portablepublishing.com - 2012 Constitution

The cover image combines both the external and internal inspections and repair of the Liberty statue, because she is a beacon that represents our freedom and our rights.

When we, the keepers of Liberty, fail to properly maintain or abandon our beacon altogether, others move in to use her for treachery promising false hope, so they might steal the fortunes of others.

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An Author's Note

The true authors of this work are many. Naming one honors none.

Far too many citizens do not understand their most important rights, let alone the True Power of those rights. Aside from introducing a new form of government, this publication provides instruction about understanding those rights as well as our duty to maintain them.

The Declaration of Independence is the Founding Charter that created the United States. It promises a new and better government.

Government, when defective, leaves us few options; modify it, if possible; when necessary, replace it.

It is our Duty, as the governed, to frequently and thoroughly inspect every aspect of our government for corruption; when found, we must act swiftly to correct it. With timely repair, this Constitution shall rest secure on our Union's Foundation.

Should we, or our posterity, fail our Duty — our neglect — allows corruption to ravage and destroy us from within.

As the primary author, I sincerely hope you accept this work as your own, telling others so that together we might take rightful control of our government.

From the Primary Author

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To unite consists of more than merely agreeing:

It requires working together for a common objective.

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Preface

In the united words of our Founders, from their 1776 Unanimous Declaration, they instruct us, their posterity, as to when it becomes necessary to institute new forms of government. It is that necessity, the long train of abuses and usurpations that require us to act.

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Introduction

The Founding Charter stands of its own accord. Its inclusion in this Constitution provides better insight regarding the grant of power by the people to their government.

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United States Founding Charter, 1776

For ease of reading and for reference: The numbered paragraphs replace many of the original long dashes. The following text results from comparing copies of the signed hand-written Declaration, as well as copies of the type-set broad-sheet. Most of the capitalized letters are in lower-case. The misspelled words are corrected.

“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's god entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
“Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
“He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
“He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
“He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
“He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
“He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
“He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
“He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
“He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
“He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
“He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
“He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures.
“He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.
“He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
“For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
“For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
“For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
“For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
“For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
“For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:
“For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies:
“For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
“For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
“He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
“He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
“He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
“He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction, of all ages, sexes and conditions.
“In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a Free People.
“Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.
“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which Independent States may of right do.
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

The End of the Unanimous Declaration of 1776: Without Founders signatures.

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Summary of the

1776 United States Founding Charter

The United States Founding Charter

Is a legal document that

a. Separated the political powers of the Colonies from those of Great Britain.

b. Created the United States of America out of the British Colonies.

c. Declares honorable government is created by and subject to the consent of the governed.

d. Names the people's most important rights and duties.

e. Defines representative power.

f. Defines citizenship responsibility and risks.

g. Defines a tyrant or otherwise oppressive, usurping, and abusive government.

Is a letter to

a. The King of Great Britain.

b. The world.

c. The people of the then-new United States.

d. The Founders' posterity — us — the current generation.

e. All who might govern the people of the United States.

Is a treasure map that

a. Identifies our national treasure — the people's rights.

b. Identifies all the people as our treasure's guardians.

c. Lets us know how we might lose our treasure.

d. Identifies the pirates: tyrants who might take our treasure.

e. Tells us how to re-acquire our treasure when we lose it.

f. Warns patriots of potential dangers.

Summarizes human nature and the nature of government, as it identifies

a. Human nature to become accustomed to abuses.

b. Rights common to all humans.

c. Government's natural tendency toward tyranny.

d. How adversity helps motivate us.

e. How we the people might control our governments.

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Preamble — Pledge

We the Citizens of the United of States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general well-being of the Union, encourage self-sufficiency with social responsibility, do mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor, to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Taking responsibility for our actions and for our government, we do ordain and establish this Constitution.

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Article I. Definitions

The following definitions are for this Constitution. When enacted by the people, these definitions shall replace those in prior enacted laws as well as all laws enacted hereafter.

Citizen: Any person who legally resides within and maintains permanent residence within the jurisdiction of any Nation-State (a National Union or any politically independent State). Dual- or Multiple-Citizenships shall not exist under this Constitution.
Citizen, (natural-born): One who is born on the soil of the Nation-State where both the mother and the father were also born.
Citizen, (native-born): One who, regardless of the country in which the person is born, shall retain the citizenship of the mother and/or father. Where conflict occurs, the child shall enjoy the citizenship of the mother.
Citizen, (naturalized): One who applies for citizenship within a Nation-State and is accepted.
Legislation: Any means by which to regulate the activity, property, or finances of one person or the people collectively via political power.
People: The population, collectively.
Political Jurisdiction: The respective geographical area the office and level of government an elected official serves. Otherwise: The city, town, or village wherein a person maintains their permanent legal residence; these are the smallest political jurisdictions. Respectively, county, state, and National Union are progressively larger political jurisdictions.
Public Trust: All enacted legislation appropriate to the jurisdiction the elected official serves, as well as promises the official made while campaigning for office that do not conflict with enacted legislation.
Representative: Any person elected by the people into the executive and the judicial offices in all levels of government. Others who represent the people but are not elected, include all those whom elected officials appoint, hire, or contract with to perform work authorized by the people. All are bound by oath, whether administered or not, to uphold this Constitution in the defense of the People of this National Union.
Treason: Consists of a person or group levying war against the people of any political jurisdiction wherein they live, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Betrayal of a public trust shall also constitute treason under this Constitution. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same act, or on long-form confession of the accused before a jury in an open and public court.
Tyrant, Tyranny: Any one or more of the acts listed in the grievances outlined in the 1776 United States Founding Charter against King George III of Great-Britain.

