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Learning From Natural Disasters: FEMA & Federal Aid
by KrisAnne Hall, JD
Patrick Henry, a designer of our Constitutional Republic said, “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past.” What history lessons about the design of our republic can we learn from natural disasters?
As Americans we believe in helping each other in time of need, so the question is not SHOULD we help, but instead where should disaster help come from? Looking at the design of our Republic, here are some hard observations.
Disaster Relief is Not Within Federal Authority
Constitutionally there is no delegation of authority for the federal government to act as emergency funding services for the States. James Madison, father of the Constitution and 4th president declared before congress in 1792:
“I, sir, have always conceived — I believe those who proposed the Constitution conceived — it is still more fully known, and more material to observe, that those who ratified the Constitution conceived — that this is not an indefinite government, deriving its powers from the general terms prefixed to the specified powers — but a limited government, tied down to the specified powers, which explain and define the general terms.”
If the power is not expressly delegated through a specific Article, section, or clause, then the federal authority does not lawfully exist. We know that to be a factual statement by the terms of those who wrote and ratified the Constitution:
“…an affirmative grant of special powers would be absurd as well as useless, if a general authority was intended. ~Alexander Hamilton, Federalist #83
The only way to change or expand federal power is through the amendment process described in the Constitution which in either process includes the creators of the Constitution, the States. No single branch of the creation can expand its own power by any other means. Remember:
Congress cannot expand its own or another branch’s delegated power by legislative act. Alexander Hamilton, a designer of our Constitution wrote in Federalist #78: “There is no position which depends on clearer principles, than that every act of a delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid.”
The President has no authority to change the Constitution; he doesn’t have the authority to make laws of any sort. “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” Article 1 section 1. Since any legislative act contrary to the Constitution is invalid, the president making legislative acts, is a clear violation of the Constitution and per se in valid.
The Judiciary cannot expand federal power beyond the Constitution. James Madison, addresses such a violation in 1800: “…dangerous powers, not delegated, may not only be usurped and executed by the other departments, but that the judicial department, also, may exercise or sanction dangerous powers beyond the grant of the Constitution…”
If elected representatives in Washington DC cannot identify the Article, section, and clause that authorizes the federal government to engage in emergency funding services to the States, then that authority, very plainly does not legally exist. Any reference to a congressional act, does not create that authority. If legislative act is the only authority, then as Hamilton so accurately announced, that legislative act is void and no law at all. A supreme Court opinion, nor series of opinions cannot be the basis for undelegated authority since the judiciary cannot exercise or sanction any authority that is not tied down to a specific power delegated through the Constitution. The existence of executive agencies designated to perform a function beyond the grant of the Constitution cannot provide legal justification for pretended authority.
Sadly, what we hear is that “We must have the federal government’s help; without it we cannot function.” According to William Pitt, the Younger, in 1783 “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” The purpose of the Constitution is to “preserve the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” The plea of necessity over the limited nature of the Constitution is yet another unconstitutional argument. This cry of necessity is annulled because the terms of the Constitution binds the federal government to expressed powers. If the people through their states want the Federal government to have a new authority then they must amend the document that enumerates its abilities. To put forth any or all of these extra-constitutional assertions as legal justification for powers that are not enumerated is to suggest that the Constitution is NOT the foundation for the rule of law in our Republic. In that case, then Congress, the President and the courts would have ZERO authority, because without the Constitution they have no basis to even exist.
How Should Disaster Relief Be Handled
If the federal government wasn’t stealing and extorting money and power from the people and their States to fund and operate all their unconstitutional federal agencies and programs throughout year, the States would have plenty of money to manage their own disasters. Under a properly operating Constitutional Republic, our States would have a surplus beyond our modern comprehension and the States (in addition to the millions in private donations we see after major disasters) could individually provide relief as they see fit. In fact, the designers of our Constitutional Republic speculated about unexpected burdens that one State may not be able to handle.
Throughout the eighty-five published Federalist Papers, the authors of these papers repeatedly assert that the establishment of the union of the States would create a fiduciary relationship between the States. This “brotherhood” would create a feeling of friendship and duty amongst the States for economic and defensive support. They postulated that if there were such an unforeseen and unreasonable burden placed upon one State, the remaining States would voluntarily and individually administer aid as their citizens felt appropriate. The designers of our Constitutional Republic never once asserted that the federal government would have the authority to engage in charity in any form. As a matter of fact, they spoke against the federal exercise of charity on multiple occasion.
