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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.^[1] Police power is legally considered an inherent right, and is limited only by prohibitions specified in the constitution of a state, making it the most expansive authority exercised by a state. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern the people in one or more societies, having internal and external sovereignty over a definite territory. ...

The concept of police power (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).^[3] The exercise of police power can be in the form of making laws, compelling obedience to those laws through violence, legal sanctions, or other forms of coercion and inducements. Controversies over the exercise of police power 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. Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... Violence is any act of aggression and abuse that causes or intends to cause injury to persons (and by some definitions animals or property). ... States rights refers to the idea that U.S. states possess certain rights and political powers in the politics of the United States and constitutional law. ... David Kirkwood on the ground after being struck by police batons Police brutality is a term used to describe the excessive use of physical force, assault, verbal attacks, and threats by police officers and other law enforcement officers. ...

In American legal history, police power has a particular significance for interpreting the constitutional division of power. 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 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.^[4] US courts now rely on a "balance of interests" doctrine to settle contests over police power.^[5] A map displaying todays federations. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal      The government of the United States of America, established by the U.S. Constitution, is a... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: New Deal For other uses of New Deal and The New Deal, see New Deal (disambiguation). ... Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, known as the Commerce Clause, empowers the United States Congress To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. ...

Philosophical origins

There are three primary legal theories as to the metaphysical origins of police power.

Inherent Right

Some legal theorists regard states as having an "inherent" right to police power, meaning that it doesn't have to be explicitly written into any basic law or constitutional or other foundational document. A right is the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled or a thing to which one has a just claim. ...

Divine Right

Historic

Historically, European monarchs considered police power to be bestowed on them by the Christian God. This was known as the Divine Right of Kings. Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... The Divine Right of Kings is a European political and religious doctrine of political absolutism. ...

Modern

In the United States in 2004, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R) proposed a law that would have made Divine Right an official Federal policy. The law, known as the "Constitution Restoration Act of 2004," would have prohibited the Supreme Court of the United States from hearing cases involving state or Federal officials' "acknowledgement of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government."^[6] The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ...

Delegation of Power of Self Defense

French Economist Frédéric Bastiat advanced the following democratic theory of police power in his 1849 book, The Law.^[7]: 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^[8], 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. Frédéric Bastiat Claude Frédéric Bastiat (June 30, 1801–December 24, 1850) was a French classical liberal theorist, political economist, and member of the French assembly. ... The Law, original french title La Loi, is a 1849 book by Frédéric Bastiat. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Compact as a general noun can refer to: Look up Compact on Wiktionary, the free dictionary a diplomatic contract or covenant among parties, sometimes known as a pact, treaty, or an interstate compact; a British term for a newspaper format; In mathematics, it can refer to various concepts: Mostly commonly... Self rule is used to described a people or group being able to exercise all of the necessary functions of power without intervention from any authority which they cannot themselves alter. ...

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, environmental protection regulations, etc. by local, regional governments, national governments. Real property is a legal term encompassing real estate and ownership interests in real estate (immovable property). ... A typical zoning map; this one identifies the zones, or development districts, in the city of Ontario, California Zoning is a North American term for a system of land-use regulation. ... A building code is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. ... Local governments are administrative offices of an area smaller than a state or province. ... Administrative division is a generic term for an administrative region within a country — on an arbitrary level below that of the sovereign state — typically with a local government encompassing multiple municipalities, counties, or provinces with a certain degree of autonomy. ... Look up country in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Other uses of the police power include public health regulations, vice laws, traffic laws, and family law. 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. Public health is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. ... Red = drive on right Blue = drive on left Rules of the road are the general practices and procedures followed by people on roads, especially those driving cars or on bicycles or other vehicles. ... Family Law was a television drama starring Kathleen Quinlan as a divorced lawyer who attempted to start her own law firm after her lawyer husband took all their old clients. ...

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 v. Thornton). 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. (Redirected from 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution) Amendment X (the Tenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, states: The Tenth Amendment is generally recognized to be a truism. ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme... The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). ...

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.[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. Holding A Texas law prohibiting homosexual sodomy violated the privacy and liberty of adults, under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, to engage in private intimate conduct. ...

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 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. Congress in Joint Session. ... Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution empowers the United States Congress To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. The Commerce Clause has been the subject of intense constitutional and political disagreement centering on the extent to...

See also

• Law and order (politics)
• Police

In politics, law and order refers to a political platform which supports a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent crime and property crimes, through harsher criminal penalties. ...

External link

• Constitution Restoration Act of 2004

References

1. ^ "Police Power". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
2. ^ "Police Power". Encyclopedia of Public Health. Answers.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
3. ^ Neocleous, Mark (2004). Fabricating Social Order: A Critical History of Police Power. London: Pluto Press, 1. ISBN 978-0-7453-1489-1. 
4. ^ "Police Power". Encyclopedia of American History. Answers.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
5. ^ "Police Power". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
6. ^ Legislation keeps God issues out of courts
7. ^ See The Law, by Frédéric Bastiat
8. ^ The Law, Chapter 3