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Article II. The Foundation

The Unanimous Declaration of 1776 (commonly known as the Declaration of Independence) is the Founding Charter that created this Union of States from the previously owned British Colonies.
For the times when our government abuses or usurps the authority and power the people grant to it, the Founding Charter reminds us that it is not only our right, it is our duty, to alter, to abolish, or to otherwise free ourselves from such government and to institute a new Rule of Law for our future security and happiness.
No level or branch of government under this Constitution shall have any power that was not specifically granted to it by the people subject to its jurisdiction.
As individuals, we are the governed. Collectively, we posses the sovereign power to control our government.
Our Founders, in keeping with the ideals they established within the Founding Charter, freed themselves from the tyranny of Great Britain's form of government, replacing it with The Articles of Confederation.
Our Founders soon realized the Articles tended toward too weak a government without sufficient powers to bind the Union and provide for its future defense, they abolished the Articles of Confederation and replaced them with the 1787 Constitution.
The 1787 Constitution created a strong government that united all the states under the same Supreme Law. The Founders intended the 1787 Constitution to prevent our government from tyrannizing us, so they altered our 1787 Constitution and added The Bill of Rights.
The new government that our Founders and Constitutional Framers created outlived them. They did not see their — our — government evolve into a tyranny, committing the same political abuses they identified for us, the very acts of government that many of them risked their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to defeat in the mid 1700's.
In the united words of our Founders, from their 1776 Unanimous Declaration, they instruct us as to when it becomes necessary to institute new forms of government. It is that necessity, the long train of abuses and usurpations that requires our action.

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Article III. Direct Bicameral Legislative Branch

