This is a rough draft of a Constitution of the State of Jefferson, presented for you to discuss and build as a community. Please note, it is incomplete and throughout there are notes and commentary placed in brackets or parenthesis. This is a community project and your input is requested.
Article One: The Legislative Branch
Section One: The Legislature
1.All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the State, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives
Section Two: The House
1.The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the People of the several Counties.
2.No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty five years, and been seven years a resident of the State, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that County in which he shall be chosen.[number of representatives: perhaps take the least populous county, give them two representatives, and figure the representatives per capita that it would add up to and go from there? So Lake County, with the least population of 7,895 gets 2 representatives. That adds up to one representative per 3,947,. That would mean the number of representatives, (rounded up to the next even number) would go thus: Curry: 6, Coos: 168, Douglas: 28, Jackson: 52, Josephine: 21, Klamath: 17, Lake: 2, Butte: 56, Del Norte: 8, Glenn: 8, Humboldt: 35, Lassen: 9, Mendocino: 23, Modoc: 3, Plumas: 6, Shasta: 45, Siskiyou: 12, Tehama: 17, Trinity: 4 Total: 520]
3.When vacancies happen in the representation from any county, the Executive authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such vacancies.
4.The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section Three: The Senate
1.The Senate of the State shall be composed of two Senators from each County, chosen by the Legislature thereof, and shall serve for six years, and each senator shall have one vote.
2.No person shall be Senator who has not attained the age of thirty years, who shall not been nine years a citizen of the State and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the County for which he shall be chosen.
3.The Senate shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, the second class at the fourth, and the third class at the sixth, so that one third may be chosen every second year.
4.If vacancies shall occur, the Executive shall make temporary appointments during a recess, until the Legislature reconvenes and makes appointments to fill such vacancies.
5.The Assistant Governor of the State shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.
6.The Senate shall have the Sole Power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the Governor of the State is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside. No person shall be convicted without concurrence of two thirds of the Senate.
7.Judgment in cases of Impeachment shall extend to removal of public office, and banishment from all future public offices, and shall include any Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment according to Law, whenever circumstances dictate it so.
Section Four: Rules
1.Each House shall meet at least once a month, on a day and place to be determined by it’s members, but a smaller number of its members may meet more often as they deem appropriate.
2.Each house shall determine the rules of its proceeding, punish its members for disorderly conduct, and by the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.
3.Each house shall keep a Journal of its proceedings which shall be published at regular intervals, and the Yeas and Nays of each member shall be published in the same.
Section Five: Compensation
1.The Senators and Representatives shall receive a yearly compensation for their services not exceeding the same amount of one year’s income of the average wage of the State during his tenure in office, and to be paid from the State Treasury. Nothing more may be granted and the compensation shall terminate once he has left office. [Or perhaps no compensation at all, or minimum wage for hours served, etc. We want to avoid giving themselves rises, retirement plans, etc.]
2.They shall, in all cases, except treason or felony, be privileged from arrest during their attendance of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house.
Section Six: Legislative Process
1.All bills, whether they originate in the House or the Senate, shall be first published on a public forum for at least one year, in a manner that the People can conveniently access and review it, for the People’s commentary and criticism, before debates on the bill, and subsequent voting can begin.
2.Every bill which shall have passed the House and Senate, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor of the State; if he approve, he shall sign it and it shall become law, but if not, he shall return it with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections on the journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two thirds of that House vote to approve, it shall be submitted to the other House, and if they also approve with two thirds vote, it shall become law.
Section Seven: Powers granted to Congress of the State
1.The State government shall have the power to lay and collect excises, which shall only be laid to directly pay for services rendered by the State, and tariffs, to pay the debts. All excises shall be uniform throughout the state.
2.To establish rules of Citizenship of the State.
3.To coin money, standardize the value thereof, and of foreign and fiat coin, and to provide for the punishment of counterfeit thereof.
