The leadership of the state government of New Hampshire has failed the good people of this State. The Governor, the Attorney General, The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, and many local municipalities have all violated the laws of the land.
The Governor and the Attorney General have caused incalculable damages and death; these said damages continue to this day with no end in sight. The Speaker and President of the Senate are accomplices.
They have violated their oath of allegiance to support and defend both the Constitution of New Hampshire and the Constitution of the United States of America.
They have violated their oath of office that they will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all duties incumbent on them in their official capacity, according to the best of their abilities, agreeable to the rules and regulations of the Constitution and laws of the State of New Hampshire.
They have all acted in bad faith and betrayed their public trust. The Covid-19 virus is not the fault of State officials; however, unfortunately, their responses and their failure to obey the laws of the land are their fault, and they must be held accountable.
Introduction
Constitutional Duties of the Governor
Part II, Form of Government, [Art.] 43
The Constitution of New Hampshire was ratified on October 31, 1783 and went into effect on June 2, 1784. This Constitution provided for emergency powers, Part II Form of Government, Article 43, and Article 51, as follows:
- The Governor is delegated the powers in case of infectious disease or any other cause whereby dangers may arise to the health or lives of the members of the General Court from their attendance.
- The Legislature is delegated powers to declare the law-martial in time of war, invasion, and also in rebellion, as declared by the legislature to exist, as occasion shall necessarily require:
“And in case of any infectious distemper prevailing in the place where the said court at any time is to convene, or any other cause whereby dangers may arise to the healths or lives of the members, from their attendance, the president [now governor] may direct the session to be holden at some other the most convenient place within the State.” Part II Article 43, 1784.
Part II, Form of Government, [Art.] 50
Part II [Art] 50 [Governor to Prorogue or Adjourn Legislature and Call Extra Sessions.] requires the governor to call to assemble the body as a whole. This is the law.
“…and to call it together sooner than the time to which it may be adjourned, or prorogued, if the welfare of the state should require the same.”
Christopher Sununu, acting as the Governor of the state, did not perform his duty as described. He failed to call the legislature to assemble as a body of the whole, and he failed to address the legislature so that he may convey his concerns of Covid-19 for the people and the General Court to consider, so that the legislature may judge for the general welfare and the health and safety of the people.
The United States Supreme Court opinion; Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905)
“The good and welfare of the Commonwealth, of which the legislature is primarily the judge, is the basis on which the police power rests in Massachusetts.” Commonwealth v. Alger, 7 Cush. 53, 84.
“…for the legislature has the right to pass laws which, according to the common belief of the people, are adapted to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. In a free country, where the government is by the people, through their chosen representatives, practical legislation admits of no other standard of action; Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905).
Part II, Form of Government, [Art.] 51
The governor is delegated, Under Part II, [Art.] 51, the [Powers and Duties of Governor as Commander-in-Chief.] The legislature is delegated the powers to declare the law-martial in time of war, invasion, and also in rebellion declared by the legislature to exist, as occasion shall necessarily require.
The governor, even under extreme conditions of war, invasion, rebellion, or natural or manmade disasters, must always be faithful to his oath of office “to execute the laws of the state and of the United States” as follows:
“…to be exercised agreeably to the rules and regulations of the constitution and the laws of the land.” June 2, 1784
Factual Background
Christopher Sununu declared a state of emergency on March 13, 2020 by Executive Order 2020-04, citing statute NH RSA 4:45 as his source of authority. This emergency powers statute has never been challenged in court, but it is repugnant and contrary to the Constitution, since it amends and expands the constitutional powers of the governor by statute and by granting to the executive the power to declare a state of emergency. Those powers are reserved to the legislature and cannot be amended without the consent of the inhabitants. The authority to amend the Constitution is reserved to the inhabitants by Part II, [Art.] 100.
