By Chief Judge Kenneth M. Switzer, Nashville

[Blog administrator’s note: We’re republishing this from July 2024. Enjoy.]

While riding my bike early this morning, for some reason I began to reflect on the 4^th of July–probably because it’s tomorrow.

State offices will be closed. Don’t forget to omit the holiday in counting timeframes/deadlines under our rules. No settlement approvals.

But beyond the day off. Beyond the procedural ramifications of the day for practitioners… Have you read the Declaration of Independence in recent years? What a well-written document indeed.

Its content, a restatement of theories of government and its purpose, were radical at the time. To say that “governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” was treasonous all by itself. The very idea that the governed had any say in the way the world was run was new and unheard of.

Folks like Locke and Rousseau had been espousing these theories for some time, but only in an abstract sense. This was the first time a group of citizens decided to put the theory to work and take matters into their own hands.

It took over a month for Thomas Jefferson, with help from John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, to present an original draft to the convention. And then came several days of redrafting and debate before the final product was presented.

You’ll recall as you read this document once again that it wasn’t all about theories of government. It contains a long list of grievances against the “King.” Each item on the list begins with “He has… .”

The Court’s editor, staff attorney Jane Salem, would’ve scratched that as too repetitive. But it has a certain ring to it if you read it out loud. It’s clever and makes a great point: this king is a tyrant.

You can see in these grievances the roots of the Bill of Rights and other parts of our Constitution. “He” made judges dependent on his will alone for their tenure of office and the amount of their pay; created new offices and sent people to harass the citizens; taxed without consent; and deprived them of trial by jury. The list goes on of other offenses that we today can’t understand how the king got away with these things.

Stop right now. Pull it up on your computer, and read it.

But then look at the bottom for signatures of 56 men. These 56 individuals knew that what they were doing was treasonous and their very lives and fortunes were on the line. Think about that just for a minute. Would you have taken that bold step to tell a king he’s a tyrant, when he has the most powerful army in the world?

Now look out your window. Think about where you live, and everything you have and rely on today. I get it that not everything is perfect for everyone. It wasn’t in 1776, either. Mountains remain to be climbed; things need to change.

But we must remember that we owe this to 56 men (with all their faults), who had the courage to take a bold step.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone.

Photo by Kim Weaver, paralegal, Knoxville.