4.To provide effective checks of power to the federal government, its agencies, departments, contractors and other associates against infringement upon the United States Constitution, the Constitution of the State, and of the State’s rights, and of the People’s.
5.To establish the requirements for the privilege of doing business in corporate form, regulate the power and behavior of such so as to preserve favorable economic conditions of the people, and to lay and collect taxes on such entities according to Law. [Basically, a separation of business and state. We need to establish incentives for corporations to hire employees within the State, to buy from other businesses, suppliers, etc. within the state, and maybe tax breaks for charitable donations to the communities (or simply a requirement that they do so). Maybe outsourcing shall be taxed, but no taxes for using employees and other resources that originate within the state, or something along those lines. We don’t want a business that seeks corporate form to not be profitable, but just make sure that they play by the rules.]
6.To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying out the powers granted in this Constitution.
Article Two: The Executive branch
Section One: The Governor
Article Three: The Judicial Branch
Section One: Judicial Powers
Article Four: Limitation of Powers
Section One: Limits on the State Government as a Whole
1.The right of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, at any time and for any reason.
2.Money coined by the State shall consist of one or more precious metals, or other tangible commodity that is scarce, durable, and not subject to fluctuations in supply or value, or a representation of such commodity which shall be redeemable to the bearer upon demand; and no money by fiat shall be created, nor shall the coinage of money be delegated, contracted out to, or otherwise relinquished from the State to any other entity, including, but not limited to, a private banking establishment, corporate entity, or person. [We should look into Bill Still’s ideas and the bank of North Dakota for guidance here. We don’t want to have tourists’ federal reserve notes be no good here, otherwise that would shoot us in the foot economically, as well as trade with other states. What we could do is any federal reserve notes that end up here (as they surely will) be converted to gold, silver, etc. This could be a requirement for any banks existing here, and that they report this and deposit the metals to the state treasury and the State currency could have notes issued against it, thereby making our currency commodity backed. Not to mention the reopening of our gold mines to help fill the public coffers. This can be justified by the U./S. Constitution Article One Section Ten Clause One, which prohibits the states of making anything but gold and silver legal tender, although this would technically violate that same section where it also prohibits the states to coin money. We could further justify that though by following Arizona’s example of the state taking over enforcement of a federal law where the feds have failed to do so.]
3.No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
4.No direct tax, or tax upon labors, wages or earnings of individual people, or any other form of taxation, whether direct, or by proxy shall be laid, or taxes on any articles exported from the State, other than excise taxes and taxes upon corporate entities as enumerated.
5.No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but by appropriations made by law, and a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published at regular intervals.
6.No title of nobility shall be granted by the State, and no person holding office, or who seeks public office, shall accept any gifts, donations, titles, favors, or any other form of compensation, bribery or promise of such, of any kind from any other state, nation, corporate entity, or person.
7.No use of semantics or, other form of distortion of the meaning of words or phrases shall be used in the writing or interpretation of laws; and all laws, judgments, journals, or any other document published by the State shall be written in a manner that any person at any level of education can clearly understand.
8.No law, which is to define an act as a crime, shall be passed unless an element of the act to be defined as a crime requires a specific victim who suffers real and measurable damage, either upon the person of the victim, or upon the property of the same by violence or fraud; and no law shall be passed that defines a crime without a specific victim, society as a victim, the State as a victim, or a person as a victim of themselves. This restriction shall not apply to acts to be defined as a crime when committed by governments or corporate entities, or their subordinates, agencies, departments, contractors, or any other associates. [we need to include something about not participating in undeclared wars. Perhaps the state will refuse to participate unless Congress actually declares war, there is a definite goal, and they, or their families must be on the front lines.]
9.At no point at any time is the deficit of the State to exceed three percent of the State's Gross Domestic Product, and the debt shall be paid at the end of the fiscal year. If at any point the deficit shall exceed that amount, or the debt not be repaid by the end of the fiscal year, then no standing official shall be eligible for re-election at the end of his term, and the amount of money necessary to pay the debt shall be seized from their personal assets. [Something about the state not being allowed to own property, but only buildings that are necessary for it to operate, i.e capitol building, offices, etc. In other words, the state cannot own a forest land, or rivers, etc. This is to prevent abuses like we see at the Klamath Basin, and other places like it.]
