
              This is how the United States started:
 
                  "In Congress, July 4, 1776
 
                  "The Unanimous Declaration
                   of the thirteen united
                     States of America
 
    "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected
them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth,
the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of
 Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.
 
     "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain  unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty
and the  pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights,
Governments  are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers
from the  consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of
Government  becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of
the People  to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government,  laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its  powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect  their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed,
will dictate that  Governments long established should not be
changed for light and  transient causes; and accordingly, all
experience hath shewn,  that mankind are more disposed to suffer,
while evils are  sufferable, than to right themselves by
abolishing the forms to  which they are accustomed. But when a
long train of abuses and  usurpations, pursuing invariably the
same Object evinces a design  to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is  their duty, to throw off
such Government, and to provide new  Guards for their future
security."
 
So began the original Declaration of Independence.
 
It continued with a list of the abuses and usurpations which
were their reasons to declare independence.
 
I could give you my own list, of what I consider a long train of
abuses of the people's rights by the Congress, Judiciary, and
Executive Branch of the United States federal government.  But my
list probably would not exactly match up with yours.
 
There's no point buying a pig in a poke.  If you're going to
declare independence from one government, you'd better have a
pretty good idea what you're trying to get in its place.
 
When the first Declaration of Independence was passed, the people
had the good luck that the men running the show, for the most
part, were actually concerned with securing the people's liberty
-- we know their names.  Thomas Jefferson.  Sam Adams.  Patrick
Henry.  George Mason. James Madison.
 
Today, if we were to follow their lead, we need to do it with
less trust of the people leading the way.
 
So, in my opinion, the Declaration of Independence needs to be
combined with an even more secure Bill of Rights than was passed
in 1787 -- and it needs to be locked into place even before the
first Constitutional Convention of the new republic.
 
That's what the following document is intended to do.
 
I've written a lot of rights and liberty into the following
Declaration of Rights.  It's more liberty than we've had at any
time in our history.  It's more liberty than most people want for
their neighbors. It may be more liberty than you want for
yourself.
 
This would require a state with people who care about some
particular liberty for themselves enough that they're willing to
let other people have liberties THEY care about -- even if it's a
liberty you think will be abused.
 
How much do you want to do something that the government is
interfering with?  Enough to trust your neighbors with some
liberty you dislike?
 
I think this can actually get on the ballot in at least a dozen
states in the next few years -- and win in three or four of them
the first time out.
 
Is your state one of them?
 
Here is the New Declaration of Independence.
 
J. Neil Schulman
September 1, 1994
 
 ***************************************************************
 
           THE AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE BALLOT INITIATIVE
 
                             Preface
 
In States where the people may place this initiative on the
ballot to amend the State Constitution by direct ballot
initiative, the proponents of this initiative should form a
committee to do so and to combat legal challenges to the
initiative being placed on that State's ballot.  In States with
no direct initiative procedures, or where legal impediments or
challenges prevent this Initiative from being placed on the
ballot, a political party may adopt, or be newly formed to adopt,
the platform of placing this initiative on the ballot by whatever
legal procedure is required in that State in order to effect its
consideration.
 
                            Question
 
Shall [YOUR STATE] declare independence from the United States of
America.
 
                             Purpose
 
The Declaration of Independence adopted by the Continental
Congress dated July 4, 1776, states as follows:
 
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty,
and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed,-- That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of
the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
 
A long train of abuses by the Congress of the United States, the
Judiciary of the United States, and the Executive Branch of the
United States having infringed upon the rights, privileges,
immunities, and powers of the people of [YOUR STATE], in direct
contravention to the purposes of the Declaration of Independence
and the rights enshrined in the first ten articles of amendment
to the Constitution of the United States, We the People of [YOUR
STATE] do hereby resolve, effective immediately, the following:
 
                            Resolved:
 
That [YOUR STATE] does hereby declare itself independent of, and
does hereby secede from, the United States of America, declaring
itself the free and independent [YOUR STATE] Republic.  All
persons born in the territory or state of [YOUR STATE] or
currently residing in this Republic are hereby deemed citizens of
the Republic, and all individuals residing in the Republic or who
otherwise are citizens of the Republic who have attained the age
of 16 years are declared to be Sovereign Individuals, possessing
all rights, privileges, and immunities, and subject to all
duties, responsibilities, and penalties, of adults living in a
free Republic.
 
