A wealth of evidence shows that the protection of people's life, liberty, and property is the core duty of U.S. federal, state, and local governments. This evidence includes the Declaration of Independence, the 5th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled: "Primarily, governments exist for the maintenance of social order. Hence it is that the obligation of the government to protect life, liberty, and property against the conduct of the indifferent, the careless, and the evil-minded may be regarded as lying at the very foundation of the social compact."