James Madison proclaimed before Congress in 1792, that for the federal Congress to engage in public charity with tax dollars, “would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited government established by the people of America.”
He repeated this truth in 1794, when he said most definitively: “I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.”
The Bottom Line
There is no Constitutional reason and no Constitutional authority for the feds to become involved with these kinds of domestic affairs. There is and never has been any constitutional reason to look to any President to be the savior after a storm, during a pandemic , or other natural disaster.* The only reason to look to any President in a time is crisis is political - to encourage love or hate of a personality - so parties can build power. However, because America has been errantly trained for over 150 years that this is the purpose of the federal government, most do not even have an inclination that their cries for federal aid are transmuting the mutual brotherhood of the States into a “nanny-hood” of the federal government. Charity is a voluntary gift of the individual. Government cannot give charity as they don't take money voluntarily and they cant "give" what they don't actually own. So the solution is very simple: (1) Give to your neighbor who is actually in need. (2) Don't be a pawn in the political game for power by blaming someone in government or crying out to government to fix the hurt.
*If you have a questions about "Emergency Powers" then you must read THIS ARTICLE.
Study a complete course on the proper power placement of the State and Federal governments here: www.LibertyFirstUniversity.com
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Should We Celebrate #IndependenceDay?
“The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nation’s history — the very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny.Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.”
“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
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Mandatory Mask Rights Flyer For Individuals and Businesses
by KrisAnne Hall, JD
There is a growing trend of State and local governments violating the Rights of the people by mandating masks with criminal penalities. To help you manuever through these confusing and often overreaching laws, I have created two informational tools. These tools are designed so you can go into a business unmolested and run your businesses without violating federal laws or becoming a private police to enforce these draconian laws for the government.
Please feel free to reprint, share, and post them whereever and whenever you find appropriate. I have encoded no copyright and I do not expect any credit or compensation. I made these in the spirit of America's foundation- so we can work together to ensure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves AND our Posterity.
If you are looking for more information, see The KrisAnne Hall Daily Journal podcast: Episode 1124 Mask Mandates and Free Speech
Blessings!
Individual Rights Flyer -
Print out several copies and keep them with you as you engage in commerce.
Poster for Business
Post on Entrance Doors & Windows
Poster for Hillsborough County, FL Business
Post on Entrance Doors & Windows
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The following is a sample editorial that I have drafted for you to use in your State regarding the two main methods of contact tracing being suggested for our local governments. I am publishing this letter for the sole purpose that others may copy and use it for their own benefit. You have my express permission to use this and submit it in your own name, without any credit to me whatsoever. Together we can restore Liberty! ~ KrisAnne Hall
Model Open Letter/Editorial RE: Contact Tracing & the Supreme Court
by KrisAnne Hall, JD
Download this letter as a .docx HERE
The people of (STATE) will be forced to pay enormous court fees and settlements if our counties continue with their proposed plans for COVID Contact Tracing.
I watch the county meetings because it is important to me to know what my government is doing with the COVID-19 situation. Recently, counties across (STATE) have been speaking to medical professionals and data scientists about Contact Tracing. The methods our counties propose to employ should be genuinely concerning to every taxpayer.
The main mechanism under consideration for Contact Tracing is to use cellphone GPS data to trace individuals and groups to a particular location. Data scientists are submitting reports to show how cell phone data monitoring would work to allow the government to track people through their cell phone GPS. These are not cell phones our governments will be tracking, they are people.
In addition to the cell phone tracking, our counties are also considering using infrared technology to “look” inside private homes and buildings to determine the number of people who are gathered. These infrared devices are so precise they can identify a single person in a home. This activity is more suitable to a George Orwell novel than for elected representatives tasked with protecting people’s rights.
Every data scientist must admit the data provided to our counties will contain specific, private, and personal information. Once provided, it will be completely up to the county officials, through their policies, to determine how much of that information they will use and how our personal information will be stored. I am personally not comforted by the thought that our counties will determine the limits to their own authority over our personal and private information.
