Constitution
Right of Privacy
Property Rights
Right to Travel
Liberty
§1. Constitution
The fundamental purpose of a constitution
are... ...protect the private
rights of individuals.
13 Cal Jur 3d §1, p. 20
...a constitution is a written instrument enacted by the direct action of the people(2), establishing the form of government and defining the powers of the several departments, thus creating a fundamental law that is absolute and unalterable except by the authority from which it emanated(3).
The California Constitution is a solemn compact, deliberately and freely entered into by a free people among themselves, by which they limit the powers of their agents,... ...limiting, classifying, and directing the powers of the different department of the government.(4)
The Code of Civil Procedure declares that
the organic law is the constitution
of government and is altogether written. Other written laws are
denominate
statutes. The written law of this state is contained in the
constitution
and the statutes,...
Ibid. § 1, p. 21
...federal and state constitutions serve
to limit as well as define
the powers of government(9).
Ibid § 2, p. 22
...the California Constitution provides
that government is instituted
for the protection, security, and benefit of the people(14).
Ibid.§ 2, p. 23
When the United States Constitution and
first state constitutions were
framed, it was thought that a constitution merely outlined a
government,
provided for certain departments and offices and defined their
functions,
secured some absolute and inalienable rights to the citizens, and left
all mattes of administration and policy to the departments it
created(26).
Save as to the assurances of individual rights against the government,
the direct operation of the constitution was on the government
only.
And such assurance were themselves in fact but limitations on the
governmental
powers.
Ibid.§ 4, p. 25
The California Constitution provides that all political powers is inherent in the people and that government is instituted for the protection, security and benefit of the people(76).
The Declaration of Rights differs from
the great English charters in
that it is not an assurance to the individual from the sovereign, but
is
a command and a limitation of power on state officials by the people
who
created the formal government. And it must be remembered that in
construing the declaration of rights there is no presumption that the
government
or it’s officers will act justly. These sections imply possible
oppression
and are designed to enable the victim to assert his or her rights, even
as against the government(78).
Ibid. §231, p. 506
... the rights guaranteed by the
California Constitution are not dependant
on those guaranteed by the United States Constitution;(18)...
Ibid. §231, p. 510
§237. Right of
Privacy
The state constitution provides that all persons have the right to pursue and obtain privacy(14).
The California constitutional guarantees
is motivated by concern over
contemporary society’s accelerating encroachment on personal freedom
and
security caused by increased surveillance and data
collection(18).
It exists to prevent governmental snooping, to inhibit the overly broad
collection and retention of unnecessary personal information(17)...
Ibid. p. 527
...the right of privacy had been recognized as a fundamental right
in this state.
...the United States Supreme Court
recognizes that a right of personal
privacy, or a guaranty of certain areas or zones of privacy, does not
exist
under the Constitution, and that the roots of that right may be found
in
the First Amendment, in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, in the
penumbras
of the Bill of Rights, in the Ninth Amendment,...
Ibid. p. 528
...right of privacy guaranteed by the state constitution is much broader than the privacy guaranteed by the federal Constitution(23).
...it is the right of a person to lead
his or her private life without
intrusion the government. Thus, prior to the adoption of the
state
constitutional provision, it was said that whenever and individual may
harbor a reasonable expectation of privacy, he or she is entitled to be
free from unreasonable governmental intrusion(25).
Ibid. p. 529
Only personal rights that can be deemed
“fundamental” or “implicit in
the concept of ordered liberty” are included in the guaranty of the
right
of personal privacy;...
Ibid. p. 534
...any such intervention be justified by
a compelling interest(35).
And such infringement must be made by the least restrictive alterative
necessary to facilitate the compelling state interest(36).
Ibid. p. 536
§238. Right to
Travel
The nature of the federal union and of constitutional concepts of personal liberty unite to require that all citizens be free to travel throughout the length and breadth of the United States uninhabited by statutes, rules, or regulations that unreasonably burden or restrict this movement(42).