The Rule of Law is government according to enacted legislation. Enacted legislation in honorable governments originates via the authority of the governed.
Origination: Any citizen may initiate legislative proposals. However, all legislative votes shall begin in the First House of the city, town, or village's that the proposed legislation intends to govern.
All Legislative Power of the United States and every state, county, and city, town, or village shall reside in the people according to the rules of this Article, who collectively shall enact all legislation, determine the fair penalty for punishing offenders, as well as provide the funding necessary for implementation.
The First House shall consist of all citizens eligible to vote who attained eighteen years of age and older, as well as those under eighteen who are legally emancipated minors and/or members of the United States Armed Forces; unless, at the time of voting, they are serving any portion of a sentence for a crime of which they were duly convicted, also including minor crimes.
The Second House consists of the actual number of political jurisdictions according to the number of cites, towns, and villages within a county; the number of counties within a state; the states in a National Union; and progressively into each larger political jurisdiction. Each lower-level political jurisdiction shall have one vote in the Second House of the next-larger jurisdiction to which it belongs.
Legislation (required elements): When considering legislation to control the specific actions of others, decide whether or not you object to opposing legislation to regulate your activity regarding the subject at hand.
A Free Society limits legislation to that purpose which prevents a person or group of people from violating the rights of another person or group who are not harming or causing harm to another or their property. For purposes herein, harm shall consist only of tangible and physical harm.
All legislation shall contain a preamble, the purpose that identifies what part of this Constitution that authorizes the legislation and how the proposed legislation improves, strengthens, and perfects the political jurisdiction for which the legislation was written.
Legislation that does not specifically state a penalty for punishing violators or the manner in which to fund it, that legislation shall be unenforceable and void.
To advance legislation into each progressively-larger political jurisdiction, the legislation shall be word-for-word identical, including the penalty and manner of funding.
Proposed legislation shall contain only one clearly defined issue.
All proposed legislation shall be worded in such a manner that a YES vote favors the proposed change.
Checks and Balances: Requiring legislation to attain two-thirds or greater vote in both Houses, the larger population centers are unable to control the smaller; also preventing the more-numerous smaller population centers from controlling the larger-but-fewer. Legislation reaching as high as a city, town, or any of the progressively larger political jurisdictions, only the people of the largest political jurisdiction that enacts the legislation shall fund and enforce it.
Equal media time: Media equality prohibits advertising to reduce campaign costs, forcing candidates to become news-worthy for their ideas and plans to improve their political jurisdiction.
The publication or broadcasting business shall independently determine the space and/or time allotments within their respective coverage area, which must be the same for each candidate running for the same office during the same election. As well as equal time and/or space for pro and con sides of legislative proposals.
Debates: The political jurisdiction holding the election shall sponsor question-and-answer forums and debates that include all registered candidates who are willing to participate. Candidates unwilling to participate shall be removed from the ballot and not allowed to continue that election cycle.
In order to provide equal opportunity to attend each forum, the same political jurisdiction responsible for the forum shall at least provide ground transportation for each candidate to and from the closest city hall office that serves the candidate's official place of residence and the location where the forums take place.
The jurisdiction sponsoring the debates shall solicit questions from the people within the jurisdiction the office serves.
The moderator shall organize the questions according to topic, then ask the question(s) that best solicit information on that topic. During the forums, the moderator shall allow equal time for each candidate to respond to every question asked. The candidates shall not be allowed to hear the responses of the other candidates until after all the questions are asked and answered in this first phase. Candidates, in the second phase, may challenge and debate other candidates on specific topics. Each phase shall run until complete, in marathon fashion with a ten minute break every hour.
All question-and-answer sessions shall be video and audio recorded for broadcasting over radio, television, and Internet; or other communication systems the people amended into this Constitution. The recorded audio/video of the question and answer forums and debates, in their entirety, shall also be commercially available to the people, for which the proceeds shall help fund the costs of providing these forums.
Sixty days after phase two, the first elimination vote shall take place. Should this encourage an unusually large number of candidates, several elimination voting rounds shall take place. To reduce the field of candidates after each voting round, the top twenty percent of candidates advance to the next round of question-and-answer forums, debates, and voting until one candidate acquires two-thirds or more votes. In this manner, as many as three-hundred candidates become one in as few as four eliminations.
Polling stations: All polling stations within the same political jurisdiction that spans only one time zone shall open and close at the same time so they remain open during the same twenty-four hour period. For voting that includes multiple time zones, all polling stations shall open according to the hour of the earliest time zone and shall close according to the hour of the latest time zone so that all polling stations shall remain open the same twenty-four hours, plus one hour for each additional time zone.
Method of Voting: All candidate elections and all legislative proposals shall be voted on by the use of hand-marked paper ballots, requiring an ink mark in the appropriate box.
All ballots shall remain in public view from the time the voter places it into a transparent tumbler, through the time the final vote tally is counted three times yielding the same totals, certified complete by the official vote counters, and no less than twenty-four hours after the legal allotted time to contest the vote count ends.
To save time in the vote-counting and to ensure enough ballots are in the tumbler to provide voter privacy; removal of ballots from the tumbler for vote-counting shall begin no earlier than one hour after the first ballot enters the tumbler. The ballots shall be drawn from the tumbler in public view, at random, one at a time, and placed on an overhead projector so that the official vote-counters and the public may record the results. This allows the public to credibly challenge the official count. See Broadcasting/Publishing Vote Results below.
The natural hazard of absentee ballots is its openness to fraud. Each absentee voter shall have their ballot notarized at the time of mailing or upon delivery to the local town office so their name may be marked as having already voted.
The Tally-Sheet shall include the total number of registered voters; the number of registered voters incarcerated or serving community service during voting day; the total qualified to vote, which is the total registered to vote minus those incarcerated or on community service on voting day; the total number of absentee ballots cast; the total number of ballots cast in person; the total number of ballots cast, which is the total absentee added to the total in person; the total number of voters who did not cast a ballot, which is the number of total qualified minus total number ballots cast; the total number of votes cast in favor of the legislative proposal; the total number of votes for each candidate whether printed on the ballot or written in by a voter (even if the name written in is a cartoon character); the number of ballots cast that do not have a mark next to the proposal or next to any candidate's name for that office; and the number of vote marks that extend into more than one box, which shall count in the final tally as though the mark was not there.
For the purpose of tallying all votes, all spaces left blank, as well as every write-in vote (whether registered as a candidate or not) shall be counted and published with the final tallies. Official tally-sheets from the voting precincts shall be transmitted to the appropriate executive office of each next larger political jurisdiction for cumulative tallying, ending in the largest appropriate political jurisdiction.
If the proposed legislation or candidate does not receive the minimum required votes as set forth in this Constitution, the proposal shall not pass or the candidate shall not take office.
Broadcasting/Publishing Vote Results: The total number and/or the percentage of total voters who cast ballots as of a certain time may be broadcast or published during an election; however, the actual vote count, exit poll or predicted voting results in any form shall be banned until twenty-four hours after the polls close. Early broadcasting of vote results or predictions shall constitute a felony.
