James Madison Quote 

"It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?"

by:
James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source:
Federalist Papers 62
Categories:
 
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Reader comments about this quote:
 -- Anonymous 
... and the only thing worse, is when the executive branch decides to just ignore the laws of the land!
 -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US		 
I don't know if it is the sheer volume of rules or malicious misconduct (hopefully the prior, most probably the later) but I am personally knowledgeable of individuals being charged and taken to trial on repealed statutes.
 -- Mike, Norwalk		 
Tax law and the IRS are "...so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood...". Even the IRS denies they are responsible to provide you with the correct interpretation of these laws. But what law makes us liable to pay taxes?
 -- Joe, Rochester, MI		 
The definition of where our country is today. I had hoped the "conservative" Republican party being in control would help our nation get back on track, but it hasn't happened. Unconstitutional and extraconstitutional laws continue to pour through the legislature unabated. I think now that the earlier stalemate was better. At least that slowed the growth of the federal government a little. The effect of these "voluminous" laws as Madison stated above is that people start getting in the habit of ignoring the laws which promotes anarchy. Then no laws are considered binding.
 -- Mike, Mount Holly, NC		 
 -- David L. Rosenthal 
ABSOLUTELY!
 -- Anonymous		 
Congress critters admit they do not even read the laws they pass. NAFTA is 20,000 pages and there is not one congressman who voted for it who read it. The IRS is a perfect example of regulations gone out of control.
 -- E Archer, NYC		 
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