And the constitutional right to travel
between the states implies a
correlative constitutional right to travel within a state(46).
Ibid. p. 538
§239. Property
Rights
This constitutional provision refers to
the right to acquire and possess
the absolute and unqualified title to every species of property
recognized
by law, with all rights incidental thereto(55).
Ibid. p. 540
The right of protecting property is not the simple right to protection by individual physical force, but is the right to protect property by the law of the land and the force of the body politic(57).
Both state(58) and federal(59) constitutions prohibit the state from depriving a person of property without due process of law(60).
Thus, before a person may be deprived of
any significant interest, he
or she must be afforded notice and an opportunity for a hearing(62).
Ibid. pgs. 541 - 542
Both the state(66) and federal(67)
constitutions also prohibit the taking
of private property for public use without just compensation(68).
Ibid. p. 543
B. LIBERTY [§§243 - 245]
Summary
The right to liberty consists of the
right to be free from arbitrary
personal restraint as well as the right to do such acts as a person may
judge best for his interests, and the right of a person to be free in
the
enjoyment of all his faculties (§243).
Ibid. p. 552
§243. In general
______________________________________________________________________________
ARBITRARY. What depends on
the will of the judge, not regulated or established
by law. Bacon (Aphor. 8) says, Optima lex quae minimum relinquit
arbitrio
judicis et (Aph. 46) optimus judex, qui mi nimum sibi
2. In all well adjusted systems of law every
thing is regulated, and nothing arbitrary can be allowed; but there is
a discretion which is sometimes allowed by law which leaves the judge
free
to act as he pleases to a certain extent. See Discretion
Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, 1856
ARBITRARY PUNISHMENTS,
practice. Those punishments which are left to
the decision of the judge, in distinction from those which are defined
by statute.
Bouvier’s law Dictionary, 1856
ARBITER. One who, decides
without any control. A judge with the most
extensive arbitrary powers; an arbitrator.
Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, 1856
DUE PROCESS
Due process of law" means, broadly
speaking, that before property of
a person may be taken by the state, he must be given notice of the
proceedings
which may terminate in the taking, and be given opportunity to be
heard.
People v. One 1950 Mercury Sedan, Engine No. 50LA40896M, 1950 License
No. 29B9130 (App. 2 Dist. 1953) 116 Cal.App.2d 746, 254 P.2d 666.
"Due process of law" does not necessarily
mean that a person is entitled
to a trial in a court before he may be deprived of what may be
equivalent
to property rights, but does mean that an orderly proceeding, adapted
to
the nature of the case, shall be accorded to the owner of property, in
which he may be heard, and where he may defend, enforce, and protect
his
personal rights.
Gregory v. Hecke (App. 3 Dist. 1925) 73 Cal.App. 268, 238 P. 787.
"Due process of law" is the exact equivalent of the "law of the land" as used in the Magna Charta, and, broadly speaking, means that before a man's life, liberty, or property may be taken by the state, he must be given notice of the proceedings which may terminate in the taking, and be given an opportunity to be heard in his own defense, the notice to be a real and reasonable one, and the hearing such as ordinarily or at least reasonably is given in similar cases. Beck v. Ransome-Crummey Co. (App. 1919) 42 Cal.App. 674, 184 P. 431.
Substantive due process prohibits
governmental interference with person's
fundamental right to life, liberty, or property by unreasonable or
arbitrary
legislation.
In re Marilyn H. (1993) 19 Cal.Rptr.2d 544, 5 Cal.4th 295, 851 P.2d
826.
In passing curative statutes, legislature
cannot rise above federal
and state constitutional requirements that property cannot be taken
from
individual owner without due process of law.
Litchfield v. Marin County (App. 1955) 130 Cal.App.2d 806, 280 P.2d
117.
Section 353, Evid Code is subject to the
constitutional requirement
that a judgement must be reversed if an error has resulted in a denial
of due process of law.
People v. Matteson, 61 C2d. 466 (1968)