Greetings and salutations, Brian:

If you haven't already read this, you, (and possibly others here), may find some useful thoughts within this writing, Introduction to Natural Law by Murray N. Rothbard.

http://www.mises.org/story/2426

"The laws shall be merely declaratory of natural rights and natural wrongs, and … whatever is indifferent to the laws of nature shall be left unnoticed by human legislation … and legal tyranny arises whenever there is a departure from this simple principle." - Elisha P. Hurlbut, Essays on Human Rights and Their Political Guarantees (1845), cited in Wright, American Interpretations, pp. 257 ff.

Robert