The legislature of [YOUR STATE] is hereby dissolved, and the
Governor of [YOUR STATE] is hereby appointed President Pro Tem of
the Republic and Commander-in-Chief Pro Tem of its State Guard
and Militia, which consists of all Sovereign Individuals of the
age of 16 or greater capable of bearing arms; however, no
individual who conscientiously objects to Militia service shall
be required to bear arms.  The vote of no Representative or
Senator from the state of [YOUR STATE] to the Congress of the
United States shall be regarded as binding upon the will of the
people of [YOUR STATE] in its relations as an independent
Republic with the United States; however, such senators and
representatives may retain their seats until the natural
expiration of their terms of office, or until their offices are
abolished by a Constitutional Convention of the Republic, which
ever shall occur first.
 
Within 90 days of the adoption of this Initiative there shall be
a Constitutional Convention to propose amendments to the
Constitution of [YOUR STATE] in order to enact a permanent
Constitution for the Republic, and any Sovereign Individual of
the age 21 years or older who holds the proxies for 2500 other
Sovereign Individuals of the age of 16 years or older shall be
seated as a voting Delegate to the Convention, empowered to elect
presiding officers of the Convention, to adopt the Rules of
Order, and to decide upon all business that shall come before the
Convention, except with the following limitations: that the
Declaration of Rights which is enacted as part of this Initiative
shall be the permanent and supreme Law of the Land, not subject
to repeal, alteration, or abridgement by the Constitutional
Convention or any deliberative body which shall follow it; that a
Delegate to the Constitutional Convention shall be seated only so
long as the sufficient number of proxies is maintained, and such
proxies are revocable at any time during the Convention by notice
to the recording Secretary of the Convention; that the Convention
may be reconvened under these same limitations to propose new
amendments at any time after ratification of the Convention by a
majority of those voting in a popular initiative, and that all
proceedings of this and subsequent Constitutional Conventions
shall be available for public viewing and broadcast.  Each
Delegate to the Convention shall have one vote on the floor of
the convention, irrespective of the number of proxies that
Delegate holds in excess of the minimum number required to be
seated.
 
The proposed Constitution ratified by a majority vote of seated
Delegates shall be submitted to a popular referendum within 120
days of the seating of the [a number representing 10% of your
state's population]th Delegate, which shall be a quorum for the
Constitutional Convention to begin.  Every Sovereign citizen of
the Republic having attained the age of 16 shall be entitled to
vote in this referendum, and a majority vote in this referendum
shall adopt the Constitution, which shall go into effect
immediately.  Within 90 days from the adoption of the
Constitution, but in no event later than 180 days from the
adoption of this Ballot Initiative declaring independence, all
currently held elected, appointed, and civil offices of [YOUR
STATE], including the presidency-pro-tem, shall expire, and the
Republic shall hold such general elections as are mandated by
this Ballot Initiative and created by the Constitution of the
Republic.  If the people have failed to approve a Constitution
within 180 days from the adoption of this ballot initiative, then
all legislative, judicial, and executive authority of the
Republic shall remain with the Constitutional Convention or,
respectively, with the people in popular referenda, until such
time as a Constitution is approved by the people.
 
The Constitutional Convention shall as its first order of
business after the election of presiding officers and adoption of
Rules of Order appoint an Ambassador to the United States of
America to open communications for the purpose of discussing such
subjects as are of interest to the people of the United States of
America and the people of the Republic, to seek a peaceful
divorce and coexistence.
 
