Government officials and law enforcement officers owe a unique fidelity to the law. Because they wield state power, their fidelity ensures that power is exercised within constitutional boundaries. It prevents authoritarianism by ensuring that the rulers remain subject to the same laws as the ruled. Citizen Fidelity
Fidelity to law is not merely mechanical obedience to written rules. It is a deep-seated commitment to the legal order, the integrity of legal processes, and the principle that a society should be governed by predictable, fair, and generalized rules rather than the arbitrary whims of those in power. Defining Fidelity to Law fidelity to law meaning
By contrast, ordinary criminality—theft, fraud, violence—has no claim to fidelity. The difference lies in the motivation and the willingness to accept legal punishment as an expression of respect for the rule of law. Government officials and law enforcement officers owe a
This public link is valid for 7 days and shares a thread, including any personal information you added. This link or copies made by others cannot be deleted. If you share with third parties, their policies apply. Can’t copy the link right now. Try again later. Citizen Fidelity Fidelity to law is not merely
The legal theorist Matthew Kramer, building on Fuller's work, argues that Fuller's eight standards of legality — generality, promulgation, prospectivity, clarity, non-contradiction, possibility of obedience, constancy, and congruence between official action and declared rule — articulate the core of the rule of law. These standards are internal to law and, taken together, constitute a "morally cherishable" ideal. But Kramer parts company with Fuller in insisting that the respect in which these standards are internal to law is not the respect in which they speak the language of moral ideals.