ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 25, 1990                   TAG: 9007250406
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A/8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

INALIENABLE RIGHTS CAN'T BE TAKEN AWAY

I LEARNED as a child that inalienable rights (see Declaration of Independence) are those that all people are born with, as an intrinsic part of being human. By definition, inalienable rights cannot be taken away. Government cannot give us these rights or revoke them. Government can only create and enforce laws that protect or encroach upon them.

Inalienable rights belong to each and every human being - forever. Laws, ordinances, constitutions and amendments are something else.

MICHAEL F. STEWART\ ROANOKE 


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