Any other State, Province, or Republic which shall adopt the
following Declaration of Rights in total and without alteration
may join in free Confederation with this Republic; and the
Sovereign Individuals of those States, Provinces, and Republics
shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of the
Republic; and all public acts, records, and judicial proceedings,
of such a State, Province, or Republic shall be given full faith
and credit by the Republic.
 
Alternatively, if the several states of the United States of
America should adopt this Declaration of Rights into the
Constitution of the United States of America in total and without
alteration, the Republic shall, by popular initiative, vote
whether it shall rejoin the United States.
 
 
                      DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
 
All Individuals within the borders of the Republic, and those of
its Sovereign citizens abroad, are hereby declared to hold the
following unalienable Rights, and this Declaration of Rights
shall be the Supreme Law of the Land of this Republic, not
subject to repeal, abridgement, or amendment; and all laws or
regulations of the State of [YOUR STATE], or of the United States
of America, which are repugnant to these Rights are immediately
null and void:
 
To be free from laws respecting an establishment of religion or
taxing or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or taxing or
abridging freedom of speech, or of the press, or of communication
public or private; or peaceably to assemble, or to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances; or to travel freely
domestically or abroad.
 
A standing Army being repugnant to the people's Liberty and
creating a likelihood of foreign military adventures, and public
liberty and security being predicated on the ability of Sovereign
Individuals to act on behalf of their individual liberties and
personal safety, a popular Militia is the natural defense of a
Free Society, and posse comitatus drawn from such Militia is the
best protector of public order and safety; however, no individual
who conscientiously objects to Militia service shall be required
to bear arms.
 
The Right of all Individuals to keep, own, and carry, openly or
concealed, any arms for defense of themselves, the public peace,
and the Republic shall not be called into question in any place
in the Republic, except for those persons being held to answer
for an infamous crime or those who having been convicted of an
infamous crime have had restrictions placed on their liberty as a
condition of probation or parole, or in places where such persons
may be incarcerated; nor, other than requirements that may be
enacted for training of the Militia, shall the government place
any burdens on the acquisition, possession, or ownership of arms;
nor shall privately owned arms be enumerated or registered with
any authority by force of law; nor shall any taxes, tariffs,
fees, or regulations be placed on the manufacture of or trade in
personal or militia arms; nor shall any Individual be held
criminally or civilly liable for any reasonable act in defense of
life, liberty, property, or the public peace; nor shall any sworn
police or peace officer have any greater Rights or powers than
those available to any Sovereign Individual.
 
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except in punishment
for a crime whereof the party be duly convicted, shall exist in
the Republic or any place subject to its jurisdiction.
 
No Sovereign Individual in the Republic may be denied or have
abridged by law, public, or official act, any Right, privilege,
or immunity held by the people as a whole; and any official,
elected, appointed, or otherwise receiving remuneration from
public funds, who violates the least of these Rights, even to
proposing or supporting a law that would violate the Rights set
forth in this Declaration, shall be held personally liable,
criminally or civilly, for any damage or dishonor against any or
all Sovereign Individuals of the Republic; and upon conviction of
Criminal Violation of Sovereign Rights may as part of punishment
be further barred from holding any office or position of public
trust in the Republic thereafter.
 
No military or government personnel shall be quartered in any
house without the consent of the Owner.
 
The right of all Individuals to be secure in their persons,
houses, documents, files, private communications, and effects
shall not be violated, nor any warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, by a Grand Jury
elected yearly by the People, and particularly describing the
place to be searched and the Individuals or things to be seized,
and if such Warrant shall have come about by perjury, malice,
manufacture of false evidence, or malfeasance by any Individual,
such individual shall be held to answer, criminally and civilly,
for such malfeasance, and Individuals not charged, or adjudicated
to be innocent, shall be compensated in full from public funds
for any costs or damages resulting from such a search, seizure,
charges, or trial resulting therefrom.
 
