§ 378. Of the Redress of Wrongs Committed by the State. The wrongs which are committed by the state itself, through its executive or judicial officers, and which are properly either torts or crimes, demand the same redress against the persons, who commit them, as do other wrongs received from a co-subject. In certain cases, also, the state, by its own permission, may be sued in its own courts, as if it were a private citizen. But when the legislature passes laws, which are unwarranted by its constitutional authority and are oppressive to the subject, there is no remedy against the legislative body, or the individuals of whom that body is composed. It is the duty of the courts to treat such laws as invalid, and to decline to aid in their enforcement. When officers, judicial or executive, become corrupt or incompetent, it is the duty of the state to remove them, and fill their places with competent and honest men. When all the branches of the government unite in an abuse or usurpation of power, the supreme duty devolves upon the people to overthrow the government, and establish a new one, "peaceably if they can, forcibly if they must." Read 2 Burlamaqui, pp. 90-97. Declaration of Independence. Cooley Const. Lim., pp. 159–188. Cooley Torts, p. 376.. Cooley Const. Law, pp. 25, 26, 144–159. 1 Story Const., §§ 742-813. § 379. Of the Redress of Wrongs Committed by Foreign States The wrong, committed by the subject of one state against the subject of another, is in itself merely a tort or crime, and the remedy therefor is to be sought, in the first instance, in the courts of the state, of which the wrong-doer is a subject. If such state refuses redress, and thereby adopts the act of the wrong-doer as its own, it is the duty of the state, of which the injured party is a subject, to demand, from the other state, a reparation for the injury, and to enforce its demand by retorsion, reprisal or, when necessary, even by actual war. This also is the only remedy, when the subject of one state is injured by the direct action of a for eign state. Read Vattel, B. ii, §§ 341–350. 2 Burlamaqui, pp. 180-183. Woolsey Int. Law, §§ 76, 116, 118. § 380. Of the Duties of the State toward Citizens and Aliens. These rights of the subject, in or against the state, are qualified by the relations, which the subject himself occupies. toward other states. To the citizen they belong in their widest extent. Complete protection and vindication at all times, in all places, in all his legal rights, and at all hazards, are due to him; and the state, which withholds these, breaks the compact out of which its own existence sprang, and forfeits the allegiance of the citizen. The alien, on the other hand, has no right to protection or vindication against a foreign state. If he be an alien-friend, the state is bound to protect him against wrongs from itself or his co-subjects, and to afford to him the usual remedies in courts of justice. If he becomes an alien-enemy, these rights, as matters of strict law, are forfeited, and he may be regarded as a prisoner of war, and all his property may be confiscated by the state. Custom, however, of long standing and continuous observance sufficient almost to have the force of law, has recognized the equitable rights of alien-enemies, and they are now treated like alien-friends, as long as they are permitted to remain within the territory of the state. Read 1 Bl. Comm., pp. 369-372. Vattel, B. ii, §§ 99–115; B. iii, §§ 70–77. 1 Kent Comm., Lect. iii, pp. 56-65. 2 Kent Comm., Lect. xxv, pp. 53–73. § 381. Of the Duties of the United States toward their Subjects. In the United States, these different rights, and their modes of exercise, are further qualified by the character of the United States, or of the individual State, and by the relations which the Federal Constitution has established between them. It is the duty of each individual State to protect its own subject against wrongs at the hands of his co-subject, and to afford redress, for the wrongs committed by its subject, to all persons whatsoever. It is the duty of the United States to protect its subject against certain wrongs at the hands of any state or person, and against all wrongs at the hands of any person, except his co-subject of the individual State. It is also the duty of the United States to redress those wrongs, whose commission it is its duty, so far as practicable, to prevent. Read Walker Am. Law, §§ 8, 192, 196. Cooley Const. Law, pp. 142-144, 244. BOOK IV. OF PUBLIC WRONGS. § 382. Of Torts and Crimes. Public wrongs are those by which the rights of the state over the subject, or the rights of the subject in or against the state, are either diminished or destroyed. There is a sense in which all wrongs are public wrongs, since they involve an interruption of the duties of the subject to the state, or interfere with that protection which the state owes to the subject. But there are certain wrongs, which do not terminate upon the individual, whose property or person they assail, but reach through and beyond him to the social fabric of which he forms a part, and violate the peace and order of the state. Such wrongs contain an element of evil, which is wanting to the mere private injury. They strike at the foundations of all civil government, and justly are regarded, by the law, as wrongs of a different nature, and as demanding a different redress. Read 4 Bl. Comm., pp. 1-7. Broom Comm., pp. 866-873. 3 Wilson, pp. 4-6. Austin Jur., Lect. xvii, xxvii. 1 B. & H. L. C. C., pp. 1–34. § 383. Of the Legal Separation of Torts and Crimes. What special wrongs do thus invade the majesty and security of the state largely depends upon the condition of society, and the character of the state itself. An act, |