The NH RSA 4:45 State of Emergency Declaration; Powers, was enacted after 9/11. Although well intended, it is unconstitutional. The aforesaid statute is void of any authority for the governor to make law, as the Constitution, Part I, Bill of Rights and Article XXIX declares that the power to make laws may never to be exercised but by the legislature or by authority derived therefrom.
Sununu has assumed powers unto himself, has now declared for 1.3 million people the course of medical treatment that he and he alone has chosen for the people, and has denied a free people the right to choose for themselves what is right and proper medical care for them and their families.
Although statute NH RSA 4:45 is currently law, its powers are few and well-defined:
The State of Emergency Declaration; Powers. NH RSA 4:45 are defined in section III. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f). The following is the statutory authority delegated to the governor:
III. “During the existence of a state of emergency, and only for so long as such state of emergency shall exist, the governor shall have and may exercise the following additional emergency powers:”
(a) “To enforce all laws, rules, and regulations relating to emergency management and to assume control of any or all emergency management forces and helpers in the state.”
This statute clearly states that his authority extends to emergency management forces and helpers only and no other. It does not provide any authority to the governor and does not state that he shall have or may exercise any and all authority over private persons and private property.
Sununu failed to obey this statute: NH RSA 4:45, (f), written pursuant to Part II [Art.] 43.
(f) “To declare an emergency temporary location or locations for the seat of state government at such place or places within this state as the governor may deem advisable under the circumstances and to take such action and issue such orders as may be necessary for an orderly transaction of the affairs of state government to such emergency temporary location or locations.”
Emergency Order # 17, Pursuant to Executive Order 2020-04, 26th day of March
“Closure of non-essential businesses and requiring Granite Staters to stay at home”
Sununu leaves the state government open, including a state-run liquor store, while he orders private property and private persons into a soft form of martial law by requiring certain private businesses to close while others remain open and ordering the people to stay in their homes.
- “This Order shall not apply to State Government, local and county governments, local and county legislative bodies, the General Court, or the Judicial Branch.”
Sununu’s declaration of a state of emergency and issuance of emergency orders dated March 13, 2020 is repugnant and contrary to Part I, Bill of Rights, as he has assumed powers not delegated to him by the Constitution or the legislature, by violating the laws of the land. Part I, Bill of Rights Article XII and Article XXIX.
Although a great many of the Governor’s emergency orders are derived from the authority from the statutes, the emergency statutes themselves possesses no constitutional or statutory authority to declare or enact any and all authority over the private property and private persons of this State, as that power is delegated to the legislature and protected by Part I, Bill of Rights, Article XXIX.
Part I, Bill of Rights, Article XII:
“But no part of a man’s property shall be taken from him, or applied to public uses, without his own consent, or that of the representative body of the people.” [the inhabitants] “Nor are the inhabitants of this State controllable by any other laws than those to which they, or their representative body,” [the inhabitants] “have given their consent.” June 2, 1784
James Madison, Property (March 29, 1792) Papers 14:266—68; “In a word, as a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights”, “He has a property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person, Government is instituted to protect property of every sort; as well that which lies in the various rights of individuals, as that which the term particularly expresses. This being the end of government, that alone is a just government, which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own.
Part I, Bill of Rights, Article XXXIX, states that only the legislature may repeal or abolish laws. Such power ought “never” to be exercised but by the legislature. Here is the text:
“The power of suspending the laws, or the execution of them, ought never to be exercised but by the legislature, or by authority derived therefrom, to be exercised in such particular cases only as the legislature shall expressly provide for.”
The Constitution confers upon the legislature the following powers and limitations of its powers:
The Constitution, Part II, Form of Government [Art.] 5, states that the legislature may:
“…establish, all manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, laws, statutes, ordinances, directions, and instructions, either with penalties, or without, so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to this constitution, as they may judge for the benefit and welfare of this State,” June 2, 1784
Sununu failed to follow the law (his duty) and to present his health and safety concerns (the potential effects Covid-19 could have on the people of this State) to the legislature, thereby depriving the people’s representatives, the right to hear evidence and concerns of the Governor so as they may judge for the benefit and welfare of this State.