Enacting Legislation: All legislative voting begins in the First House with the people in the smallest-level political jurisdictions (cities, towns, and villages) regardless of the level of political jurisdiction the proposed legislation shall govern; passing in the First House when two-thirds of the people vote YES. The Second House vote for each city, town, or village shall be YES when two-thirds or more of the people of the First House of that city, town, or village approve the proposed legislation.
The First House vote for each progressively larger jurisdiction consists of tabulating the First House votes of the next-smaller level of political jurisdictions. The Second House vote in each progressively-larger political jurisdiction shall be YES when at least two-thirds of the Second House of next-smaller level of political jurisdictions within vote YES.
The First House tally-sheet and Second House vote shall accompany copies of all legislative proposals from the lower-level political jurisdiction, forwarded to the appropriate next-larger level jurisdiction executive office responsible for accumulating, tracking, coordinating, and tabulating the votes regarding lower-level legislation, whether it passes or not.
When the proposed legislation passes in both Houses of the next-larger political jurisdiction, it shall send the same to all other lower-level jurisdictions that have not yet passed the legislation, informing them that the legislation now affects them and the entire larger jurisdiction.
When one-half of the cities, towns, and villages vote on the same legislative proposal, the county official shall forward a copy of the legislative proposal to the appropriate state official who adds the totals from the county's First and Second Houses. When the legislative proposal passes in both House of the state, the state official sends the same to all other county officials where the legislative has not yet passed, and the county official in like manner informs the cities, towns, and villages that the legislation now affects them.
This legislative process continues in like manner into each progressively-larger political jurisdiction.
If the legislation remains unchanged as it advances into each larger jurisdiction, the people of the smaller jurisdictions need not vote on the issue with each advance. However, if it changes, the smaller jurisdictions must vote on the changes if it has not already passed in both Houses of the larger political jurisdiction.
In order to enact proposed legislation to a specific political jurisdiction, both Houses of the named jurisdiction must attain two-thirds or more YES votes. Without the required two-thirds majority, the proposal fails and is not enforceable in the lower-level jurisdictions that passed it; unless the lower level enacted the proposed legislation with a stipulation to allow its enforcement if it failed to pass in the larger jurisdiction.
This process does not guarantee or require that every citizen will approve every legislative proposal; fortunately, it promotes the greatest participation by the people to improve each proposal before it moves into larger jurisdictions.
This process eliminates the rule of the few over the many; where the majority of as few as fifteen percent of the total voters who cast a ballot rule all others; or, where indirect legislative representatives migrate toward refusing to represent the people while they focus on their personal gain.
Electing Officials: A single ballot shall issue with every candidate listed. Candidate names shall appear on the ballot in the order candidates registered for the office sought. Ballots shall not contain any political party affiliation for any candidate whatsoever.
The People collectively shall directly elect the executive and judicial officers for their respective political jurisdictions.
In addition to receiving more votes than any other candidate for the same office, the candidate who takes office must also receive more votes than the combined total of qualified voters who did not cast a ballot for that office and those who left the space blank. In this manner, the people are not obligated to vote for the lesser of evils, which is in fact treasonous as it elects the candidate the voter expects will harm their political jurisdiction the least.
In cases where no candidate receives more votes than the total voters who did not cast a ballot added to voters who left the space blank, the executive and/or judicial officer shall order a new election. The new ballot shall list all new candidates, excluding the previous list of candidates preprinted on the ballot, but may include names of previous write-in candidates.
The elected officials, within their appropriate branch and political jurisdiction, shall work together to successfully carry out the duties approved by law, while also working on the plans and promises they proposed during their campaigns. Promises that do not conflict with already-enacted legislation shall be approved by the people for that official to develop plans for with regards to the amount and manner of funding and implementing promised projects; which, regardless of form, requires additional legislative approval before implementation.
Standard Term Limits shall consist of two, six-year terms, with a person serving in office no longer than twelve years.
Ideally, the people might promote, via election, their best qualified leaders from within the smaller political jurisdictions into the larger political jurisdictions in both the executive and judicial offices.
Heirloom Offices: It is preferred that candidates be at least three generations removed from another family member who served in the same political office, jurisdiction, and level of government that the candidate seeks. This reduces the ease by which political office and power becomes a family heirloom. The two-thirds voting requirement reduces the likelihood of this event.
Grant of Authority: Upon election, executive and judicial officers obtain the legal authority to act in the name of the people of their respective political jurisdictions but only so far as the enacted legislation permits. An election does not automatically grant authority for an official to enforce or otherwise complete campaign promises that conflict with legislative authority. Without legislative authority, elected officials risk the likelihood of impeachment and/or prosecution for treason against the people. The people may grant or revoke any powers via their legislative authority.
Emergencies: The executive or judicial officers of the affected political jurisdiction may call an emergency session for situations where existing enacted legislature does note already grant them the required authority to properly resolve the emergency situation.
Impeachments and Recalls: The people shall hold the sole power of impeachment and recall. Petitions that circulate within the affected area shall state the cause for action as well as the desired remedy and obtain signatures from at least ten percent of the qualified voters for the purpose of ordering a special election to remove the named official and/or contract or other acts where the official unjustly obligated the people.
The signed petitions shall be submitted to the executive officer of the next-larger political jurisdiction; or if already at the largest political jurisdiction, submitted to the chief officer of the government branch not named in the petition. With ten days to verify petition signatures, the emergency ballot shall issue for that political jurisdiction within thirty days. The impeachment vote shall hold to the same two-thirds standard required for electing the candidate.
Repeal and Amendments shall not become effective until the required two-thirds vote of both Houses of the political jurisdiction to which the legislation elevated also approves the proposed amendment or repeal.
Other Powers: The people, through their legislative process, shall have the power, through the National Union, to declare war, approve treaties, approve trade agreements; and through their appropriate political jurisdictions approve taxation in both the budgeted amounts and the manner collected, determine the wages and benefits for elected officials, grant pardons, and all other duties as legislators of right may do according to the rules of this Constitution.
All citizens collectively risk their lives, fortunes, and honor in time of war. Citizens of the National Union shall be the ones who decide what wars to initiate, join, or continue defending.
Benefits: From the people of the cities, towns, and villages upward, more people become aware of legislation as it happens because it works its way up from smaller jurisdictions into the larger.
This legislative system employs far fewer people in government offices and agencies by abolishing an elected Congress. It eliminates the entire cost of congressional members, their staff and operating expenses while also abolishing wasteful pork-barrel spending. This single step redirects trillions of otherwise wasted tax dollars into worthy projects and programs.
Legislation is written for the people to understand without the need for legal translators, which reduces court overload.
Legislation slowly advances into larger political jurisdictions, allowing improvements to occur in the lower levels where it is relatively inexpensive to implement. When starting at the national level, an otherwise minor glitch might cost billions of dollars to correct.
The requirement of attaining two-thirds or more of the eligible votes prevents smaller groups from passing special-interest legislation behind closed doors. It requires the greatest degree of publicity and voter approval before proposed legislation or a candidate becomes official.
For national voting, there shall be four days set aside as national holidays. the first two days in May; the second two days in November. These days shall replace two other national holidays.