If this sounds disturbing to you, it should. The good news is that the Supreme Court of the United States agrees with us. The use of cell phones by government entities to geo track people is not a new nor an unsettled issue. Although it may be legal for a hospital or university to purchase such data from a cell phone provider for research purposes, it is NOT lawful for the government to use the data from data scientists to track individuals without a warrant - even though that data comes from a third party. In Carpenter v. U.S., the Supreme Court held that a government entity MUST have a warrant to use cell data to geo track someone, even when that data comes from a third party.
Additionally, the Supreme Court held in Kyllo v U.S. that a government entity must have a warrant to use infrared technology to look inside a private building and to do so without a warrant is a violation of our rights to privacy.
For government officers to use cell data or infrared technology to track people, they must have either express permission from each person or a warrant for every single individual or that tracking will be an unlawful search and seizure. If our officials use this technology for contact tracing without warrants, regardless of where the data comes from, it will be tantamount to legal negligence. Given the recency of these Supreme Court cases it is highly likely that the counties would lose a civil rights challenge and the taxpayers will foot the bill.
The taxpayers of (STATE) should not be forced to waste precious tax dollars to defend their county’s actions when those actions are so clearly established to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States. Our elected representatives ought to have a greater respect for the privacy and civil rights of the people. The people of (STATE) must demand our counties refuse to use this technology for any form of COVID Contact Tracing and spare the taxpayers from paying for the inevitable lawsuits.
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I am posting this open letter published by Sheriff Mike Herrington, Chaves County, NM because it beautifully and succinctly describes the role and duty of the Sheriff, not only during COVID but all the time. It is my desire that we share this letter as a way to educate others and ensure that our Sheriff's understand that it is their duty to protect our Rights, whether it be from criminals or an overreaching government. ~ KrisAnne Hall, JD
Posted by Sheriff Mike Herrington
Duty as Sheriff per the Constitution
May 9, 2020
Linked on Facebook Here: https://www.facebook.com/chavescountysheriffnm
Since before the birth of America the duty of the Sheriff has been to secure the Rights of the People. This is evidenced by the Sheriff's oath of Office as a promise to the people, to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Mexico and defend them (these Rights of the People) against all enemies whatsoever.
The New Mexico Bill of Rights enshrines to every citizen of New Mexico the Right that all persons are born equally free, and have certain natural, inherent and inalienable rights, among which are the rights of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and of seeking and obtaining safety and happiness; that No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law; private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation.
Every business in Chavez County is essential when the people are dependent upon that income to provide for themselves and their families. It is not the job of government to provide income to the people and New Mexico was built upon the principles of private property ownership, hard work, and self-reliance. To say otherwise is simply ridiculous.
As a Constitutional Officer it is my duty and obligation to defend the Rights of the people against every and all infringements.
The New Mexico Constitution establishes a strict separation of power to ensure the security of the rights of the people and that “The powers of the government of this state are divided into three distinct departments, the legislative, executive and judicial, and no person or collection of persons charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments, shall exercise any powers properly belonging to either of the others…” Furthermore the New Mexico Constitution delegates to the Legislative branch alone full legislative power. For the Governor to issues Orders with the expectation that they be enforced upon the people is in direct conflict with the Constitution of the State of New Mexico and the most violent defiance of the essential principle of separation of powers.
As a Constitutional Officer it is my duty and obligation to defend the Constitution of the State of New Mexico against all violations and abuses of power.
The Sheriff is not a hireling of the State. We do not work for the Governor or the County and we are not beholden to any one person for a paycheck. We are direct Constitutional representatives of the people, we work for the People, and therefore are the highest law enforcement authority in our County. All other law enforcement in the State is subject to the authority of the Sheriff within their county. That authority demands the highest respect for the Constitution and the Rights of the people; to which I intend to defend.
The question here today is whether we overturn 244 years of history and duty of the Sheriff for a new and radical ideology that replaces the duty of the Sheriff to protect the rights of the people and the Constitution of New Mexico with an unconstitutional and unchecked power exercised by a Governor that looks more like a monarch than a servant of the people. I will not stand idly by and watch the lives, liberties, and Rights of the people of Chavez County of New Mexico violated by unconstitutional and unjust pretended authorities.
Learn more about the duty and role of the Constitutional Sheriff through KrisAnne's book Sovereign Duty available here or at Amazon
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