Topic: Where Did Law Come From?
Senator: Coburn
Date: SEPTEMBER 14, 2005
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COBURN: So the only question I would have for you is this one final -- and I will finish, I hope, before 10 minutes are consumed. Where'd our law -- would you teach the American public where our law came from? I mean, there was law before the American Revolution. Where did our law come from? Where'd it come from?
ROBERTS: Well, before the revolution, of course, we were under the British legal system.
COBURN: And before that?
ROBERTS: We go back under the legal system in Britain to the Magna Carta and the dispute between the king and the lords there, as they tried to establish their rights against the king or central government, was a key part of the development of English law since that time.
COBURN: And prior to that? But some of the input to that was what some people, these very people who are worried, these very people who have lost confidence, call natural law.
The ideas came from somewhere, didn't they? Like, don't kill somebody. Don't steal from them. Be truthful. Where did those come from?
Those came from the natural tendencies of what we were taught in beliefs through the years that would best support a society. There is a theological component to that to many people.
But the fact is there's a basis for the laws that we have. And it's proven consistent through the years, even as it comes to America, that if we enforce those tenets, we all are better off.
And I just want to tell you that I believe you've been very strong today, just, first of all, to tolerate this and the amount of time.
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