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Article IV. The Executive Branch

Qualifications for the local, county, and state jurisdictions shall be as the people of each jurisdiction dictate within their respective legislation.
The President and the Vice President of the United States shall be at least thirty-five years of age; a natural-born citizen; and must live in the United States the fourteen consecutive years immediately prior to their election. No candidate for the office of President shall share citizenship with any other Nation-State not yet united under this Constitution.
At the time of registering as a candidate for the office, each candidate shall provide proof of their birthplace, age, citizenship, and residency requirements, which shall be available for public inspection.
Duties: Without regard as to socio-economic class, to ensure social stability, the executive officers shall, without bias, enforce all laws, work to put into effect approved programs, and complete approved projects.
No executive officer shall possess any legislative powers.
The executive title and other duties shall be those previously defined by legislation appropriate to the political jurisdiction served, as well as campaign promises made by the executive officer that do not conflict with enacted legislation of record.
The President of the United States, as Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces, shall defend the United States, territories, possessions; and by ally request and approval of the people of the United States, defend the ally; enforce legislation that the people elevated into the national level; and through the use of legislatively approved agencies of the United States, keep the peace within the United States by assisting state executive officers when requested.
The President shall negotiate treaties and trade deals for the United States, subject to the approval of people, and maintain good standing with other nations of the world in accordance with established legislation.
The office of Vice President shall be filled by the presidential candidate who receives the second highest vote count during the presidential elections, regardless of political party.
The Vice President shall assume the office of President should the President die, become incapacitated, or be removed from office by the people. The office of the Vice President shall be filled by the presidential candidate who received the third highest vote count during the election, and shall be informed of matters of State.
Should the President and Vice President become incapacitated, die, or be removed from office at the same time, two governors shall fill the vacancies of Vice President and third replacement for the remaining terms or until such time either one or both shall be reinstated. The governors selected shall meet the same qualifications as the President and Vice President, and shall be selected from the states with the best financial record, lowest crime-rate, and highest education standards; in that order. Standards shall result from comparative national statistics: Financial records decide which has a balanced budget or not. Crime-rate takes into account the ratios between the state's population and the number of persons incarcerated (servings a sentence for any crime). Education takes into account the ratio between the total number of students compared to the total graduating above average and the number who failed their courses.

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Article V. The Judicial Branch

