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… is from page 241 of the late, great Henry Manne’s 1997 article “The Judiciary and Free Markets,” as it is reprinted in Liberty and Freedom in the Economic Ordering of Society [2] (2009), which is volume 3 of The Collected Works of Henry G. Manne [3] (footnote excluded):
There are some aspects of the notion of the rule of law that are obvious and essential to a well-functioning market economy. First among these is the basic idea that laws will apply equally to all people under the same set of relevant circumstances. That is, government officials will not have authority to discriminate in the application or interpretation of substantive rules of law on the basis of favoritism, prejudice, belief, or politics; and judges must adhere to and enforce this same mandate.
DBx: Governors and mayors across the United States in 2020 blatantly violate this most fundamental feature of the rule of law. California strongman Gavin Newsom infamously did so not only by dining at the French Laundry in violation of his own diktat, but also by granting an exemption from one of his diktats to Hollywood movie-makers [4]. And yet the man still holds power.
Other dictators impose tight attendance restrictions on churches while inflicting less-onerous ones on other organizations.
The rule of law today in the U.S. is violated with impunity at state and local levels by tyrants.
Sadly, too few Americans – debilitated as they are with Covid Derangement Syndrome – resist or even protest this despotism. This state of affairs is as appalling as it is dangerous.