Entering a public office is a great achievement, honor, and responsibility, to represent the people in the elected representatives community and even statewide. More importantly, anyone holding an official State, County, Municipal, precinct or other office, whether elected, appointed or voluntarily is bound by their oath to obey the State and Federal Constitutions. Quite simply, it is a requirement by law.
Unfortunately, there are many who either forget, neglect or care not that their first duty in any office is to obey the Constitution. They take an oath and swear “so help me God”!
Retired Army Colonel and columnist for The Standard SC, Bill Connor, wrote in his article “Defense Against Domestic Enemies to The Constitution” that “Our oath before God was to defend this system against all enemies foreign and domestic. It appears time to demand that we, as Americans, will not allow the Constitution be “abolished” or burned down. We have a duty to pass the freedoms to our children and grandchildren.”
“Emergencies have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded.” — Friedrich Hayek
We see President’s, Governor’s, US and State Senators and Representatives, Sheriff’s, Mayors, Councilmen, School Board members, even County Precinct Officers and Poll workers taking an oath of allegiance to the Constitution to remind themselves and others that they are duty bound to obey our foundational documents. These documents keep our government and individuals on the straight and narrow.
This article is a brief reminder of the oath and the laws that follow it that are sworn to be upheld. In fact whenever one takes an office he is insured with a bond or insurance policy to guarantee the citizens he represents that he will obey the Constitution or pay the price for dishonoring his oath. Outside of “voting them out”, this is one of the only ways to hold representatives accountable.
The Standard article “Safeguarding the Republic” by Michael Reed said, the “oath gives assurances that anyone who is elected is either going to support the Constitution in good faith or take the proper steps to amend the founding document. If officers do not obey the Constitutions, sidesteps or goes around the provisions of law that guarantee our liberties, then that officer may be guilty of treason, convicted of a crime against the country and hung by the neck until dead.”
The following seven paragraphs are quoted freely from The Standard SC and this author in the article “Safeguarding the Republic“.
Oath of Office is Required Prior to Taking Office
In South Carolina, the law reads as follows:
ARTICLE VI, SECTION 5. of the South Carolina State Constitution states, concerning officers, that
Members of the General Assembly, and all officers, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, and all members of the bar, before they enter upon the practice of their profession, shall take and subscribe the following oath:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am duly qualified, according to the Constitution of this State, to exercise the duties of the office to which I have been elected, (or appointed), and that I will, to the best of my ability, discharge the duties thereof, and preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of this State and of the United States. So help me God.” (1972 (57) 3181; 1973 (58) 83.)
Below is the oath at 5 U.S. Code § 3331.Oath of office (Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 424.)
An oath of allegiance to the Constitution has been a requirement since the founding of the United States Republic.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
A Federal law regulating the oath of office by government officials can be found at 18 U.S.C. 1918, and provides penalties for violation of an oath of office described in 5 U.S.C. 7311 which include:
(1) removal from office and;
(2) confinement or a fine. 5 U.S.C. 7311, makes it a federal criminal offense (and a violation of oath of office) for anyone employed in the United States Government (including members of Congress) to “advocate the overthrow of our constitutional form of government”.
The definition of “advocate” is further specified in Executive Order 10450 which for the purposes of enforcement supplements 5 U.S.C. 7311. One provision of Executive Order 10450 specifies it is a violation of 5 U.S.C. 7311 for any person taking the oath of office to advocate “the alteration … of the form of the government of the United States by unconstitutional means.” Our form of government is defined by the Constitution of the United States. It can only be “altered” by constitutional amendment.
Thus, according to Executive Order 10450 (and therefore 5 U.S. 7311) any act taken by federal government officials who have taken the oath of office prescribed by 5 U.S.C. 3331 which alters the form of government other than by amendment, is a criminal violation of the 5 U.S.C. 7311.
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other”. — John Adams
The Federal system we have in the United States guarantees our liberties, and just as the quote above by John Adams states, “our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people”. It just won’t work for any other people because they won’t “conform to our laws” or keep their oath! And that seems to be the problem of many who enter public service, they think that they are the law and the rules they must live by instead of hard won liberties written in the Constitution.
Unfortunately, history has proven that those who ignore or neglect obedience to the Constitution, and their oath to obey its mandates, and the liberties it is designed to protect, open themselves up to potential totalitarianism, the Germans found out about that before mid-20th century. A Federal system is only the framework for protecting our liberties.
We the people have a responsibility—a duty—to keep a close eye on those who are elected or appointed to serve in public offices so that we don’t wind up in the same condition as the innocent German citizens that were funneled into NAZISM long ago. The public declaration, and oath to uphold and obey the Constitution as written unless properly amended is a safeguard for our liberties—it’s up to the citizens to hold officers and representatives accountable to it!
Michael Reed is Editor and Publisher of The Standard newspaper, print and online, and TheStandardSC YouTube channel where many video reports may be found. Please share freely and donate to The Standard on this page to assure the continued availability of news that is ignored too often by the dominant media.
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