Qualifications: Judicial officers (judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys) shall be at least thirty-five years of age, a native-born citizen, and lived in the United States fourteen years with the year just prior to the election in the district that the office serves.
Each jury shall be chosen from a list of thirty-six randomly drawn qualified voters who live in the jurisdiction where the crime occurred. The names of all the qualified voters shall be verified by the presiding judge, the prosecuting attorney, and the defense and placed into a tumbler. Each of the three shall draw twelve names. Of the thirty-six names drawn, each party shall be entitled to remove up to six. In judge's chambers, the eighteen remaining jurors shall draw twelve names from a hat to determine which will serve as the primary jury and which as the replacement jurors. All eighteen jurors shall sit through the entire trial until discharged by the court. In addition to legislatively approved compensation, all those serving jury duty shall receive waivers from the court, which all bill collectors shall honor. The waiver extends the juror's bills one month without penalty and without negative mention on any credit report.
In both criminal and non-criminal cases, the jury shall consist of twelve members who decide the outcome of the case. Juries shall hear only one case at a time, through to the final verdict.
Duties: Judges shall preside over all criminal and non-criminal cases.
The courts shall not legislate in any way whatsoever. Every case shall be tried on its own merits.
No judge shall; but juries alone shall decide the guilt or culpability in every criminal or non-criminal case.
Without regard as to socio-economic class and to ensure social stability, judges, shall without bias, sentence the convicted according to the Rule of Law depending on the finding of the jury.
In all criminal cases, with assistance of the defense attorney, judges shall ensure that the accused is made aware of their rights and that the rights of the accused are protected against government violations in criminal cases. In non-criminal cases, the prosecuting and defense attorneys shall assist the judge in ensuring that the parties understand the laws pertaining to their case. This process shall not prohibit any party from obtaining independent legal counsel in either criminal or non-criminal cases.
Each larger-level judicial jurisdiction shall serve as the appellate court for the next-smaller level judicial jurisdiction and shall be the court of original jurisdiction for all cases resulting from issues and legislation elevated to their jurisdiction.
In both criminal and non-criminal cases, the accused shall be considered innocent until proven guilty or culpable.
Except in cases where juries decide a case is frivolous, all court costs, in all cases criminal and non-criminal, regardless of the finding of guilt, culpability, or not shall be paid by the people out of the appropriate jurisdiction's General Fund where the trial shall occur; thus providing those lacking financial means the ability to seek justice via the courts. Every jury shall have the option to decide whether a case is frivolous; if so, the jury may charge predetermined court costs to a particular party, whether the prosecutor, defense attorney, the plaintiff(s), and/or the defendant(s); the value of which shall be served in jail or community service at a rate of thirty dollars per day.
Where there is an increase of a specific crime, the jury shall recommend to the Legislative Branch increasing the penalty where the crime violates the rights of another; or amending or repealing the law if the crime resulted from the acts between consenting adults.

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Article VI. Open Records

All government meetings, records, acts, and judicial proceedings in all branches and all government levels shall be open and available to any citizen and to the press. Secrecy breeds corruption, contempt, and distrust.
The citizens of each jurisdiction under this Constitution shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities common to all citizens within this Union.
A convicted person fleeing one jurisdiction into another shall be subject to return on the demand of the executive officer of the jurisdiction whence the person fled.
A state may remove themselves from this Constitutional Union with the consent of a three-fourths vote in each of both Houses of that state. Or, the Constitutional Union of states may remove a state from this Union with the consent of three-fourths vote in each of both Houses of the Constitutional Union.
This Constitution shall guarantee to every citizen in this Union a Direct Bicameral Legislature in all levels of government with representatives in the executive and judicial branches elected directly by the people.

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Article VII. Debts Prior to Enactment

The treaties, trade agreements, debts, engagements, or obligations entered into by the representatives of three branches of government under the 1787 Constitution that they properly presented to the people and to which the people granted their authority shall be honored under this Constitution.
Where treaties, trade agreements, debts, engagements, or obligations entered into by the representatives of the three branches of government under the 1787 Constitution were not properly presented to the people to obtain their authority those representatives who consented to the same shall be personally liable for fulfilling them. The people have the option to re-instate any act on a case-by-case basis or to bring any living representative to trial for violations of oath and/or treason.
This Constitution, with the afore mentioned Founding Charter, shall be the Supreme Law of this Union, governing the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government; and all elected officials — including those appointed, hired, contracted, volunteering, or otherwise conducting business on behalf of a governmental body — shall be bound hereby. A union is only as strong as the members who want to take part in it.

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Article VIII. Added Political Restrictions

