This page is intended to be a backup location for files and questions pertaining to the Texas Sovereignty Act, as discussed in the Texas Constitutional Enforcement Facebook group. This article is one person's view of the act, written up for newbies and political activists alike.

The current bill text and summary are linked below in the Downloads section.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is it?

The Texas Sovereignty Act is a state level legislative framework aimed at reducing unconstitutional federal usurpation of power and restoring the proper balance of the Constitution between the States and the Federal government. It does not address the proper balance between the people themselves and the government.

What do you mean unConstitutional?

The problem may be one of education. The term, constitutional, is usually interpreted to mean whatever the supreme Court says it means. However, even a casual review of documentation around the founding of the Constitution would reveal it was based on a LIMITED set of powers such as going to war, delivering the mail, settling disputes between states, interacting with other countries, etc. were some of its powers. That is, matters OUTSIDE the states. It was not meant to act INSIDE of the states. At the time, there was much concern that some of the loose language would be used to abuse as is demonstrated by the likes of Patrick Henry and in the various ratifying debates. Ultimately such concerns were acknowledged by the amending of the Constitution with the so-called Bill of Rights to further emphasize the limited role that the federal government had.

What changed?

Well in a nutshell around the turn of the 20th century, activist judges began broadly interpreting clauses from their original strict construction (limited power) to mean virtually anything. The federal government is 180 degrees from where it started and many of the citizens happily go along with it because ... supreme Court says so! The whole system no longer follows its own rules and is therefore, corrupt! For a more detailed discussion of the corruption process go read the Constitution for the Common Man.

Okay, fine, what is so bad about the current state of affairs, even with all the corruption?

People have a basic right to self-governance and there are often vast differences in the way people think in different regions or sections of the country. Due to homogenization and television, this is not always the case, but there are still plenty of differences. For example, in Texas, many of us like guns. Regional differences aside, the real point is WHY have a set of rules for the government, called the Constitution, if it is going to ignore them? Why not let it do whatever it wants and just give all of your money to it? Rhetorical.

But wait, wasn't this settled during the Civil War?

Americans are generally unaware of the usurpations of power by Abraham Lincoln. Basically, he said: Oh, shoot, the country is breaking up, well, I'll fix it with cannon fire and almost a million dead! That's one way to spread the message of liberty! You have a lot to learn about Abraham Lincoln. Oh, but he freed the slaves? Fair enough, but bear in mind - freeing the slaves was politically expedient at the time. There are plenty of quotes to support this position with even a casual google search. Have at it.

What differentiates this approach from other approaches to restoring the Constitution?

There are several basic approaches - Suing in Federal Court, Constitutional Convention, and some have even proposed Secession. How about Enforcing the Constitution we already have and that State judges and Sheriffs are already duty bound to enforce?

Constitutional Convention

It may happen in 50 years time, and even if it does - think about this - the framers of the Constitution went in to simply amend the Articles of the Confederation. They disappeared for a few weeks and out popped the Constitution! Imagine if today's lawmakers went into a dark room for a few weeks, what could possibly go wrong? Perhaps the first amendment might be: The Existing Constitution is hereby scrapped! Perhaps not, but either way the current Congress would control the agenda.

Secession

In the state of Texas, while there is some appetite for secession, but by and large, there is limited support for this option.

Constitutional Enforcement

Which brings us back to enforcing the Constitution we already have. If Federal officials get out of line, then state level official have the power to do something about it. This act merely emphasizes the power they already have and serves as a bit of an educational tool for Sheriffs and state-level officials for interposing when federal officials exceed their Constitutional authority.

What Could go Wrong?

What could go wrong if we enforce the Constitution we already have? Ultimately, it could result in a state level official arresting a federal official and perhaps repudiation of unconstitutional federal acts.

A little background is in order, first. It could be argued that the "cracks" in the Constitution did allow for expansion in civil rights in many cases. Remember when black and white people couldn't get married? Remember that? It wasn't that long ago. The culture has shifted since then - and we recently elected a black president for 2 terms, so such notions are largely extinguished on the basis of "race", but there are still other areas where there appears to be some public concern and difference of opinion. While there may still be some distrust among people with different unalterable attributes (hair type, skin melanin content, eye color, nose size, moles, etc.), there is also a wide range of activities such people are able to participate in together. This allows the public at large to vote with its feet as the Constitution was originally designed. For example, the State of Pennsylvania made accommodations for its Amish people - not requiring them to attend school past 8th grade. Some states like to pass lots of commercial laws , which businesses tend to favor. Some states let the people do more of what they want, and other more populated states have to deal with the problems that large population centers bring.

OK, back to the question: What could go wrong is a lack of standardization. People traveling could need to be more aware of regional differences in laws. It may require people to move if some areas begin to regress on civil rights. In the end it works out, because people of like mind are then drawn to one another. That doesn't sound fun, what is the bright side? Why still do this?

