I had a little extra time this weekend, so I transcribed one of Jack Otto's programs. Enjoy...
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The Sheriff, Posse Comitatus, and the Militia
Jack Otto “Radically Right” Program
June 23, 2007
Filename: Otto_062307_ 200000.MP3
We’re going to talk about the Sheriff tonight, and specifically a law called Posse Comitatus which limits the scope of what government can do. They may not bring military people in upon us.
Here in America, the only true seat of government is the county, and the county sheriff is the highest lawfully sanctioned law enforcement officer in the United States of America. He can mobilize all men between the ages of 17 and 65 who are armed and in good health and not in the military service. Other may volunteer. The militia is that entire body of those inhabitants who may be summoned by the sheriff. Every man must serve when he’s called. The citizens called out of the militia for service are the sheriff’s posse. The full title of that body of law is called Posse Comitatus.
By definition the militia is free people with arms who are ready to defend themselves and their country, and hence the sheriff is the elected servant of the citizens who are inhabitants of the county. It’s not his choice as to whether or not the militia is organized and brought into being. It’s only his choice as to whether or not he chooses to use it by calling up a posse out of the militia. The term posse comitatus is itself a Latin phrase that means “power of the county”. A county government is the highest authority of government in our republic. It’s the closest to the people who in fact are the government.
The county sheriff is elected by those people as directly responsible for law enforcement in his county. It is his responsibility to protect the people of the county from unlawful acts on the part of anyone, including officials of government. In his oath of officer he swears to protect and defend for the United States of America and the state in which his county sits. He may be required to do no less, no more, in the performance of his duties.
It should be emphasized that this section extends to citizens who are being subjected to unlawful acts, even by government officials, and whether it be judges of court or federal or state agents of any kind. And if he refuses to do so, he may be removed from office by recall.
Now, the county sheriff might be advised of the incidents where unlawful acts are committed. It is the duty of the sheriff to protect the local citizens from such unlawful acts. Once he’s been advised and refuses or cannot perform his lawful duty in respect to the matter of the militia, the militia has the right, under natural law, to act in the name of the sheriff to protect their local jurisdiction.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution says very clearly, “The militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to own and bear arms shall not be infringed.” In the execution of the law, arrests may be made, the criminal may be remanded to the custody of the county sheriff for trial by a citizens jury, empanelled by the sheriff from among the citizens of the local jurisdiction, instead of by the court, as is the current procedure in most counties. There is no basis in law for this unlawful use of county sheriffs as lackeys of the court. There is no lawful authority for judges and the courts to direct law enforcement activity of a county sheriff. The sheriff is accountable and responsible only to the citizens who are his electorate. He is under oath of office and need not accept unlawful orders from the judge. The courts are the judiciary and the sheriff is the executive branch of government. The prerequisite to proper guidance is the basic understanding of common law and a background knowledge of the Constitution for the United States of America, as well as the republican form of government created by that Constitution.
The Second Amendment specifically says “the right of the people to own and bear arms shall not be infringed.” “Infringed” means government may not even go around the edges of it. There are those who say in error that what was meant by “militia” was the state police, that they’re the ones that have the right to own and bear arms. The state police are a recent phenomenon, and it doesn’t take much study of the notes of the founding fathers to realize that the Bill of Rights delineates the rights of the people and not government. The Bill of Rights was put there so people would be able to take an armed stand against governmental tyranny if it was needed. Primary enforcement of the peace was through the armed people themselves.
This precludes a standing army. The domestic function of a standing army is now called “police” or “law enforcement”. Our founders noticed that the King’s army served two functions: they could march off and war against others, or stand around and run the people. The Constitution forbade this tyranny. They knew any body of uniformed officers would soon become oppressive, and they moved to secure the sanctity of the militia by forbidding any court to even review action taken by the militia. Now any action of our people against corruption and lawlessness is called “vigilantism” rather than the original term, “militia”. And television consistently covers fictional accounts of vigilantes as error. These movies include an episode of vigilantes taking the law into their own hands, it is done in error and the innocent are harmed, and it takes governmental law enforcement to correct the wrongs that were done by the these vigilantes. The propaganda convinces people that vigilantism is wrong, and law enforcement should be left to the police. Unfortunately, the police and court have become corrupt and cannot be counted on for justice. Americans have forgotten that “vigilant” means “watchful”.
President James Madison states in the first Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789, “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not infringed. A well regulated militia composed of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country.“ President Madison was the author of that Second Amendment. And it was Madison who told posterity that, “A people, armed and free, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition and is a bulwark for the nation against foreign invasion and domestic oppression.” President Madison revealed how such encroachments were likely to occur. He said, “I believe there are more instances of abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden dissipation.”
