Epilogue to a Nation
TL;DR: If certain Rights, endowed by Nature’s God, have become alienable from those persons who defend the sovereignty of our State, then the truths upon which America declared its solemn independence have ceased to be self-evident, the political bands intended to Unite us having already been dissolved.
Preamble
The First Amendment to the Constitution, ratified on December 15, 1791, guarantees Americans’ right to a free press and political speech, peaceful assembly, and petition for redress, among other things. The Enforcement Act of April 20, 1871 (42 USC § 1983), creates a private right of “action at law” for citizens to sue any “person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage… subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen… to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws.”
Speech
On January 27, 2025, Chief of Staff for Oregon House District 15 Reneé Perry deprived me of my Constitutional right to free speech. In recorded audio, Perry can be heard saying “I'm gonna call [Oregon State Police] if you do not tone your voice down.” As a civil servant employed by the public, Perry was acting “under color of” the state of Oregon. There is no state or federal law limiting a person’s “tone” nor empowering the Government to arbitrarily regulate the same. Perry’s threat is a violation of my Constitutional protection from “abridging the freedom of speech.”
Assembly
On February 7, 2025, Oregon Representative Shelly Boshart Davis wrote “you are no longer permitted to visit my office, or enter my staff’s workspace” without citing a violation of law or reasonable safety concern. The letter was delivered on Oregon House of Representatives official letterhead, therefore assuming the “color of” Oregon state regulations and customs. Neither Perry nor Boshart Davis recount any violence or other credible disruption of the peace. Boshart Davis’ assertion deprives me of the Constitutional “right of the people peaceably to assemble.”
Redress
On February 21, 2025, Oregon Legislative Administrator Brett Haines wrote “you are hereby informed that you are prohibited from visiting the Oregon State Capitol” explicitly citing his “authority… as described in ORS 173.720.” His letter included a premeditated threat that “you may be charged with criminal trespass under ORS 164.245.” By setting limits on my access to my own state capitol, Haines is depriving me of my Constitutional right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Press
In Associated Press v. United States, the Supreme Court found that members of the press “enjoy a unique constitutional position precisely because of the public dependence on a free press.” Journalists are prohibited from placing self-interest above their constitutional obligation, including “acts and conduct [that constitute]… restraint of trade and commerce in news among the states.” Any reporter, news editor, or publisher who does so is individually liable under 42 USC § 1983 because their “unique constitutional position” places them under the color of law.
Prior to January 27, 2025, Betsy Hammond, Jamie Goldberg, and Therese Bottomly of The Oregonian and David Philipps, Lauren Katzenburg, Marc Laney, and Carolyn Ryan of The New York Times repeatedly and consistently refused to report on matters relevant to military civil rights, decisions which can only be defended by appealing to a freedom articulated by the First Amendment. By restraining trade in news, these members of the press have deprived military families of their Constitutional right to a free press.
Conspiracy to Deprive
42 USC § 1985(3) makes it unlawful for “two or more persons in any State… [to] conspire… for the purpose of depriving, either directly or indirectly, any person or class of persons of the equal protection of the laws.” Because these unlawful acts represent a coordinated effort between private parties acting “under color of” law, the actions described above may qualify as criminal conspiracy under federal law.
Implication/s
The above named individuals acted under color of law to deprive a protected class of their rights under the Constitution.
The 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Act created 18 USC § 1389, described by Congress as “a new Federal crime which puts members of the U.S. military on equal footing with other protected classes.” This was confirmed by the office of Oregon’s Senior Senator Ron Wyden, whose staff told the Military Improvement Association that “military members, service members, are [a protected class], it just doesn't get enforced in the manner in which it should.”
By unlawfully obstructing my protected political speech, Perry, Boshart Davis, and Haines have acted in concert to deprive all military families in Oregon from the benefits of Senate Bill 1057, which is poised to be the first comprehensive Military Civil Rights Act in United States history. By threatening to charge me with criminal trespass unless I accept arbitrary and unlawful assertions under color of law, they are suppressing the political determination of my entire class in Oregon and, by extension, every state in our hallowed union. If they succeed, it will undermine humanity’s most basic social contract; that those who sacrifice for the good of the whole are secured creditors of its privileges.
Dredd Scott v. Sanford may be the most egregious legal precedent in our nation's history, but it remains settled law. In an opinion penned by a Chief Justice who never defended the Constitution from any enemy, foreign or domestic, the Supreme Court found that an enslaved person “Forms no part of the sovereignty of the State, and is not therefore called on to uphold and defend it.”
If certain Rights, endowed by Nature’s God, have become alienable from those persons who defend the sovereignty of our State, then the truths upon which America declared its solemn independence have ceased to be self-evident, the political bands intended to Unite us having already been dissolved.