Why Still Do this?

Several reasons: the government should follow its own rules, otherwise, what's the point in having the rules?

Some hot button items include:

Recently, Washington has pushed gun control agenda that does not represent true and actual arguments or in line with the cultural understanding in Texas. Why not debate such bills where every Texan over the age of 18 needs to take training and target practice and then require them to carry a gun?
Skipping over the Department of Education's constitutionality, another example is attempts by the federal government to assert control over the bathrooms in our local schools!

On a personal level, it affects our paychecks and limits our ability to self-govern - coming up with solutions that work for Texans, instead of solutions dictated by every other state.

The federal government has been slowly inching its way into just about everything and has ONLY been increasing its scope with reckless financial spending and excessive regulation shows no signs of slowing. Something has to be done to stop it. As support for the foregoing, the governor of Texas commissioned a study to identify some of the areas where the federal government has expanded beyond its original scope, see: Article on Federal Usurpation by the State of Texas government

A longer list of grievances includes:

Irresponsible spending. In 2005 dollars, the federal budget has increased from $2.5 trillion dollars to $3.3 trillion dollars in six years. There is no serious solution to pay this off and as more collected tax dollars are going to pay the interest, there is less money to pay for legitimate government expenses, which requires more borrowing, which increases theinterest needed to pay the debt. This is unsustainable. Do we as Texans want to ride this ship down?
Redistribution of wealth. Washington continually seeks to harvest the wealth of productive individuals and re-directs it to inefficient ventures, such as Solyndra and many other subsidized companies. Government should not force charity giving from a producer and give to penurious individuals. Someone’s ‘needs’ should not give them a right to someone else’s resources, including talents, skills or money. This is feudal mentality, where the nobles would plunder the people through taxation for what they deemed to be best, not necessarily what is most accountable. Recently, there was an Occupy Wall Street demonstration where there were comparisons between the wealth of the top 1% to the other 99%. They should have been looking at this geographically where Washington has our tax monies and decides how it is going to be spent. They have been irresponsible with our money for too long. Are we ready to take our money back, as we are the rightful earners of it?
Increase in taxes due to the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare). This includes, but not limited to excise tax on uninsured individuals, tax on HSA distributions, fees on health plans, and taxes on medical devices. This has put undue hardship on many individuals and businesses. Did they consider other means of financing healthcare? What about increasing the supply by increasing education or removing some regulations? This was bad legislation that was passed in the middle of the night by one party. It was not even debated on, yet impacted everyone in the United States. Are these the responsible actions of a Republic that was established in 1776?
Over regulation in the affairs of the people’s financial business (Dodd-Frank Act). This act has created an undue burden upon any individual that have applied for a loan and it has created numerous paperwork requirements that need multiple submissions – once when the loan is submitted and then again before the purchase of the property. We need free markets and free enterprise.
Irresponsible Use of Fiat Currency. The Federal Reserve has increased the money supply in an attempt to stimulate the economy through quantitative easing at the expense of responsible savers and has put the honest work and representation of a person’s productivity at risk through these reckless policies. Again, the federal government is picking winners and losers in the economy. In the low interest rate environment that is almost a decade long now, this has favored debtors over savers/retirees. The New Republic of Texas should have its own honest currency based on gold or silver and return to free banking.
As some states, such as California and New York, have been financially reckless, they will eventually look to the federal government to bail them out which will pull resources from financially responsible states through taxation, such as Texas, to support inefficient bureaucracy and policies.
Political environment in Washington has put excessive burden on the states without consulting with the states. Obamacare and Dodd-Frank are such examples. Resettling of refugees and unescorted minors of immigrants is another. More legislation is passed through backroom deals and not debated in the public. The New Republic of Texas should debate legislation in the open, post it on the internet and get the feedback of her people.
Our representatives have been reckless in their legislation and have taken our rights and our powers from us through laws and taxation. We will not tolerate their careless attitude any longer. We are taking back our money, our rights and our Republic! We do not seek the overthrow of any political party or destruction of the United States, only that Texas become its own country with rights to settle its own issues that are in line with our resources, values and morals. This is beneficial to the United States, as well. The US can have a friendly neighbor to the south upon which they can share in a common defense, such as NATO. Although, Texas will have its own currency, the US and Texas can continue to share economic benefits of free trade.

What will happen with the inevitable conflict of Federal vs. State 'interpretations' of the Constitution?

Ultimately, It will depend on the political will of the people of the State of Texas. The way this act is designed, "The case may be removed to Federal court, but the prisoner will not be.", but it all depends on state officials doing their job and challenging federal officials. Will they? Will you?

KSpect

Texas Sovereignty Act Discussion

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