Magna Carta, and Other AddressesGuthrie, William D. (William Dameron)
History
Magna Carta, and Other Addresses
Guthrie, William D. (William Dameron)
Constitutional law -- United States
The same distinction in the use of these terms will be found in the
history of the Plymouth colony as early as 1636 and also in the early
history of the state of New York. The New York charter of liberties and
privileges of 1683 speaks of "being brought to answere by due course
of law," the words evidently being taken either from the act of Edward
III. of 1354, or from the Petition of Right of 1628. The New York
constitution of 1777 used the term "the law of the land" but did not
use the term "due process of law." In the New York bill of rights of
1787, we find the phrases "the law of the land," "due process of law"
and "due course of law," and in one section the phrase "due process
of law according to the law of the land." Both terms, "the law of
the land" and "due process of law," are used with evidently the same
meaning in the present constitution of the state of New York, that
is to say, "the law of the land" is used in section I of Article I.
and "due process of law" in section 6. The separate history of each
section, the former first appearing in the constitution of 1777 and the
latter in the constitution of 1821, will account for the difference in
terminology.
It would be interesting to trace the varying uses of these terms in
our forty-eight state constitutions, but that must be left for some
other occasion. A majority of the state constitutions, including most
of the recent constitutions, now contain the term "due process of law."
As that term is the one used in the fourteenth amendment, which is
applicable to all the states, it might be preferable, for the sake of
uniformity and certainty, to adopt that form as less likely to confuse.
Moreover, the phrase "due process of law" lends itself readily to a
more comprehensive and inclusive definition if we define the word
"due" to mean _just and appropriate_ and the word "process" to mean
_substantive provision_ as well as procedure.
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