/08/28 — New Views of the Constitution of the United States, John Taylor (1823). REF
67. 2001/08/15 — Selected Political Writings of Voltaire, (~1764) — Includes The Philosophy of History and A Treatise on Toleration. REF
68. 2001/08/12 — De Republica Anglorum, Thomas Smith (1565, 1583). REF
69. 2001/08/07 — The American Republic: its Constitution, Tendencies, and Destiny, O. A. Brownson (1866). REF
70. 2001/07/24 — Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill (1863). REF
71. 2001/06/24 — Politica, Johannes Althusius (1614, Abr. & tr. Frederick S. Carney) REF
72. 2001/06/22 — Selected Political Works of John Milton — Includes Areopagitica (1644), Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649), and Defense of the People of England (1651). REF
73. 2001/06/11 — Sources of English Constitutional History: 600-1937, Carl Stephenson & Frederick George Marcham (1937). REF
74. 2001/03/22 — The Origins of Modern Constitutionalism, Francis D. Wormuth (1949). REF
75. 2001/02/16 — The Elements of Law Natural and Politic, Thomas Hobbes (1640). REF
76. 2001/02/15 — The Law of War and Peace, Hugo Grotius (1625). REF
77. 2001/02/14 — Against Writs of Assistance, James Otis, 1761 February 24. REF
78. 2001/02/13 — W Disquisition on Government, John C. Calhoun (1831). REFI
79. 2001/01/31 — Constitutionalism: Ancient and Modern, Charles Howard McIlwain (1947). REF
80. 2000/11/18 — The Principles of Morals and Legislation, Jeremy Bentham (1781). REF
81. 2000/11/09 — Of Crimes and Punishments, Cesare Beccaria (1764). EF
82. 2000/10/13 — Selected Works, Harvey Wheeler. F
83. 2000/09/24 — Intent of the Fourteenth Amendment was to Protect All Rights, Jon Roland. A
84. 2000/09/08 — The Revival of Natural Law Concepts, Charles Grove Haines (1930). REF
85. 2000/08/31 — The Principles of Natural and Politic Law, J. Burlamaqui (1748, tr. Thomas Nugent 1752). REF
86. 2000/07/02 — Points of Rebellion, by William O. Douglas. REF
87. 2000/06/14 — Public Safety or Bills of Attainder?, Jon Roland. Published in University of West Los Angeles Law Review, Vol. 34, 2002, and republished in Vol. 35, 2003. A
88. 2000/06/05 — Man the Reformer, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841). REF
89. 2000/03/30 — On the Duty of Man and Citizen According to Natural Law, Samuel Pufendorf (1673, 1682 tr. Frank Gardner Moore). REF
90. 2000/03/25 — Art of War, Sun Tzu (475-221 BC). EF
91. 2000/03/24 — Plato Redivivus, Henry Neville (1681). REF
92. 2000/03/15 — Selected Works of Thomas Jefferson — Includes complete Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Ellery Bergh, ed., 19 vol. (1905). REF
93. 2000/03/14 — Selected Works of Walter Moyle, (~1696-1721, pub. 1796). REF
94. 2000/03/07 — Second Amendment Law Library. F
95. 2000/03/03 — W Selected Works of the Levellers (1645-9) — Includes An Agreement of the Free People of England. REFI
96. 2000/02/24 — Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1848). REF
97. 2000/02/24 — The Man versus the State, Herbert Spencer (1884). EF
98. 2000/02/24 — The Doctrine of Fascism, Benito Mussolini (1932). REF
99. 2000/02/23 — Utopia, Thomas More (1516). REF
100. 2000/02/23 — The Moral Equivalent of War, William James (1906). REF
101. 2000/01/19 — Selected Political Works of Richard Price — Includes Civil Liberty (1776) and Importance of the American Revolution (1784). REF
102. 2000/01/17 — Six Books of the Commonwealth, Jean Bodin (~1590 tr. Richard Knolles 1606, tr. & abr. M.J. Tooley 1955). REF
103. 2000/01/13 — Relectiones, Franciscus de Victoria (lect. 1532, first pub. 1557) — Includes De Indis and De iure belli. REF
104. 1999/12/13 — Undermining the Constitution, Thomas James Norton (1950). REF
105. 1999/11/05 — The Virginia Report, J.W. Randolph, ed. (1850) — Includes the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 and 1799 and the Virginia Resolution of 1798. REFI
106. 1999/10/18 — The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli (1513). EF
107. 1999/10/13 — Art of War, Niccolò Machiavelli (1520). REF
108. 1999/10/12 — Discourses on Livy, Niccolò Machiavelli (1517). REF
109. 1999/10/03 — LaRosa Reports, by Benedict D. LaRosa (1994, 95). REF
110. 1999/09/27 — Votescam, by James & Kenneth Collier. REFI
111. 1999/09/17 — Documentary History of the Bill of Rights, Jon Roland. REF
112. 1999/09/11 — Militia Treatises, James B. Whisker — Includes The Militia (1992) and The American Colonial Militia (1997). EF
113. 1999/08/27 — W A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, John Adams (1787-89). REF
114. 1999/08/25 — Perpetual Peace, Immanual Kant (1795). REF
115. 1999/08/08 — Questions of Public Law, Cornelius van Bynkershoek (1737). RE
116. 1999/08/06 — Federal Usurpation, Franklin Pierce (1908). REF
117. 1999/08/04 — The Constitution of the United States: Its History, Application, and Construction, Chapter 5: Legislative Powers, Chapter 25: Police Power, David K. Watson (1910). REF
118. 1999/07/29 — Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos (Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants), “Junius Brutus” (Orig. Fr. 1581, Eng. tr. 1622, 1689)REF
119. 1999/07/28 — Introduction to the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanual Kant (1785), tr. W. Hastie (1785). EF
120. 1999/07/28 — Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanual Kant (1785), tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott (1785). EF
121. 1999/07/27 — Selected Writings of Thomas Paine — Includes Common Sense (1776) and Rights of Man (1792).. REF
122. 1999/07/26 — Selected Works of Edmund Burke. REF
123. 1999/07/24 — The Law of Nations, Emmerich de Vattel (1758). REF
124. 1999/07/20 — The Grand Jury, George J. Edwards (1906). REFI
125. 1999/07/08 — The New Atlantis, Francis Bacon (1626). REF
126. 1999/07/04 — Constitutional Conventions, Roger Sherman Hoar (1917). REFI
127. 1999/06/17 — A Discourse of Government with Relation to Militias, Andrew Fletcher (1698). EF
128. 1999/06/05 — Recent Changes in American Constitutional Theory, John W. Burgess (1923). REF
129. 1999/03/05 — A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft (1792). REF
130. 1999/02/20 — An Essay on the History of Civil Society, Adam Ferguson (1767). REF
131. 1999/02/08 — The Subjection of Women, John Stuart Mill (1869). REF
132. 1999/02/06 — | A David Hoffman, The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror, 1998, Feral House Pr. EF
133. 1999/02/03 — Manual of Parliamentary Practice, Thomas Jefferson (1811). REF
134. 1998/11/20 — How to render documents, Jon Roland. A
135. 1998/10/12 — The Spirit of Laws, Charles de Montesquieu, (1748, tr. Thomas Nugent 1752). REF
136. 1998/09/03 — The Commonwealth of Oceana, James Harrington (1656). EF
137. 1998/08/26 — The Social Contract, Jean Jacques Rousseau (1762). REF
138. 1998/08/25 — A Discourse on Political Economy, Jean Jacques Rousseau (1755). REF
139. 1998/08/25 — A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Jean Jacques Rousseau (1754). REF
140. 1998/07/28 — Political Treatise, Baruch de Spinoza (1677). EF
141. 1998/02/08 — A View of the Constitution, William Rawle (1829). REF
142. 1997/12/26 — Code of Hammurabi (~1700 BCE). EF
143. 1997/09/05 — W The Debates in the Several Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Jonathan Elliot (1836). REF
144. 1997/09/03 — Of the Original Contract, David Hume (1748). REF
145. 1997/08/27 — Politics, Aristotle (350 BC). EF
146. 1997/08/04 — W Commentaries on American Law, by James Kent (1826). REF
147. 1997/07/22 — Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, by Joseph Story (1833). E
148. 1997/05/20 — Madison’s Notes on the Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787. REF
149. 1996/09/29 — Freedom’s Frontier — Atlantic Union Now, by Clarence K. Streit. REFI
150. 1996/09/03 — Robert’s Rules of Order Revised (1915). REFI
151. 1996/08/04 — Bouvier Law Dictionary. EF
152. 1996/07/02 — Let’s Revive Private Prosecutions, Jon Roland. A
153. 1996/07/02 — Brief on Private Prosecutions, Jon Roland. A
154. 1996/05/12 — Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decisions— Selected decisions with commentaties.
155. 1996/05/03 — U.S. State Constitutions and Web Sites— Directory of links to all 50 Web sites, some local copies of state constitutions.
156. 1996/04/24 — National Constitutions— Collection of links to national constitutions, both remote and local.
157. 1995/09/20 — Created Constitution Society web site, later added Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics.

