Your Home and Castle

Mayor Calvo and Wife at Home

The right for a citizen to be safe in his home is one of the most fundamental of the human liberties that we have inherited from the English founders of this nation. “An Englishman’s home is his castle” is a time honored concept that is increasingly endangered by the growth of the police state and the out of control war on drugs. Any society must strike a balance between freedom and security which is why it is so important to understand the legal precedents of liberty.

The legal precedent for the sanctity of the home goes at least as far back as the Romans. Cicero wrote, “What more sacred, what more strongly guarded by every holy feeling, than a man’s own home?” William Blackstone, the English jurist whose “Commentaries on the Laws of England” served for centuries as one of the primary sources of opinion on English common law, cited Cicero in his discussion of the rights of a man in his home :

“And the law of England has so particular and tender a regard to the immunity of a man’s house, that it stiles it his castle, and will never suffer it to be violated with immunity: agreeing herein with the sentiments of ancient Rome, as expressed in the works of Tully ( common abreviaton ofMarcus Tullius Cicero); quid enimsanctius, quid omni religione munitius, quam domus unusquisquecivium? For this reason no doors can in general be broken open to execute any civil process; though, in criminal causes, the public safety supersedes the private. Hence also in part arises the animadversion of the law upon eaves-droppers, nusancers, and incendiaries: and to this principal it must be assigned, that a man may assemble people together lawfully without danger of raising a riot, rout, or unlawful assembly, in order to protect and defend his house; which he is not permitted to do in any other case.“

Another English ruling often cited was that of Edward Coke in the 1604 Seymayne’s Case where he stated, “The house of every one is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence as for his repose. ‘

It is from these English and Roman precedents that American “castle laws” or defence of habitation law draw their legitimacy. This body of law gives the private citizen the right to use deadly force in their home to protect themselves and their family from violent attack and criminal trespass. Unfortunately there is a wide range of legal opinion across the nation as to what degree a person is required to retreat or use minimized force in the exercise of their right to protect themselves. So many innocent people have been maligned and even criminally charged in courts across the country for defending themselves that recently an effort has gone into passing “Stand Your Ground” legislation that maintains that you have no duty to retreat from any place you have a legal right to be when you are under violent assault.

In states like Georgia that have passed “Stand Your Ground” laws the peaceful citizen’s rights are being supported against the “rights” of the criminals who plague our society:

Georgia Senate Bill 396 These measures are very welcome to law abiding citizens who are sick of having to surrender our public spaces to the criminal element. These laws, however, do little to protect us when our government agents play the role of criminal trespasser.

Prior to the American Revolution the King’s agents were using “writs of assistance” to conduct unreasonable searches of private homes in search of uncustomed goods and seditious documents. Another concern voiced in our Declaration of Independence was the quartering of soldiers in private homes. Our nations founders well understood the import of the sanctity of the home to liberty.

It was the American experience with unreasonable searches and seizures in violation of the sanctity of the home that led directly to the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution which states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Patriots of that day were willing to fight and die to protect their homes. Indeed when American history was still well taught in schools, students learned about Jason Russell who confronted British troops retreating from the battle of Lexington. Attempting to rally his friends and neighbors to stay with him he called out, “An Englishman’s home is his castle” and was shot dead by the British in his own doorway.

The Jason Russell House in Arlington, MA

It was about this time last summer that the Prince George’s County Sheriffs Department SWAT team battered down the door of the Berwyn Heights Mayor, Cheye Calvo, shot his two dogs and left his mother-in-law screaming hysterically next to pools of blood draining out from his now lifeless dogs. The dogs by the way were a pair of black Labrador Retriever’s who were good natured and loving members of Calvo’s family. The Mayor claims that neither dog threatened the police and that the youngest was shot down for sport as it attempted to run AWAY from the police officers who had just shot the older Lab in the front hall of the home.

The police were on the trail of a large package of marijuana that had been delivered to the Calvo home addressed to his wife, Trinity Tomsic. Later it was determined that the Calvo home was being used as a drop site for drug dealers and the Calvo’s were not in anyway involved. Now imagine explaining to your spouse how you got your mother-in-law traumatized, handcuffed and packed off to a police interview room and think how well being innocent will help that conversation. Even if the Calvo’s had been guilty, I think it is impossible to justify the chaos caused by the police and the damage being done to the rights of all Americans over 32 pounds of marijuana. Multiply this incident by thousands of other “legal” home invasions each month across the country and you have an idea of the scope of the problem.

The Washington Post covered the story in some detail at Police Raid Berwyn Heights Mayors Home. Mayor Calvo is quoted as saying, “My government blew through my door and killed my dogs.” If not even a nice liberal mayor is safe in his home from brutal assault by the forces of law and order then who is safe in America today? None of us obviously. The execution of dogs is an increasingly common incident in police raids across the country. It goes with the same police thinking that the safety of the peace officer is their primary concern which is why in the school shootings and other deranged hostage situations the police just form a perimeter up outside and wait till everyone is dead inside. I am not against the police and they should be concerned with officer safety but just like soldiers their safety is not their main mission. If it was they could all just stay safe at home…

Overt use of force is an old tactic used by tyrannical governments to make examples of a few so that the many will be cowed into submission. That is why police raiders shoot dogs, the message is clear it could be you laying there and not your dog. It is why Federal raiders shot Randy Weaver’s wife, Vicki, in the throat with a sniper rifle while she stood in the door of their cabin holding her baby in her arms. That is why the Weaver’s fourteen year old son Sammy was shot in the back and killed while he was running to the safety of his home. That is why the government men shot and killed the family dog on Ruby Ridge. It is also why an army of Federal BATF agents attacked the Branch Davidian’s home in Waco, Texas and burned the place down killing 76 people including 20 children who the agents were supposedly there to “protect”.

No less an American than George Washington understood and struggled with the need to balance freedom and security. He fully understood the temptation by those in power to use all the force at their disposal to help solve the short term problems of the moment. Writing about the nature of government, Washington stated, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquent, it is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

Vicki Weaver and her Children at Home

Remember the line from the movie Blade Runner where Harrison Fords character Deckard is being forced to return to duty by his ex-boss “You know the score, pal. You’re not cop, you’re little people!” We have a lot of fine decent police officers in the United States. The vast majority of them are honorable men who serve the nation well but they all need to read more American history and think more about the liberties that make this country special. Some of us little people have long memories.

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Category: Society