In a speech given on January 7th, 1790, President George Washington said, “A free people ought to be armed.” On a different occasion he stated, “Firearms stand in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the people’s liberty, and the keystone under independence. The rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable. The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains people’s interfering. They deserve a place of honor with all that is good.”
In the encyclopedia of Thomas Jefferson he is quoted on page 318 as saying, “A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While it gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walk.” On a separate occasion, President Jefferson hosted the criminologist [name unintelligible] stating, “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crime. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailant. They serve rather to encourage than prevent homicide, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one.”
A classic example of President Jefferson’s remarks are to be found in the total gun ban of Mortongrove, Illinois. It contrasted sharply with legislation requiring citizens to be armed in Kennesaw, Georgia. Crime soared up in Mortongrove, Illinois, while it was concurrently dropping in Kennesaw.
President Jefferson warned us. He indicated that he believed the Second Amendment kept the government honest. And he remarked “If that right is ever being threatened the people should be vigilant and take a stand and defend that right because that would be the final sign that our rights and freedoms are about to be taken from us.” On a separate occasion he stated, “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”
In the year 1789 George Mason, one of the Founding Fathers, asked rhetorically, “What, sir, is the use of the militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty.” See, there was no police force then. The king’s army had served that function as well as foreign invasion, and it was the domestic enforcement of the king’s laws that made people resent standing armies.
Now, there has been a significant increase in the unlawful use of the military as a police force, and more can be expected in the future. Like they accused David Koresh of having a methamphetamine lab, so they could bring tanks up there and kill him and the children.
Going back to the use of the military—there will be more of it. An excuse will probably be the War on Drugs, guns, or terror. Freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights have been sacrificed in the process. And since government cannot keep drugs out of the prisons, they probably won’t be able to eradicate drugs from the nation. They’re sure going to want us to give up the rights in trying to do so.
By this Constitution, the state, representing the people, created an agent of the state known as the federal government. The people, as state, gave powers to this agent, and by the Ninth and Tenth Amendments made it clear that this agent had only those powers which have been enumerated for it in the contract between the states. All others remain with the state and the people.
The federal government is not above the state that created it. The Constitution is a simple document. It says what it means and it means what it says. And it means today what it meant when it was written. It’s the supreme law for the states of the union as well as for the federal government, which has been created by the state and the people existing in the state, which are a sovereign republic within the united States.
It should be made clear that the federal government is an agency of the state. The federal government is a servant of the states and their people, not their master. The Ninth Amendment says very clearly, “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” This simply means that because the contract enumerated rights for the states, that the listing of these rights does not mean that the same must be done for the people, but that the people retain all rights without having them enumerated in the contract. The Tenth Amendment says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” This simply means that the federal government has only those powers that have been listed in the Constitution, and if the power’s not listed, then the federal government does not have it. All powers not listed for the federal government in the contract remain with the states or with the people. Prior to the existence of the United States it was, and it remains to this very day, a separate sovereign republic.
The governor of each state was and remains to this very day the chief executive officer of the state, and he is the only officer of government within the United States that has domestic military power and military authority. He is the Commander and Chief of the state militia. He’s the only officer of government in the United States who has the lawful authority to declare martial law. The governor of a state had such military power prior to the existence of the union and he retains it to today. It was never delivered to the federal government by either the states or the people.
Let’s talk for a minute about the differences between common law and statutory law. In the Federalist Papers #46, James Madison wrote, “The federal and state governments are in fact but debtor agents and trustees of the people. The adversaries of the Constitution seem to have lost sight of the people altogether. They must understand that the ultimate authority resides in the people.”
Then in Federalist Paper #78, Alexander Hamilton wrote, “No legislative act contrary to the Constitution can be valid. To deny this would be to affirm that the deputy is greater than its principal; that the servant is above the master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people. That men, acting by virtue of power, may not do only what their [unintelligible] . It is not to be supposed that the Constitution would intend to enable the representatives of the people to substitute their will to that of the constituents. A Constitution is in fact, and must be regarded by the judges as fundamental law.”
According to American Jurisprudence, second section 210, in Goss versus Sanford, 19 Howe 393, 58L, position 691, “Neither the legislative, executive, nor the judicial parts of the federal government can lawfully exercise any authority beyond the limits marked out in the Constitution.”
In the 16th American Jurisprudence, second section 210, Wilson versus Philadelphia School District, it says, “Any fundamental or basic power necessary to government cannot be delegated.” It’s like, Congress has delegated its legislative powers to the President. That’s really wrong.
It went on to say that the general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law but is fully void and ineffective for any purpose. That unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it. Unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative as if it had never been pass. An unconstitutional law is void. It imposes no duty, confers no right, creates no office, bestows no power or authority on anyone, affords no protection and justifies no act performed under it. An unconstitutional law cannot repeal the Constitution. Kind of like Barbary vs. Madison, where again we find that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and anything that is repugnant to it is null and void from its very inception.