“The good and welfare of the Commonwealth, of which the legislature is primarily the judge, is the basis on which the police power rests in Massachusetts.” Commonwealth v. Alger, 7 Cush. 53, 84.
Although Massachusetts is a separate and sovereign state, its emergency powers statutes were created in the 1950s. These statutory provisions are contained in the Civil Defense Act and reaffirm the same fundamental truth—that the people are sovereign, and only through the legislative process written pursuant to the Constitution may the laws become binding on the people and be lawful. The following is a quote from the Massachusetts Civil Defense Act, leaving no doubt of the intent of the authors of both State’s constitutions and statutes dealing with emergency powers:
“…the governor, in addition to any other authority vested in him by law, shall have and may exercise any and all authority over persons and property necessary or expedient for meeting said state of emergency, which the general court in the exercise of its constitutional authority may confer upon him as supreme executive magistrate of the commonwealth and commander-in-chief of the military forces thereof,”
The governor may not exercise any powers not vested in him by the laws of the land or those that the general court may consider in the exercise of its constitutional authority as it may confer upon him as the executive magistrate. Part I, Bill of Rights, Article XXIX stipulates that only the legislative body is endowed with the power to enact the police powers of the State on behalf of the people.
Stephan Shurtleff and Donna Soucy remotely called the legislative body back into session and deprived the people of their rights under the 1st amendment of the Federal Constitution, Part I, Bill of Rights, Article XXXII, so that the people may, in an orderly and peaceable manner, assemble and consult upon the common good and give instructions to their representatives.
On March 14th, 2020 Stephan Shurtleff, acting as Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Donna Soucy acting as President of the Senate, violated Part II, [Art.] 43, the same article from above, by prorogating the legislative body in the absence of the power to do so within the Constitution.
Shurtleff and Soucy remotely resumed their legislative agenda in the middle of this Covid-19 event and failed to ever hear or consider any legislation to promote and protect the health, safety, and constitutional rights of the people. They were too busy fighting the Governor over federal money.
Local Municipalities have Violated the Laws of the Land
Many of the local municipalities have followed the Governor’s abuse of powers and have enacted local rules that require wearing ineffective facial coverings, along with law enforcement actions for failure to follow unlawful and unconstitutional rules and orders that are forced on the people as law.
“It is equally true that the State may invest local bodies called into existence for purposes of local administration with authority in some appropriate way to safeguard the public health and the public safety. The mode or manner in which those results are to be accomplished is within the discretion of the State, subject, of course, so far as Federal power is concerned, only to the condition that no rule prescribed by a State, nor any regulation adopted by a local governmental agency acting under the sanction of state legislation, shall contravene the Constitution of the United States or infringe any right granted or secured by that instrument. A local enactment or regulation, even if based on the acknowledged police powers of a State, must always yield in case of conflict with the exercise by the General Government of any power it possesses under the Constitution, or with any right which that instrument gives or secures.” Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905).
Sununu denied the people’s representatives the opportunity to hear evidence that might (or might not) justify an emergency declaration; further, he deprived the people of the State of their right to review the existing medical information necessary for them to decide for themselves what type of medical treatment will be most effective.
This is treason by deprivation of rights under color of law. They have conspired to do so. They should all be collectively prosecuted for violating State and federal laws, as well as constitutional provisions.
The Executive, the Governor, now claims he may make law, enforce and prosecute his laws, and be the judge of his laws, which are in direct violation of Part I, Bill of Rights, Article XII and Article XXIX.
The Attorney General of the state of New Hampshire, Gordon MacDonald, is without clean hands. Rather than protect and defend the Constitution, the laws of land and the rights of the people, he has actively engaged in promoting a legal theory whereby the Governor may exceed his constitutional and statutorily delegated powers. He has threatened and currently is threatening private persons, private assemblies, and private businesses. This is a clear violation of both State and Federal civil and criminal laws.