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§ 27. Of the Body.

The body includes all portions of the human body except the limbs. Although the law protects this against injury, yet it is not regarded as so sacred or important as either life or limb. In defence of his body merely, a man cannot legally take life, nor are contracts, entered into under fear of injury to the body, void.

Read 1 Bl. Comm., pp. 131, 134.

Bac. Abr., Assault, Duress.

1 Pars. Cont., B. i, Ch. xix, Sec. 4.

$ 28. Of Health.

Health consists in freedom from physical pain, discomfort, and weakness. The enjoyment of health is essential to the true enjoyment of life, and the law, therefore, protects it against injuries, both from the actions and omissions of other men.

Read 1 Bl. Comm., p. 134.

3 Bl. Comm., p. 122.

4 Bl. Comm., pp. 161, 162.

1 Hill. Torts, Ch. xix, § 6.

§ 29. Of Reputation.

The reputation of a man is that favorable opinion, which other men entertain concerning his character or capabilities. To this opinion every man has a legal right, until by his own misconduct he has forfeited it; and any violation of this right is regarded and treated by the law as a griev ous wrong.

Read 1 Bl. Comm., p. 134.

1 Kent Comm., Lect. xxiv, pp. 16-19.
Cooley Torts, pp. 30–33.

§ 30 Of the Rights of the State over the Person of the Subject.

+(The enjoyment of life, limbs, body, health, and reputation are, however, subordinate to the rules of law.) Individual rights yield to public necessity; and whenever the preservation of political society demands the surrender of any of these rights, either as a punishment for crime or as essential to the public safety, the individual must suffer in order that the state may be preserved. The mode of their enjoyment by one individual must also, to some extent, be limited by the same rules, in order to secure to other individuals their proper exercise of the same rights; since, in society, the law can in no other way protect the rights of all than by impartially restricting them, whenever they conflict with one another.

Read 1 Bl. Comm., p. 123–129.

4 Bl. Comm., pp. 7-14, 178-182.

1 Kent Comm., Lect. xxiv, pp. 12-26.
Broom Leg. Max., pp. 1–10.

Cooley Const. Lim., pp. 414–465.

§ 31. Of the Methods by which the Law Protects Life, Limbs, and Body.

The law protects life, limbs, and body: (1) By giving to every man the right of self-defence; (2) By securing, through its general provisions, such peace and order in society that injuries to them are not likely to occur; (3) By punishing actual or attempted injuries to them as criminal offences; (4) By giving, to the injured person, compensation for his injury, to be recovered from his injurer in a suit at law; (5) By compelling private persons, when necessary, to support those who stand in certain relations to them; (6) By making public provision for the des

titute; (7) By special enactments, prohibiting monopolies and protecting trade and labor.

Read 1 Bl. Comm., pp. 131, 359-365, 447-449.

3 Bl. Comm., pp. 3, 4, 120–122.

4 Bl. Comm., pp. 154, 158-161, 184-188, 205-218.

1 Kent Comm., Lect. xxiv, pp. 12-26.
Pomeroy Mun. Law, §§ 634-640.

§ 32. Of the Methods by which the Law Protects Health. The law protects health: (1) By giving to the party, whose health is endangered, the right to remove the cause of danger, whenever this can be done without disturbing the public peace; (2) By punishing, as criminal offences, those actions or omissions which endanger health; (3) By giving compensation to the injured person in a suit at law; (4) By compelling the person, in whose actions or omissions the cause of danger has originated, to remove it.

Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 5, 122, 123.

4 Bl. Comm., pp. 161, 162.

1 Hill. Torts, Ch. xix, § 6.
2 Story Eq. Jur., § 926.

§ 33. Of the Methods by which the Law Protects Repu

tation.

The law protects reputation: (1) By presuming that the character of every man is good until the contrary is proved; (2) By punishing the more serious attacks upon it as criminal offences; (3) By giving compensation to the injured person in a suit at law.

Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 123-127.

4 Bl. Comm., pp. 150, 151.

1 Kent Comm., Lect. xxiv, pp. 16, 17.

Bac. Abr., Libel, Slander.

Pomeroy Mun. Law, §§ 641-645.

1 Greenl. Ev., §§ 34, 35.

3 Greenl. Ev., § 29.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE RIGHT OF PERSONAL LIBERTY.

§ 34. Of Freedom and Imprisonment.

The right of personal liberty is the right which every man has to move his person to whatever place his inclinations may direct, without restraint except by due course of law. This right to move includes the right to remain at rest; and whenever, by any force or show of force, a man is compelled either to go or to stay, against his will, his personal liberty is violated and he is said to undergo imprisonment. The place where, the method by which, and the length of time for which, such restraint is applied, are immaterial. In any case, it constitutes an imprisonment; and, unless effected in the lawful enforcement of some legal right, is a gross invasion of his liberty and is severely punished by the law. Against improper interference with his liberty a man may use all necessary force, and any obligation entered into by him, while thus unlawfully restrained and as a condition of his deliverance therefrom, is of no validity against him.

Read 1 Bl. Comm., pp. 134-138.

3 Bl. Comm., pp. 127, 128.

1 Kent Comm., Lect. xxiv, p. 26.
Bac. Abr., Duress, Trespass D, 3.
1 Hill. Torts, Ch. vi, §§ 1-2 a.
Bigelow L. C. Torts, pp. 272-275.

§ 35. Of the Rights of the State over the Liberty of the Subject.

In the enjoyment of his personal liberty, as well as in that of his personal security, the citizen is limited by the rules

of law. By various forms of legal process he is liable to be restrained, not only as defendant in a civil suit or criminal proceeding, but as a juror, or a witness, or a member of a legislative body. He may be compelled to serve in the army or the navy of the United States, or in the militia, or the posse comitatus of the individual State. In all these cases the legal provisions, governing such restraint, must be strictly followed by the authority by whom it is applied, or the imprisonment will be unlawful, and all participators therein will be liable to punishment.

Read 1 Bl. Comm., pp. 135, 136, 343, 408–421.

3 Bl. Comm., pp. 287–290, 354, 369.

Broom Leg. Max., pp. 1, 2.

Const. U. S., Art. i, Sec. 8.

Bac. Abr., Trespass D, 3

Cushing Leg. Assemb., pp. 101-103.
Pomeroy Mun. Law, §§ 647-652.

§ 36. Of the Methods by which the Law Protects Personal Liberty.

The law protects the right of personal liberty: (1) By giving to every man the right to free himself whenever unlawfully confined; (2) By regulating legal imprisonment with great exactness; (3) By delivering the person, who has been illegally confined, through the judicial proceeding known as the Writ of Habeas Corpus; (4) By punishing violations of this right as criminal offences; (5) By giving compensation to the injured party in a suit at law.

Read 1 Bl. Comm., pp. 135–138.
3 Bl. Comm., pp. 128-138.

4 Bl. Comm., pp. 218, 219.

1 Kent Comm., Lect. xxiv, pp. 26-34.

Pomeroy Mun. Law, §§ 653-658.

Cooley Const. Lim., pp. 295–350.
Bigelow L. C. Torts, pp. 268-285.
Hurd Hab. Corp., B. i.

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