COMMON LAW ACADEMY PRESENTS
THE RULE OF LAW: POWER , AUTHORITY , and ACCOUNTABILITY SERIES
Join us for an engaging and interactive journey into the fundamental principles of the Common Law. This ‘Fundamental Principles of Law’ series is dedicated to teaching the core concepts of real law in a simple manner.
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Module 1: Law Before Government - What Law Is, Where It Comes From, and Why It Binds Power
Module 1 establishes the foundational principle upon which the entire course rests: law exists before government and binds it. Students are introduced to law as a rule of right, not a command, policy, or statute, and learn why law exists solely to secure pre-existing rights to life, liberty, and property. Through clear examples, classical thinkers such as Bastiat and Paine, and the immutable rules of delegation, this module distinguishes authority from power, delegated trust from assumed usurpation, and explains why acts taken outside lawful authority are void from the beginning. By the end of the module, students gain the conceptual clarity needed to recognize the difference between law and force, and to understand why accountability is impossible unless law stands above government.
Module 2: Rights Are Not Granted- The Structure of Rights and the Theft Line
Students learn to apply the “Five Bricks” test to verify any claim: a legitimate right must be absolute, negative, cost-free to others, non-delegated, and self-executing. Through this lens, the course dismantles the “Will Lie”, the modern assumption that a majority vote can transform an injury into a right, and adopts Frédéric Bastiat’s clarity on “legal plunder.”
By the end of the module, students will possess an objective filter to distinguish natural rights from state-issued privileges and permissions. They will understand that a “right” that requires someone else’s labor or property to fulfill is not a right at all, but an organized injury that destroys the very foundation of law.
Module 3: The Sole End of Government - Authority, Delegation, and the Cage
Module 3 shifts the focus from the nature of individual rights to the structural origin and limitations of the state: government is subject to the law because the law makes the government. This module establishes that government possesses no original authority; rather, it is a “creature” of the People, who act as the “creator” by delegating a portion of their pre-existing right to lawful self-defense. By tracing the Hierarchy of Authority, students see that power flows upward from God and the Individual to the State, never downward by grant.
The course introduces the “Constitutional Cage,” a mechanical framework where the Constitution does not empower the government to roam free, but rather restrains and fixes the orbit within which it must move. Drawing on the Alabamian Constitution and the writings of Frédéric Bastiat, the module asserts that the sole legitimate end of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property; any function beyond this is defined strictly as usurpation and oppression. Students explore the Oath of Office not as a ceremony, but as a binding condition of authority that remains in effect regardless of whether a violation occurs through act, policy, or silence.
By the end of the module, students will be able to apply an Integrated Checklist to determine if a government act is truly “law” by verifying it stays within the cage and avoids crossing the “theft line”. They will recognize that because the collective force can do nothing an individual cannot do lawfully, a government cannot be expected to hold itself accountable once it leaves its cage.
Module 4: The Constitutions as Trust Instruments - Delegation, Fiduciary Duty, and Strict Construction
Module 4 moves from the purpose of the “cage” to its rigorous mechanical operation, shifting the perspective from political theory to Trust Law. This module establishes that the Constitution is not a manifesto of hope, but a binding Trust Instrument that governs the relationship between the Settlor (the People) and the Trustee (the Government). By treating the Constitution as a legal contract, students learn that government is merely “hired help” with a strict Fiduciary Duty to follow the written instructions to the letter.
The course explores the “Physics of Force,” asserting that power naturally expands and must be bound by iron, not rubber. Students will examine the Five Immutable Rules of Delegation, including the maxim Potestas delegata non potest delegari—the principle that delegated power cannot be further subcontracted to unelected agencies. Through the lens of the “Rich Kid” Model, the module illustrates how government expansion into areas like healthcare, education, or local agriculture is not “evolution,” but a blatant breach of trust and the embezzlement of the People’s sovereign assets.
By the end of the module, students will be able to perform a Mechanical Audit of Article I, Section 8, identifying the specific “shopping list” of powers. Using the landmark case of Wickard v. Filburn, they will dissect the “mental gymnastics” used to break the cage and evaporate the 10th Amendment. Students will emerge with the clarity to distinguish between a legitimate act of stewardship and a Usurpation, recognizing that because the parchment has no hands, the duty of Fiduciary Enforcement—slapping the hand of the creature—rests solely with the Settlor.
Module 5: The Hierachy of Law, Due Process and the Law of the Land
This module examines the “Structural Physics of Government,” exploring the foundational principles that support and restrain state power. Using the analogy of a “cage” (the Constitution) and the “creature” (government power), the lesson establishes that the Constitution is not a provider of rights but a container designed to restrain authority. For this container to function, it must rest upon a foundation of “granite”, pre-constitutional law, often referred to as the Law of Nature or the rule of right. Without this prior, immutable foundation, the Constitution becomes elastic and incapable of providing genuine restraint against the intrinsic voracity of power.
The lesson further delineates the hierarchy of law, tracing authority from the Law of Nature down through fundamental maxims, the Constitution, and finally to specific enactments and judicial applications. By distinguishing between “enforcement” (lawful force aligned with delegation and reason) and “violence” (force lacking structural authority), the module provides a framework for testing the legitimacy of any governmental act. Key historical figures like Sir Edward Coke and William Blackstone are referenced to illustrate that law precedes rulers and that any act contradicting the fundamental rule of right is structurally void from its inception (void ab initio).
Module 6: The Judiciary - Jurisdiction, Judgement and Nullity
This module examines the internal machinery of the American judiciary, shifting the focus from courtroom drama and legal outcomes to the underlying structural design established by the Constitution. It posits that the judiciary possesses “neither force nor will, but merely judgment,” acting as a surveyor rather than an architect. In this capacity, the court does not create law or social policy but measures the acts of the legislature against the “deed” of the Constitution, which represents the sovereign will of the people. By adhering to this hierarchy of law, the judiciary serves as a critical checkpoint, ensuring that government agents do not exceed the strictly delegated authority granted to them.
The module further explores the essential prerequisites for lawful judicial action, specifically the doctrine of jurisdiction and the requirements of due process. Jurisdiction, comprising subject-matter, personal, and a lawful cause of action, is presented as the non-negotiable anchor of judicial power that cannot be created by consent or silence. When a court acts without this foundational authority, its actions are governed by the doctrine of nullity and are considered void ab initio, or void from the beginning. Furthermore, the module emphasizes that due process is a “condition precedent” to the exercise of force, requiring a specific sequence of injury, accusation, hearing, evidence, and judgment to occur before the state may lawfully deprive an individual of life, liberty, or property.
WEDNESDAY, March 11th, 2026
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7:00 PM EST
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