For shorter writings see Roland Articles.

For information on how the above work was done see:

• How to render documents — Short manual on scanning printed documents and converting them into web pages.

Electoral

• 2010 — Candidatefor Texas Attorney General, Libertarian Party.
• 2006 — Candidatefor Texas Attorney General, Libertarian Party.
• 2002 — Candidatefor Texas Attorney General, Libertarian Party.
• Feb.-May, 1974 — Ran for Democrat nomination to U.S. House of Representatives in the Texas 23rd District against incumbent Abraham “Chick” Kazen, Jr., in which corruption of the incumbent was the main issue. Got about 37% of the vote.
• Jun.-November, 1972 — Write-in campaign for U.S. House of Representatives from Texas 23rd Congressional District.

Lobbying, Organizing

• Aug. 24, 2001 — Resurrected Lancasterian Society.
• Apr. 1, 1994 — Founded Constitution Societyand Constitution Foundation.
• Mar. 1972 — Attended organizing conference of International Association for Federal Union at Ditchley Conference Center, England, as one of the five founders. After conference, visited supporting members of parliaments of 13 democratic member nations of NATO.
• Nov. 1971-Mar. 1972 — Organized what was to become International Association for Federal Union, with sponsorship of about 22% of the members of the U.S. Congress and similar percentages of members of the parliaments of 13 democratic NATO nations.
• Mar. 1970-Jul. 1972 — Lobbied in Washington, DC, for various public interest causes, including Atlantic Union and ecological conservation.

Military Service

• 1967-70 — U.S. Air Force, Air Traffic Control Officer. Stationed mainly at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

Education

• Jun. 1967 — Graduated U. of Chicago, Chicago, IL, B.S. in mathematics, with minors in physics and philosophy. National Merit Scholar.
• Jun. 1962 — Graduated Seguin High School. High-ranking male student. Organized student movement to reform student government and student newspaper.

A bio showing Roland’s political development can be found here.

For a sample of pithy pronouncements, see Quotations of Chairman Roland.

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