10.Any violation of the restrictions placed upon the government by this Constitution, unless otherwise noted, or any other act that breaches the scope of their powers by the government, any entity subject to government control, or any individual within the halls of government, shall be tried by jury, and if convicted, punished according to Law.
Section Two: Limits on the State Government as Individuals
1.All elected officials, and any other member, employee, staff, or any contractor of the State shall enjoy the same rights as any other Citizen of the State, unless some act is in violation of this Constitution, or in violation of the restrictions herein, or as otherwise enumerated herein.
2.During the tenure of government officials, the right to not be a witness against oneself is suspended. During this time the official must answer any and all questions put to him, whether or not it may constitute self-incrimination. The same shall be held for the course of the officer’s entire life, should evidence come to light that compels an investigation after the officer has left office, but only in cases regarding or relating to his conduct during his tenure.
3.The state is expressly forbidden from owning or controlling land, and may only own buildings that are necessary for the state to conduct its operations. [We need to work on this one and word it more carefully so as to avoid the state taking over everything in sight and justifying it as “necessary and proper.” But what we are trying to avoid here is the government owning huge swaths of land and never letting the people develop it or extract its resources. Therefore, they can only have certain specific buildings (capitol, courthouses, etc. We also need to include a provision for counties and cities as well for things like county jails, Sheriff’s offices, fire departments, etc.]
Section Three: Enforcement
1.[we need to come up with some manner of enforcing these rules by someone outside of the State Congress, otherwise it could end up with a “police policing the police” scenario, which would surely lead to abuses. First thing that comes to my mind is the Sheriffs and their constituents. We need to contemplate this.]
Article 3:
Section One: Bill of Rights of the Citizen
1.The State shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, regardless of method; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
2.The State shall make no law infringing upon the People’s right to keep and bear arms, of any type they choose, in any public place, or place funded in whole, or in part, by public funds, without any restriction, obstruction, or delay by the State; nor shall the State make any law requiring any manner of permits, licenses, conditions, registrations, or any other inconvenience in the purchasing, transporting or bearing of arms; nor shall any law be made regarding the manufacturing of, or mechanical nature of any arm; nor shall any tax upon, or involving, arms, ammunition, or any other thing related to arms and related paraphernalia shall be laid.
3.The right of the people to dispose of their property, and all that nature has bestowed upon it, how they see fit is not to be infringed or encroached upon; and no permits, licenses, conditions, or any other method of control, in whole or in part, of the property by anyone other than the rightful owner shall be required.
4.The right of the people to defend their persons or property against violent attack, where life or limb is at risk, or that of another, or of damage or theft of property or possessions shall be preserved; and no law shall be made requiring retreat from one’s property, or from whatever place he may be.
5.The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized; and no law or precedent shall be established to circumvent these restrictions.
6.No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without consent of the owner and just compensation.
7.In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
8.Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
9.The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
10.The powers not delegated by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the Counties, are reserved to the Counties respectively, or to the People.
Other Considerations:
We need a clause regarding foreign relations, making sure that the people come first.
How are we going to come up with revenue?
1.Excise taxes and NO income tax
Pro: representative taxation.
Con: Opens the government to bullshit excise taxes on damn near anything unless restrictions are put in place.
2.A small flat tax on income (10% or less) and NO other taxes, fees or anything at all ever.
Pro: More efficient and simpler in terms of financial logistics.
Con: Principle of taxing a person’s labor.
3.We can include selling things to other states, like our water for instance, so other states would pay for our resources and we could tax the buying states.
1.Reopen our gold mines (duh).
2.Accept federal reserve notes, but immediately use them to buy gold from elsewhere to put into the treasury and print Jefferson money against it.