Religion: No legislation or other acts of government shall interfere with the establishment of a religion or the free exercise thereof. Free exercise does not permit breaking laws in the name of a religion or in the name of any god, nor does this exempt any religion or member thereof from paying any taxes according to the same rules that apply to any other business or individual.
Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition: No laws or acts of government shall abridge the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, or to petition their government for a redress of grievances. Speaking, printing, or broadcasting of libel or slander shall be prohibited. Being politically incorrect shall not be illegal. Remember, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.” The line that differentiates freedom of speech from that of harassment seeks to settle conflicts between the rights of one person to speak with the rights of another to not hear that speech. Common courtesy, the volume of the exchange, the venue where the exchange occurs, and whether the words are aimed at a specific person or merely overheard from another's conversation, among other factors, will help clarify the difference.
Arms, Militia: The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. As with all other rights, when a convicted person pays their debt in full, according to the law, that person's rights shall be reinstated. The punishment for criminal activity that uses a weapon or threat of a weapon shall be three-fold that as if the same crime were committed without a weapon or threat of a weapon. During the same robbery, if more than one person is robbed, each person robbed constitutes a separate offense. Self-Defense, defense of family or others, and the defense of property — when proven — shall not be a crime.
Well-regulated militia are necessary to maintain the security of a Free State.
Soldiers, Quartering: No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, or in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Personal Security: The right of the people to be secure in their person, houses, business, transportation, papers, communications, banking, as well as other transactions and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation — naming — the witnesses, particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Searches: Evidence from searches without a warrant shall be allowed in court so long as the searchers receive prior written consent of the person to be searched or the owner and occupant of the places to be searched. The written consent shall include the places to be searched, the items or persons sought, the persons or things to be seized, and at least two independent witnesses or one notary to witness the signatures.
All searches shall allow for the benefit of the presence of counsel or other independent witnesses should the person to be searched or the owner or occupant of property to be searched make such a request.
Without a court order, only the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) can search or grant permission to search a person who is not yet eighteen years of age or who is not yet a legally emancipated minor.
A person who is not an adult may not authorize or grant consent to a search of their person without the consent of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s), or to places they live or have temporary control of or use of without the consent of the owner or primary controller of the property.
Found Evidence: The evidence found as a result of any illegal search may be presented in court for examination by the judge, prosecutor, defense, and the jury, so long as the offending searchers are prosecuted for the illegal search. Upon conviction, each person involved in an illegal search shall serve a mandatory three year sentence for violating the rights of the searched person. Each person illegally searched constitutes a separate violation.
Return of Property: All seized property shall be returned to the rightful owner and all money seized shall be returned with the addition of interest paid at the highest bank rate available to the public during the time the money was seized, provided the defendant is found not guilty of the charges that brought about the seizure of the property.
Capital Crime: No person shall be detained while awaiting trial to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury.
Double Jeopardy: No person shall be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy for the loss of life, limb, or property. Nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness or to provide evidence against them-self. Nor shall any person be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Double Jeopardy shall include a combination of criminal and/or non-criminal accusation regarding responsibility for the same action.
Eminent Domain: No property shall be taken from the rightful owner, except in cases of non-criminal prosecutions for which a jury decides the defendant owes restitution. Taking private property for public use shall not be an option in a Free and Responsible Society. No private land or items of value may be taken from its rightful owner for public use except through taxation that is justly applied to all others in the political jurisdiction according to law. It is the responsibility of the public to develop alternatives that do not involve the taking of property without the consent of the rightful owner.
Trial by Jury: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and jurisdiction wherein the crime was committed, which jurisdiction shall have been previously ascertained by law. At the time of arrest and no later than three hours, the accused shall be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation as well as be informed of or reminded of their rights, including the right to not offer evidence or testimony that might convict themselves. The accused shall also be confronted with the witnesses against them, to have the compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in their favor, and to have the assistance of independent counsel for their defense.
Long-Form Confession: For the purpose of justice, the accused may not waive the right to trial by an impartial jury, unless upon long-form confession to the charges in open court that detail the crime committed. Such confession shall not diminish the penalty.
Insanity Plea, in any form, is an automatic admission of guilt and shall be available for use by any accused person who chooses to use it. The person using this plea shall first serve the required jail or prison time with all other jail or prison inmates, and not in a hospital. The person using this plea shall bear sole responsibility for proving they are not insane before their release back into society.
Death Sentence shall no longer be available within any jurisdiction under this Constitution. It is easier to restore the rights to a wrongly convicted person while they live than it is after they are dead. See Involuntary Servitude.
Criminal & Non-Criminal Cases: shall include all prosecutions for the violation of any enacted legislation, regardless of the level of government. All court trials, hearings, and other proceedings shall have an elected judge, an elected prosecutor, and an elected defense lawyer present to assist the parties of each case and the court, answering legal questions, and examining evidence, thereby ensuring justice for all. This shall in no way deny a person from obtaining independent legal counsel. No fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court except according to the Rule of Law.
Failure to Appear: All trial dates and subpoenas, from both the prosecution and the defense, shall be issued from the courts and served in-hand by the Sheriff's Department to the named party's last known address. The service fess to be paid by the court.
If a defendant flees the jurisdiction or fails to appear for trial, the courts shall accept such actions by the accused as if having presented a written document that allows the courts to proceed with the trial in the absence of the accused. The court shall make note that the named defendant failed to appear. In criminal cases, if found guilty, a warrant for arrest shall issue. When captured, the convicted person shall begin serving the required sentence and the individual shall be allowed to challenge both the evidence the law in an appeal. In non-criminal cases, if found culpable by the jury, an order for restoration shall issue where financial accounts or real property may be seized to satisfy the judgment.
