Weston White wrote:Fundamental Law:
The law which determines the constitution of government in a state, and prescribes and regulates the manner of its exercise; the organic law of a state; the constitution.
NOTICE: "The law
which determines the constitution of government in a state"
That indicates prior to, before hand... now of course most terms have more than one meaning, such as "capitation taxes" for example.
Now when our Forefathers began creating the Articles of Confederation, they had to have a hypothesis, a model, something to run check and balances on, something to measure from... what was that? What could that have been? That is correct, the 'Declaration of Independence'. Now fundamental law is not "the law", I never said that, fundamental law itself has no legally binding application per say, you can't say you are in violation of Article I, Section 8, clause 4 so you are going to be punished.... umm, OK, so what is my punishment? Oh well we don't really know, because we have yet to have created in definitive statute prescribing a punishment for such violation. Oh, OK, so I guess you can't punish me than! Fundamental law is simply the founding, the supporting documents for our Nation. They are fundamental to our existence, our reason for existing as our own Nation. What was the original intent? As they say do not forget where you came from or one day you just might discover that you can never find your way back.
As I said, you are misinterpreting Black's definition. The word, 'constitution' has several meanings. One of those meanings is "the act or process of constituting; establishment". The Declaration of Independence did not ESTABLISH the government of the United States. The Constitution ESTABLISHED the government of the United States.
Saying the founding fathers had to have a model from which to write the Constitution is false. There did not have to be a model for the Articles of Confederation or the Constitution. I am certain that the framers of the Constitution used their knowledge and experience to help structure the Constitution, but they did not use the Declaration of Independence as a model. They could have made the Constitution similar to the documents establishing another country. Would that mean the other country's document is fundamental law for the U.S.? No, it would not have. If they HAD to have a model for the Constitution, and that model is the Declaration of Independence, what was the model for the Declaration? Or is it turtles all the way down?
The Declaration of Independence is a document that provides insight into the attitudes, concerns and thoughts of the time. The Federalist Papers provide a similar function. As others have said, the Declaration of Independence can be used as a moral guide, but it is not law. It is not fundamental law.
Also, if the Constitution makes an act illegal but does not state a punishment, that doesn't mean you can't be punished until there is a statute prescribing a punishment. In the absence of a statute prescribing a punishment, the courts can prescribe a punishment for a crime and subsequent rulings would probably be consistent with the first court's decision on punishment. If the legislature disagrees with the court's amount of punishment, it can enact a statute prescribing the punishment it feels is adequate for all subsequent cases involving that crime.
Light travels faster than sound, which is why some people appear bright, until you hear them speak.