A Re-Declaration of Independence | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Examples of how the Founders' original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:

    On October 1, 2013, National Park Service employees erected a barricade around the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., prohibiting World War II veterans from gathering there; according to the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior, access to the memorial was blocked due to the federal government shutdown (Spakovsky).

    In the Spring and Summer of 1932, Washington D.C. was flooded by over 20,000 unemployed World War I veterans from all over America who needed the federal government to pay them for their service based on the bonus certificates they had been given after the war, which promised a cash bonus sometime in the future; they needed the money and would not leave until they received it. When the Senate rejected their demands, President Hoover was left to deal with the marchers, who eventually started camping out with their families in central Washington, refusing to move until they were paid. The camping site, made up of huts and tents, became known as Bonus City. In response, Hoover ordered General Douglas MacArthur (including Major George S. Patton and Major Dwight Eisenhower) to clear out Bonus City, using "cavalry, infantry, tank troops and a mounted machine gun squadron" to complete their mission. The Veterans and their families were dispersed with bayonets and tear gas. Hoover's overreaction and overreach of power became known as the greatest tragedies in American history. ("The Bonus March..." and "The Bonus Army March")

    Summary of "Congress shall make no law...abridging...the right of the people...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.": The federal government cannot prevent the American people from complaining to the government regarding their grievances.

    Examples of how the Founders' original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:

    In 2013, after the petition entitled "Immediate Action Requested for Romeikes - Grant Permanent Legal Status to Persecuted German Homeschool Family" garnered well over 100,000 signatures in the time-span required to receive an official response from the administration, the White House essentially provided an elongated "no comment" (Hallowell).

    "President Van Buren's administration was marked by a struggle to prevent the receipt and consideration by Congress of numerous petitions for the abolition of slavery. Senator John S. Calhoun even declared such petitions to be 'a violation of the Constitution'" (Skousen 689 and "Martin...").

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    SECOND AMENDMENT --

    "A well -regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

    Summary: Since freedom cannot be maintained unless the American people remain armed, the federal government cannot prevent the people from keeping and using guns.

    Examples of how the Founders' original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:

    In 2009, under the leadership of President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, "...the United States joined 152 other countries in endorsing a U.N. Arms Trade Treaty [ATT] Resolution" ("No Compromise...").

    On July 22, 2011, the National Rifle Association (NRA) announced that it had secured a partnership with 58 members of the U.S. Senate - acquiring a bipartisan majority in the Senate - to oppose the ATT; all 58 Senators signed strongly-worded letters addressed to the White House, cautioning the President and the Secretary of State to keep their oath in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States ("U.S. Senate Stands with NRA..."). Then, on July 27, 2012, the NRA reported that 130 members of the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in opposing the ATT after being urged by NRA members all over America to oppose the treaty; it also stated that the U.N. tried to draft another version of the ATT, hoping to salvage the failure of their prior attempt, but was unable to produce a draft that met the United States' Constitutional standards ("NRA Stops..."). Finally, Secretary of State John Kerry, on September 25, 2013, in defiance of the American people, signed the ATT; however, the treaty cannot be ratified in the United States without a majority vote in the Senate (Nichols).

    On July 21, 2014, Senator John McCain "...went on record Sunday saying "stand your ground" laws need review...because it's very controversial legislation" (Morgenstern).

    On July 29, 2014, the Associated Press reported that "A federal judge has rejected a push by gun rights advocates to let Illinois residents immediately tote firearms in public instead of waiting months for the state to outline the permitting process under its new concealed carry law" (Seidl).

    On January 3, 2014, the Obama Administration announced pending executive action on who can buy a gun, "...focused mainly on mental health issues that would allow the government to get around certain privacy laws on the books in order to obtain more information" (Lucas).

    On January 28, during the 2014 State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama promised to increase gun control when he said, "...I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook" (Obama).

    THIRD AMENDMENT --

    "No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law."

    Summary: Soldiers cannot force a home-owner to harbor them in their homes, in wartime or peacetime, without the owner's consent.

    Examples of how the Founders' original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:

    "In 1942...inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands were forced out of their homes, and in some cases troops were actually quartered there..." (Reynolds).

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    "...In a 1982 case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, prison guards evicted from their quarters and replaced with National Guard troops during a strike sued, and the Court of Appeals found that this action implicated their rights under the Third Amendment, which it characterized as 'designed to assure a fundamental right of privacy'" (Reynolds).

    On July 10, 2011, "a Henderson, Nev., family...claimed that their Third Amendment rights were violated...when police officers commandeered their homes and arrested two family members for 'obstruction'"; according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, this action by the police, who employed military weapons and tactics, violated "...the spirit of the Third Amendment of the U.S. Constitution ..." (Adams).

