Police power is the capacity of a state to regulate behaviours and enforce order within its territory, often framed in terms of public welfare, security, morality, and safety. A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. "Social welfare" redirects here For other uses see Welfare A social welfare provision refers to any program which seeks to provide Security is the condition of being protected against danger loss and criminals Morality (from the Latin la moralitas "manner character proper behavior" has three principal meanings Safety is the state of being "safe" (from French sauf) the condition of being protected against physical social spiritual financial political [1] Police power is legally considered an inherent power, limited only by prohibitions specified in the constitution of a state, making it the most expansive authorized power exercised by a state. A constitution is a system for government often Codified as a written document that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity
The concept of police power r (or simply "police") in English common law dates back at least four centuries[2] and roughly coincides with the breakdown of the feudal order in Europe and the development of towns and cities (polis). England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status [3] The exercise of police power can be in the form of making laws, compelling obedience to those laws through physical means with the aim of removing liberty, legal sanctions, or other forms of coercion and inducements. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Violence is the exertion of force so as to injure or abuse The word is used broadly to describe the destructive action of natural phenomena like Storms and Earthquakes Coercion (co-er-shion is the practice of compelling a person or manipulating them to behave in an involuntary way (whether through action or inaction by use of threats Controversies over the exercise of police power, particularly the use of physical means, arise when it conflicts with the rights of sub-national states and individuals or civil liberties, such as the police power of American states for example, or police brutality. A right is a legal or moral Entitlement or Permission. Rights are of vital importance in theories of Justice and deontological ethics As commonly used, individual refers to a Person or to any specific object in a collection thumb| |Broken Liberty Istanbul Archaeology Museum Civil liberties are freedoms that protect the Individual from the Government. States' rights refers to the idea in US politics and constitutional law, that U Police brutality is the world wide use of excessive force usually physical but potentially also in the form verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by
In American legal history, police power has a particular significance for interpreting the constitutional division of power. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. A federation ( Latin: foedus, covenant is a union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central ("federal" Nineteenth-century Supreme Court rulings confirmed that the federal government had certain powers delegated by the constitution, but that all unspecified regulatory powers, or "police power," rested with the states. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. The concept was expanded in the New Deal era to grant police power to the federal government under the commerce clause of the constitution, extending it to the provision of services to enhance public welfare. The New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D Article 1 Section 8 Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, known as the Commerce Clause, states that Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign [4] US courts now rely on a "balance of interests" doctrine to settle contests over police power. The balance of interests doctrine is a legal theory in the United States found in decisions by the United States Supreme Court [5]
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Delegation of power of self defense
French Economist Frédéric Bastiat advanced the following democratic theory of police power in his 1849 book, The Law. Claude Frédéric Bastiat ( June 30, 1801 December 24, 1850) was a French classical liberal theorist political economist The Law, original French title La Loi, is a 1849 book by Frédéric Bastiat. [6]: The police power is essentially derived from the individual power of self-defense. If someone attacks you, he argues, you have a right, given to you by God[7], to use force to resist, or detain this person, and as people come together by compact to form democratic forms of self-rule, it becomes practical for citizens to delegate this power to an external body, such as to a militia or police force. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of Organization.
Uses of police power
The most common use of police power over real property is for the adoption and enforcement of zoning regulations, building codes, and environmental protection regulations, by local, regional, and national governments. In the Common law, real property (or realty) refers to one of the two main classes of Property, the other class being Personal property ( Zoning is a term used in Urban planning for a system of land-use Regulation in various parts of the world including North America the United Kingdom A building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as Buildings and Nonbuilding Local governments are administrative offices that are smaller than a State. Examples of administrative divisions English terms In many of the following terms corresponding to British cultural influence areas of relatively low mean population In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity
Other uses of the police power include public health regulations, vice laws, traffic laws, and family law. Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts and informed choices of society organisations Traffic on Roads may consist of Pedestrians ridden or herded Animals Vehicles Streetcars and other Conveyances either singly Family law is an area of the Law that deals with family-related issues and Domestic relations including but not limited to the nature of However, it is impossible to give a complete list of the uses of police power because a state can write any command or prohibition as a law and make people obey it, as long as such laws do not contradict constitutions or other laws with precedent.
Police power in the United States
Under the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, the powers prohibited from or not delegated to the Federal Government are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. This implies that the states do not possess all possible powers, since some of these are reserved to the people. The powers reserved to the states by the Constitution, include all powers the states retained prior to 1789 (U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton). US Term Limits, Inc v Thornton, 514 US 779 ( 1995) was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled The framers of the U.S. Constitution believed that the states were empowered, like the British Parliament, with general authority to act on behalf of the welfare of their people but, unlike the British Parliament, subject to the restrictions of written state and federal constitutions. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories
Police powers are, from the point of view of state courts, also restricted by state constitutions. The concept of police power is used by federal courts which do not have jurisdiction to interpret state constitutions: from the point of view of federal constitutional law, states have general police powers except where restricted by the federal Constitution.
The U. S. Supreme Court has often held that police powers are limited, even before reaching specific Constitutional provisions. One of many such statements:
- Police powers, broadly stated and without, at present, any attempt at a more specific limitation, relate to the safety, health, morals and general welfare of the public. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force [1]
Cases such as Lawrence v. Texas suggest that intimate morals are no longer a legitimate subject of the police power except to the extent that health or safety are involved. Lawrence v Texas, 539 US 558 ( 2003) was a landmark United States Supreme Court case
Because the Congress has limited powers granted in the Constitution, the Federal government does not have a general police power, as the states do. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The exceptions are laws regarding Federal property and the military. On the other hand, Congress was granted by the New Deal Court a broad quasi-police authority from its power to regulate interstate commerce and raise and spend revenue. Article 1 Section 8 Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, known as the Commerce Clause, states that Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign
See also
External links
References
- ^ "Police Power". In Politics, law and order refers to a political platform which supports a strict Criminal justice system especially in relation to Violent crime Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-02-08. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
- ^ "Police Power". Encyclopedia of Public Health. Answers. com. Retrieved on 2007-02-08. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
- ^ Neocleous, Mark (2004). Fabricating Social Order: A Critical History of Police Power. London: Pluto Press, 1. ISBN 978-0-7453-1489-1.
- ^ "Police Power". Encyclopedia of American History. Answers. com. Retrieved on 2007-02-08. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
- ^ "Police Power". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-02-08. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
- ^ See The Law, by Frédéric Bastiat
- ^ The Law, Chapter 3
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