Where Does the Constitution Actually Protect the Citizen?

Part 2 in a series about Courts, the Constitution and Remedies

Welcome to YesToHellWith.com.

Yesterday, I posted a video asking a question that many people had never considered before.

If you’ve not seen that video, I encourage you to watch it first.

In that discussion, I explained that administrative tribunals and hearing officers generally do not resolve constitutional questions. Their responsibility is typically to administer the statutes, ordinances, or regulations that have been enacted by the governing body that created them.

That raises what I believe is a far more important constitutional question.

If the Constitution limits government...

And if the administrative tribunal says it cannot decide whether government has exceeded those constitutional limits...

Then where does the Constitution actually protect the citizen?

Think about that.

Not in theory.

Not in a civics class.

Not in a campaign speech.

In real life.

Let’s use a simple example.

Suppose I own a 1977 Ford Pinto.

I’m rebuilding the engine.

I park it on my front lawn while I work on it.

The city has adopted an ordinance prohibiting automobiles from being parked on front lawns.

A code enforcement officer arrives and issues me a citation.

Now I ask you something.

How is that fundamentally different from a family placing a children’s clubhouse in the front yard?

Or a mother setting up a table, pots, soil, and gardening equipment while planting flowers?

Or children spreading toys across the yard while they play?

Each of those activities involves placing personal property on private property.

Each occupies space on the front lawn.

Each reflects a homeowner using his or her property.

Yet one activity is prohibited by ordinance while the others are generally permitted.

Why?

What constitutional principle allows the government to distinguish one use from another?

More importantly...

Who decides whether that distinction exceeds the lawful limits of governmental authority?

Suppose I appear before the administrative hearing officer and say:

“I believe this ordinance exceeds the constitutional limits placed upon local government.”

The hearing officer responds:

“I’m here to enforce the ordinance.”

“I don’t decide constitutional questions.”

So now what?

The city enacted the ordinance.

The city enforces the ordinance.

The administrative tribunal applies the ordinance.

The citizen loses.

And the citizen is then told that if he wants constitutional review, he may have to continue through additional proceedings that could require months or years of litigation and significant expense.

Now stop for just a moment.

Think about what just happened.

The Constitution supposedly limits government.

Yet the first governmental institution the citizen encounters tells him it cannot determine whether those constitutional limits have been exceeded.

That is not an accusation.

It is an observation.

And it leads to what I believe is one of the most important constitutional questions of our time.

Where does the Constitution actually become a practical protection for the citizen?

Who is responsible for ensuring that government remains within the authority entrusted to it?

When does that protection occur?

How does an ordinary citizen obtain that protection without spending years and enormous financial resources simply trying to reach a tribunal willing to address the constitutional issue?

These are not political questions.

They are structural constitutional questions.

The Liberty Dialogues System teaches us not to begin with conclusions.

It teaches us to begin with questions.

So I’m not asking you today to accept my answer.

I’m asking you to think about the question.

If the Constitution truly limits government...

Where, when, and through what lawful mechanism are those limits actually enforced in a timely and practical way?

Because if the only practical answer is years of litigation after the citizen has already suffered the consequences...

Then perhaps we should all begin asking whether the constitutional structure is functioning as the Framers intended.

That is the conversation we’re going to continue in the next video.

May truth reign supreme.

THE SHERIFF’S DECLARATION TO THE PEOPLE

Today, before Almighty God and before the People of this County, I accept the Office of Sheriff with humility, gratitude, and a profound sense of duty.

I recognize that this office does not belong to me.

It belongs to the People.

I have taken a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

That oath is not ceremonial.

It is a covenant that binds me before God, before the People, and before the Constitutions I have sworn to support.

I recognize that those Constitutions exist to preserve the freedom of the People by limiting the authority entrusted to public office.

They do not create freedom.

They preserve it.

I therefore make this Declaration.

I recognize that every person is born free.

Freedom does not originate with legislatures.

Freedom does not originate with courts.

Freedom does not originate with public officials or public employees.

Freedom is inherent.

The People bear no burden to prove they are free.

Whenever a public official or public employee seeks to restrict the freedom of another, the burden rests upon that official to establish the lawful authority, lawful jurisdiction, and lawful process supporting that action.

I recognize that the Office of Sheriff exists for one enduring purpose:

To preserve the peace while protecting the freedom of the People.

Freedom is seldom lost all at once.

It is most often diminished whenever public officials or public employees exceed the lawful authority entrusted to them.

For that reason, vigilance is one of the highest duties of this office.

Whenever actions affect the life, freedom, or property of the People, I will carefully examine the authority asserted, the jurisdiction claimed, and the process employed before this office participates.

No title alone establishes authority.

No badge alone establishes authority.

No office alone establishes authority.

Authority must always remain accountable to law.

I recognize that the vast majority of public officials and public employees strive to serve honorably.

Those who faithfully discharge the authority entrusted to them deserve my respect, my cooperation, and my support.

Those who knowingly exceed that authority should expect this office to faithfully discharge its own responsibilities with equal integrity, professionalism, and resolve.

This office shall never be used to intimidate peaceful people.

It shall never be used to burden them unnecessarily.

It shall never forget that public authority exists to preserve freedom—not to replace it.

I recognize that strong families, secure property, and due process are indispensable to a free people.

These principles shall guide every decision made within this office.

I also recognize that threats to freedom may arise from enemies abroad and from abuses of authority at home.

My oath requires vigilance against both.

There will be times when convenience points one direction while duty points another.

My oath will not change because circumstances change.

My principles will not change because pressure is applied.

My duty will remain constant.

Therefore, I pledge to preserve the peace.

I pledge to defend the freedom of the People.

I pledge to protect life.

I pledge to protect property.

I pledge to faithfully exercise the authority entrusted to this office with humility, wisdom, restraint, integrity, and courage.

I pledge to cooperate with every public official and public employee who faithfully exercises the authority entrusted to them.

And whenever the freedom of the People is threatened through the unlawful exercise of authority, I will faithfully discharge every responsibility entrusted to this office according to my oath and according to law.

When my service as Sheriff comes to an end, I pray that this County—and through faithful service, this Country—will be more free than when the People entrusted this office to my care.

That is my promise.

That is my covenant.

That is my oath to the People.

May Almighty God grant me the wisdom to remain faithful to it.

And may truth reign supreme.