July 4, 2015

Declaration of Obedience to Law and Defense of Natural Marriage

Whereas, the County Clerks of Texas are tasked with upholding the Constitution and Laws of the State of Texas and the written United States Constitution; and

Whereas, on June 26, 2015, in Obergefell v. Hodges, five justices of the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion with no basis in the Constitution, the Fourteenth Amendment, American law, or Western history, purporting to overturn Natural Marriage and inventing a false “right” to same-sex “marriage;” and

Whereas, two justices essential to the majority, Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, failed to recuse themselves from Obergefell after publicly showing personal bias, in violation of federal law mandating that “Any justice…shall disqualify h[er]self….[where her] impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” (28 U.S.C.A. § 455); and

Whereas, in contrast, the Declaration of Independence explicitly recognizes that the Creator has endowed mankind with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, under the Rule of Law, consistent with the created order; and

Whereas, Natural Marriage consistent with the created order, higher law, and the Law of Nature and Nature’s God has always consisted of one man and one woman; and

Whereas, Natural Marriage has been recognized in the Constitution and Laws of Texas, consistent with the written United States Constitution, and higher Natural Law; and

Whereas, the United States Constitution defines the powers of the federal government, and
no branch of the federal government has power to redefine marriage;and

Whereas, the Fourteenth Amendment never withdrew from the various states the authority to maintain Natural Marriage as an exclusively monogamous heterosexual institution; and

Whereas, the Obergefell opinion is “an opinion lacking even a thin veneer of law,” and “is a naked judicial claim” to…super-legislative power; “a claim fundamentally at odds with our system of government;” Id. at *43 (Scalia, J., dissenting); and

Whereas, the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, authored by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, held that when the federal government “assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force; “and that the States” have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil;” and

Whereas, in the spirit of Jefferson and Madison, lawless decisions of the U.S. Supreme court have been successfully resisted by the States, in Dred Scott v. Sandford, and in the
series of cases In Re: Booth, 3 Wis. 1 (1854); and

Whereas, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Booth which claimed the federal Fugitive Slave Act was “constitutional;” as did the legislature of Wisconsin, which called the opinion “an arbitrary act of power … without authority, void and of no force,” and urged “positive defiance” by the states as the “rightful remedy,” and likewise, Wisconsin state officials refused to obey the U.S. Supreme Court; and

Whereas, after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion, the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to file the U.S. Supreme Court’s mandate upholding the fugitive slave law; and after more than 155 years, that mandate has never been filed, and no Wisconsin officials ever obeyed the mandate; and

Whereas, in addition to Wisconsin, the legislatures of Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Michigan actively nullified the Fugitive Slave Act and the repugnant Dred Scott decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, by passing “personal liberty” laws, making it nearly impossible to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act in those states; and

Whereas, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stated that “a just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law;” and

Whereas, the Governor, Attorney General, Legislators and County Clerks of Texas have sworn an oath consistent with the moral Law of God (“So Help Me God”) to uphold the Constitution of Texas and the Constitution of the United States; and

Whereas, the fulfillment of this oath, in the American tradition, may not be read to contradict the written Constitution, Justice, Reason and higher Natural Law; and

Whereas, not all orders claiming authority under color of law are lawful; and

Whereas, unlawful orders, no matter their source, whether from a military commander, a federal judge, or the United States Supreme Court are and remain unlawful, and should be resisted; and

Whereas, the American system of federalism envisions a political stance of resistance by States and their office holders against lawless federal court orders; and

Whereas, modernly, federal judges have once again usurped powers undelegated to them, and have violated Reason, the Rule of Law and Natural Law by purporting to strike down State laws and acts of the People recognizing and protecting Natural Marriage; and

Whereas, the United States Supreme Court is not the sole and final arbiter of the powers of the States under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, when it acts in an area outside of its jurisdiction; and

Whereas, the federal Judiciary was created by the Founders to have “neither Force nor Will, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm” and the States, for the carrying out of its judgments, and it is high time that the Court be so reminded; and

Whereas, the United States Supreme Court is certainly not infallible, and has issued lawless
decisions which are repulsive to the Constitution and Natural Law; including Scott v. Sandford; Buck v. Bell; Korematsu v. United States; Roe v. Wade; and most recently, Obergefell v. Hodges.

Therefore, as County Clerk, I declare as follows:

1. I will continue to defend Natural Marriage as recognized by the People of Texas, in the Constitution and Laws of the State of Texas, consistent with the Declaration of Independence; the written United States Constitution; the Ninth, Tenth, and Fourteenth Amendments; and higher Natural Law.

2. Natural Marriage between one man and one woman remains the law in Texas, regardless of any court decision to the contrary. Any court decision purporting to strike down Natural Marriage, including Obergefell v. Hodges, is “unauthoritative, void, and of no force.”

3. I, as County Clerk, in faithful execution of the laws of Texas, shall resist unlawful federal or state court encroachments upon the prerogative of the People of Texas to protect Natural Marriage, and shall only issue marriage licenses consistent with Texas law, so help me God.

4. With a firm reliance upon the providence of Almighty God and the support of my fellow citizens, I call upon all of the Officers of the State of Texas, the Governor, the Attorney General, and the members of the Texas Legislature, to join with me, and utilize all authority within their power to protect Natural Marriage from lawless court opinions, wherever the source.