Liberty Before Law

The Constitution does not grant rights.

It acknowledges them.

The Founders began with a conviction:

That liberty is not a gift from government,

but the birthright of every human being.

This was the bold inheritance of the Declaration of Independence—

that all people are “created equal,”

endowed with inalienable rights.

What followed in the Constitution

was an effort to guard that truth in practice.

Laws may protect or violate liberty,

but they do not create it.

This principle turns law on its head:

Power is not assumed—it must be justified.

Authority does not flow downward from rulers—

It flows upward from the people.

That is the ethical core of the Constitution:

Rights come first.

Government follows.