Bail, Fines, and Punishment shall not exceed that which the enacted legislation requires.
Involuntary Servitude: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime of which the party was duly convicted, shall exist within the United States nor any place subject to its jurisdiction.
Within any political jurisdiction subject to this Constitution, slavery and involuntary servitude are neither cruel nor unusual. For less-dangerous crimes, where jail or prison is not required, involuntary servitude shall include community service. There shall be no fines demanded for the punishment of a crime. The test to determine whether a particular type of labor or the hours worked are either cruel or unusual shall consist solely of whether or not the labor or hours are legal for a Free Citizen to perform, whether for hire or as a volunteer, as well as whether Free Citizens work the number of hours demanded of inmates for that labor.
Convicted persons shall not receive monetary compensation for their labors. Revenue from convict labor shall help with victim restorations, supply the raw materials for inmates to grow their own food, make the fabrics for their own clothing, provide products and services for other government offices and agencies to reduce tax dollars to operate government, and pay for maintenance of the jail and prison facilities. In this manner our jails and prisons provide hands-on skill-building education, instilling work habits, and the understanding that crime no longer pays. The Free People also benefit in that they no longer pay as both the victim and taxpayer.
Due Process: No law shall abridge the privileges or immunities offered by this Constitution; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property resulting from criminal or non-criminal prosecution without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. In like manner, every government official or other person conducting business on behalf of a political jurisdiction shall not escape justice because of their political connections.
Other Rights: The enumeration in this Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed in any way to deny or disparage other rights retained by the people. The Founding Charter names some of the rights retained by the people regardless of their forms of government. Mentioning certain rights within this Constitution are for the purpose of limiting or forbidding government involvement regarding the rights listed. Failure to mention other rights forbids government interference in those rights until such time as the people amend this Constitution to grant to government such power or authority regarding those rights.
Political Powers: The powers not delegated by the people within this Constitution to the government of the United States are forbidden for that government to exercise. The powers not prohibited by this Constitution to the smaller political jurisdictions within this Union are reserved respectively to those jurisdictions in descending order; otherwise, the people retain all such powers individually.
Military Authority: The police and military authority of larger political jurisdictions shall be subordinate to the authority of the smaller political jurisdictions; except in cases where those jurisdictions are under investigation for criminal activity.
Diplomatic Immunities: All citizens of this Union who visit foreign lands for work, student, tourist, illegal, political, or other reasons are subject to the laws of that land. There shall be no diplomatic immunity for officials of the United States, officials of any state of this Union, or private citizens who commit a crime in another country.
In like manner, all visitors from foreign lands to any of the states in this Union, whether diplomatic or civilian, whether for work, student, tourist, illegal, political, or other reasons are subject to the laws of the jurisdictions wherein they travel.
Political Refuge: Those fleeing tyranny of another Nation-State and seeking political refuge within these United States shall surrender themselves to the first political authority under this Constitution; otherwise, when captured within this jurisdiction, they shall be considered illegal immigrants.
Illegal Immigration: Anyone suspected of having entered any of these United States illegally shall receive an impartial jury trial, funded out of the National Union's General Fund. If the jury finds the accused guilty, those convicted shall serve three years in jail or prison working hard labor alongside convicted citizens before being returned to their home country. If the individual is charged with other crimes, additional trials shall be held for those charges, which shall be paid out of the general fund of the political jurisdiction where the crimes and/or the trial shall take place. If convicted, the person shall serve the appropriate sentence(s). All sentencing shall be the same as if a legal citizen committed the same crime.
Whether a citizen or in the jurisdiction of this Constitution legally or illegally, all persons convicted of separate crimes shall serve consecutive sentences. Anyone convicted of entering the jurisdiction of this Constitution illegally shall also be prohibited from re-entering legally for at least ten years after being returned to their home country.
National Language: For purposes of unification, citizenship, and a cost-effective government, every citizen shall be able to read, speak, understand, and/or otherwise communicate in the US version of the English Language prior to qualifying for any government program or benefits. Short-term refugees are the only exception. This requirement does not violate the conditions of a person's age, race, color, religion, cultural background, or in any other way, as it is supposed that all persons voluntarily come to, or remain within, any one of these states. This requirement shall not be construed in any way to prevent citizens from learning other languages.
Right to Vote: The right of citizens to vote or to receive benefit from any government program shall not be denied or abridged by any political jurisdiction or agent subject to this Constitution because of that citizen's race, color, age, gender, cultural background, sexual preference, religion, failure to pay any tax, or previous condition of servitude (including previous sentences served for criminal activity). However, government officials may require an individual to prove their eligibility, that they understand their duties and responsibilities, that they are physically able to properly perform those duties in a timely manner, or as otherwise established in approved legislation that does not violate this Constitution.
No other reason shall exist to prevent a person from voting other than if that person still serves a sentence for any criminal activity; which also makes them ineligible for any other government benefits.
The families of a convicted person shall not become eligible for any government benefits that they were not already eligible for prior to the commission of the crime.
Right of Personal Association: The right of the people to choose personal associates — whether employees, business customers, church or club members, or tenants for non-government funded business or housing — shall not be infringed, so long as the individual advertises and/or openly posts such restrictions. This item shall not be construed in any manner whatsoever to allow, enable, or encourage criminal activity.
Taxation: Through legislation, the People shall decide all amounts and forms of taxation with regard to how they shall fund the enforcement of laws, pay for public programs, government projects, or any other act that requires the use of public money.

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Article IX. Ratification

When both Houses of three-quarters of the states (via the cities, towns, villages, and counties) approve this Constitution, it shall become effective between and binding on all political jurisdictions that are now and shall become part of this Union of States.

Enacted this _____ day of in the year __________ by the people of the City/Town/Village of ___________________, in ________________County, in the State of __________________, in General Assembly within our local political jurisdiction's meeting.

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