We can gain an insight into just how far America has fallen by examining two facts that are neither generally known nor mentioned today: (1) The common law of England is the fundamental law of America, and (2) Biblical morality is embedded in the common law of England.

Someone will no doubt object to Fact No. 1 and assert, “The US Constitution says that it is the supreme law of the land.”

True. The US Constitution is the supreme law of the law. But the common law of England is the fundamental law of the land. Let me explain.

Before the Founders signed off on the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen sisters were thirteen British colonies, and their law was the common law of England. After they executed the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen sisters were thirteen sovereign states, and there was a puzzle as to what their law should be. Over the span of a few months, all thirteen adopted the common law as their law.

Does that seem odd? Not at all, as the very purpose of the revolution was to preserve and protect the colonies’ rights and privileges under the common law. All those rights now enshrined in the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights originated in the common law, including the principle of “No taxation without representation.”

Image made using Bible by jcomp and Blind Justice by freepik.

Today, 49 American states (all of them but for Louisiana) have a statute or a state supreme court decision stating that the common law is the law of the state. This common law is an “unwritten” law that comes down only in the decisions of the courts.

In the mid-20th century, the states and the United States engaged in a vast movement to reduce major parts of the common law to writing. This statutory effort produced two kinds of statutes: those “declaratory” of the common law and those “derogatory” of the common law. The common law itself had principles of interpretation ready and waiting for these “declaratory” or “derogatory” statutes. The basic principle is that “all legislation is to be considered in the light of the common law.”

More specifically, the principles of interpretation provided “statutes declaratory of the common law should be interpreted in light of the common law” and “statutes derogatory of the common law should be strictly construed.” As Justice Antonin Scalia put it, “statutes will not be interpreted as changing the common law unless they effect the change with clarity.”

And what about Fact No. 2, the Biblical basis of American law? One of the bedrock principles of the common law is that “Christianity is Part of the Common Law.” Here we must be quick to explain that this principle is not about Christian theology—not “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” This principle is about Christian morality; that is, Biblical morality, that is, Judeo-Christian morality.

Many readers are now asking, “Why have I never heard this before?” The answer is that this principle is out of fashion. Although this principle remains in the books of the decisional literature, it has fallen into disuse among the judges as out of style. Likewise, no doubt many readers have never heard that the Supreme Court of the United States has declared that “America is a Christian Nation”.

The fact that Americans do not know these principles is a measure of just how far America has fallen.