    FOURTH AMENDMENT --

    "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 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, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

    Summary: This amendment "...guarantees the American people the right to the privacy of their homes, their businesses, and all their private papers and effects...the right of the people to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures...[and] the right to be free from arrest except on the basis of a warrant which has been properly issued" (Skousen 701-703).

    Examples of how the Founders' original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:

    The Sixteenth Amendment is a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment. According to T. Coleman Andrews, former Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, "Congress [in implementing the Sixteenth Amendment]...repealed Article IV of the Bill of Rights, by empowering the tax collector to do the very things from which that Article says we were to be secure. It opened up our homes, our papers and our effects to the prying eyes of government agents and set the stage for searches of our books and vaults and for inquiries into our private affairs whenever the tax men might decide, even though there might not be any justification beyond mere cynical suspicion. The income tax is bad because it has robbed you and me of the guarantee of privacy and the respect for our property that were given to us in Article IV of the Bill of Rights. This invasion is absolute and complete as far as the amount of tax that can be assessed is concerned...under the Sixteenth Amendment Congress can take 100 percent of our income anytime it wants to...The income tax is fulfilling the Marxist prophecy that the surest way to destroy a capitalist society is by 'steeply graduated' taxes on income and heavy levies upon the estates of people when they die. As matters now stand, if our children make the most of their capabilities and training they will have to give most of it to the tax collector. People cannot pull themselves up by their own bootstraps anymore because the tax collector gets the boots and the straps as well" (Skousen 742). Moreover, according to Judge Andrew Napolitano, the Sixteenth Amendment "...is a terrifying presumption. It presumes that we don't really own our property. It accepts the Marxist notion that the state owns all the property and the state permits us to keep and use whatever it needs us to have so we won't riot in the streets. And then it steals and uses whatever it can politically get away with" ("Taxation...").

    In 2013, Americans were informed that the National Security Agency (NSA) hacked into the enormous computer servers of Google and Yahoo and engaged in massive telephone and internet surveillance, accessing an unlimited amount of consumer data and metadata (Associated Press). What is even more concerning is that the NSA has been "secretly" spying on American citizens for the past 60 years and now has a $1.9 billion Utah Data Center that collects a "staggering" amount of data on Americans (including elected and non-elected government officials) and non-Americans alike (Klimas).

    On May 16, 2013, it was reported that IRS was being taken to court for stealing more than 60 million medical records of more than 10 million Americans ("IRS Accused...").

    In December 2012, President Obama signed "...an extension of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, a George W. Bush-era legislation that has allowed the government expansive spy powers that has been considered by some to be dragnet surveillance... FISA, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, was first signed into law in the 1970s in order to put into place rules regarding domestic spying within the United States. Upon the passing of the FAA in 2008, however, the online and over-the-phone activities of Americans became subject to sweeping, warrantless wiretapping..." (RT).

    FIFTH AMENDMENT --

    "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence 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 just compensation."

    Summary: This amendment grants Americans the "...right to trial by Grand Jury for certain crimes, the right not to be tried or punished more than once for the same crime, the right to be tried only with due process of law and the right to be paid fair compensation for any property taken by the government for public use" ("The 5th...").

    Examples of how the Founders' original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:

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    On September 27, 2012, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an American citizen and Coptic filmmaker, was arrested in the middle of the night from his home in the Los Angeles area for eight probation violations (Turner). At the same time, he was being demonized for creating an allegedly anti-Muslim YouTube movie entitled "Innocence of Muslims" that was "...initially and incorrectly blamed for inciting the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed the American Ambassador [J. Christopher Stevens] and three other Americans [Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, and Tyrone S. Woods]..." (Turner). On November 7, during his hearing, Nakoula "...admitted to lying to his probation officer and three allegations of using false identities..." (Turner). It is suspicious that Nakoula was charged in November 2012 with the 2010 violations and slapped with a two-year imprisonment recommendation by his probation officers after being disclosed as someone involved in making the film; what is more, his probation process after his highly-publicized arrest and perp walk and the judge's ruling were extremely peculiar, providing strong evidence that his case was processed to appease those who opposed his alleged anti-Muslim speech (Turner). Nakoula was repeatedly and publicly charged by the White House and the media "without due process of law" for the death of four Americans and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised to bring him, not the Islamic terrorists who actually killed them, to justice (Turner). But, in the aftermath, it is now common knowledge that the film had nothing to do with the terrorist attack (Darcy).
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