Editorial September 28, 1987 Issue

Law that can't be broken

Allison W. Phinney, Jr.

The two-hundredth birthday celebration of the Constitution of the United States has produced more than fireworks displays. It has touched off some worldwide discussions of law and some skyrocketing, brilliant thought about achieving a lawful society.

But we still see around the globe far too much evidence of what could ironically be called a year of disregard for law. Terrorist acts. Urban gangs. Increasing drug traffic. Circumventing of law at high levels of government in the United States.

It becomes plain that the rule of law prevails not so much because something is written down in documents as because it is ratified and upheld by human thought—by mental consensus. "Law's empire is defined by attitude...,"^{ Quoted in  The Christian Science Monitor, May 20, 1986.} says Ronald Dworkin, a legal scholar. When the concept of the rule of law is clear and strong in people's thought, it pervades society.