Now let’s take a look at federal education and the school. The federal congress has been legislating in the areas of education and schools and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution forbid it. Within the Constitution no one will find any power given to any branch of the federal government in the area of education and the school. As it is not enumerated in the contract, the federal government does not have it. Therefore all such acts of any branch of the federal government, whether it is legislative, executive or judiciary are unlawful. In fact officials of the federal government, by enacting such pretended legislation and court edicts, are in violation of their respective oaths of office to uphold, preserve and defend the Constitution. This is defined by law as a criminal act.
Let’s take the Federal Reserve System. Article 1, section 10 of the Constitution prohibits the states from making anything but gold and silver coin as tender in payment of debt. By law, one dollar must equal 23.22 grains of pure gold or 271.25 grains of silver. And citizens of the United States can not obtain such coins, simply because none is available. The federal Congress has unlawfully violated Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. It has unlawfully abdicated the power mandated by the state and the people to coin money and regulate the value thereof. The federal congress has unlawfully delegated its power to a privately owned corporation, the Federal Reserve. It is a private monopoly which neither the people nor the state authorized in the Constitution. The Federal Reserve Act, which was 38-251 USC 21, enacted on December 23rd, 1913, is in violation of the Constitution and therefore it is not lawful.
Let’s take the judiciary now. With few exceptions, both state and federal courts have been engaged in subtle subversion of the Constitution of these united States. It is apparent that the judiciary has attempted to alter our form of government by unlawful administrative acts and procedures. They have attempted to establish a dictatorship of the courts over the citizens of this republic. The legal profession has with few exceptions conspired with the judiciary for this purpose.
The Constitution for the United States is clear and concise in its delegation of powers to the federal judiciary. In fact the only federal court established by the Constitution is the Supreme Court. The highest court in the land is the Justice of the Peace court, which is closest to the people. It is a local county court. All other federal courts are ordained and established by a congress according to Article 3, Section 1, clause 1. Judges, both of the Supreme and superior [or inferior-not clear] Courts, do not hold office for life, but only during good behavior. Disregard for the Constitution is not good behavior. It is a violation of the oath of office. In the establishment of the inferior federal court, the Congress is limited to the extent that any legislative act may be in pursuance of the Constitution. The Congress may not amend the Constitution, nor may it delegate its powers as mandated by the contract. The federal congress has violated the mandate, particularly in the passage of the Administrative Procedures Act of 1946. Under this unlawful act, rules and regulations have been promulgated by government. Such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, as well as the federal courts. By this act, the Congress abdicates its mandated legislative powers, delivering those powers to the executive and judicial branches of the government.
Federal judges, U.S. Attorneys, and other law enforcement officials, including lawyers and officers of the court are helped to repudiate their oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. Under cover of law they are forced to collaborate to obstruct justice, disenfranchise citizens, and liquidate the constitutional republic of the United States. Under these unlawful rules and procedures citizens have been unlawfully arrested by court order, intimidated, threatened, harassed with and without trial by jury and due process of law as guaranteed by the Constitution. Article 3, Section 3 of the Constitution requires trial of all crimes—except in cases of impeachment—by jury. The Fifth Amendment reads as follows: “No person shall be held to answer for a capital or other infamous crime unless on presentment of indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia…”
All citizens, as members of locally organized militia, need to research their local law library on the subject of Posse Comitatus. Because the law of our country provides for the Posse Comitatus and for posse action. The law prescribes harsh prosecution of government officials who commit criminal acts or violate their oaths of office. For in law he shall be removed by the posse to the most populated intersection of streets in the township and at high noon be hung by the neck, the body remaining until sundown as an example to those who would subvert the law. Those who have sworn an oath to protect and defend the Constitution for the United States of government against all enemies, foreign and domestic must know that Constitution in order to respect it.
What a beautiful document that is. A document that limits the scope of government. That’s just exactly what we need. It was one of the comedians on television that thought they ought to give the Constitution to Iraq because it served us well for many years, and we’re not using it any more. It starts off so well, right up there, just before Article 1, it says, “We the People of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” And a part of that I think is more important than anything else—it was not only for ourselves but their posterity. That’s us, and our children and our grandchildren. We are in grave danger right now of our children and our grandchildren not getting freedom. If we let it slip through our fingers—if we don’t pass it on to them—they won’t have it, and they will find that they must get more permits than we do. Think about all the things you must get permits for. It’s an outrage.
Are we free people? Do we have choices? It’s getting around to the point where everything not mandatory will be forbidden. Concerned about your children, your posterity having some of that freedom? I’d like you to support the cause of freedom. Because freedom really isn’t free. We got it because somebody paid the price. Our founding fathers put their lives on the line. They shed their blood, they burned their treasures in cause of the war of us becoming free.
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