
Constitutionality – Unconstitutional laws are null and void.
Necessity – Unnecessary laws are an unjust, unfair, counter-productive burden on the people.
Generality - Laws should not benefit only one group or bring harm upon any narrowly-defined group of individuals.
Prospectivity - Laws should always apply only in the future and never to the past. This is why our Constitution bars ex post facto laws.
Publicity – All laws should be widely published and well-known to all.
Consent – Our laws must be generally acceptable to those who will have to live by them.
Due Process – Our laws must be applied equally and fairly, with the punishment for each similar crime being the same for any convicted lawbreaker.
"If I am elected President of the United States, a team will be assigned to each piece of legislation that is passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate to examine in great detail whether such prospective laws meet this simple but rigorous test. I will also have a permanent copy of these eight elements on my desk and will personally test each bill against this plumb line before I sign it."
-- Tom Hoefling