Has our system of laws thrived or just survived after 200 plus years Americans are free, in short, to disagree with the law but not to disobey it. For in a government of laws and not of men, no man, however prominent or powerful, and no mob, however unruly or boisterous, is entitled to defy a court of law. JFK Comment on this quote from President Kennedy. Has our system of laws thrived or just survived after 200 plus years? Include: Statutory Law (substantive & procedural); Judicial Law Give examples why written laws are positive for an ordered society. Our system of laws covers multiple facets of life criminal, civil, constitutional, administrative, case, procedural, etc.