No Individual shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand
Jury elected yearly by the People, except in cases arising in the
Militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger;
nor shall any act be a crime in which it can not be proved that
one or more actual Individuals was caused harm or could likely
have been caused harm; nor shall any individual be held to answer
as an adult for a capital or otherwise infamous crime who has not
enjoyed the full rights, privileges, and immunities of an adult;
nor shall any Individual be subject to charges arising from the
same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life, limb, or loss
of property after an acquittal or failure of a Jury in a criminal
trial to reach a conviction; nor shall anyone be compelled in any
criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of
life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
 
Any Sovereign Individual in the Republic may petition a Grand
Jury to bring criminal charges against any public official he
believes has violated his Rights; and if the person who might be
charged sits upon that Grand Jury, that Grand Juror shall be
recused and the charges considered by the remaining Grand Jurors.
 
No magistrate may impose a punishment upon any Individual for
Contempt of Court except by presentment or indictment by a Grand
Jury and conviction on the charge in a criminal trial by Jury.
 
No private property shall be taken for public use without full
and just compensation, upon a vote of two-thirds of those voting
in a popular referendum and for no other purpose than a clear and
present danger to the Sovereign Individuals of the Republic or
equally grave public purpose.  Neither the Republic nor any of
its subdivisions may have title to real property, nor may the
Republic demand public use of private property, with the
exception of rights of way necessary to the public's right to
travel and engage in free commerce and recreation, national
cemeteries, embassies and consular offices; and the devolution of
public property into private ownership shall balance the public
interest with the conservative advantages of private stewardship.
 
In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the Right to
a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall
have been previously ascertained by law; and to be informed of
the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the
witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining
witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of competent
and energetic Counsel for his defense.
 
Furthermore, in all criminal prosecutions and civil matters each
jury shall be selected from a pool of rational Sovereign
Individuals who have demonstrated in their lives common sense,
courage, a knowledge of the law in general and of the issues of
the specific crimes being charged or issues being litigated, and
shall be of a sufficient moral stature to overcome any
preconceptions or prejudices that may have arisen in their minds
from public discussion of the case prior to the commencement of
trial; and each jury shall have the power to rule both upon the
facts of the case and to nullify any charge or law for that case
they consider to be unjust, and shall not be bound to the
precedents established in any prior case; and the judge for each
trial shall be elected by the jury and no fact or issue of law
shall be considered except in open court with the full jury
present.
 
Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines be
imposed nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted, nor shall
punishment be the primary purpose of criminal law except that it
seeks redress on behalf of victims for harms caused by a criminal
act.
 
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall
exceed five troy ounces of .999 fine gold, the Right of trial by
jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be
otherwise reexamined in any Court of the Republic, than according
to the rules of the common law.
 
No law, treaty or contract shall exist in the Republic unless
written in plain language understandable to an Individual of
average intelligence and literacy; and all laws and treaties
under consideration in any deliberative governmental body shall
be made available free for examination to all Sovereign
Individuals in the Republic; nor shall any law or treaty be
enacted that is of such excessive length, or which has been so
recently drafted, that the public has not had time to contemplate
its effects.
 
No law shall exist whose purpose is to prevent an adult
individual from causing harm solely to himself or his own
property, nor conversely from seeking to enhance his own health
or well-being by chemical, medical, herbal, physical, or other
means; nor shall the possession of medicinal substances, herbs,
or materials used in growing or preparation of them be prohibited
or burdened; nor shall any Individual be taxed to pay for his own
future needs; nor shall the practice of medicine, or of the law,
or of any other Profession or livelihood be licensed or regulated
by the Republic or subdivisions thereof; nor shall any private
and discreet religious, economic, or sexual practice between or
among consenting adults be a subject of law.
 
No law shall exist in the Republic that shall prohibit the
termination of a pregnancy except that the fetus be healthy and
viable apart from its mother's womb and there exists an
individual capable of and committed to the adoption of the fetus
when born and to assume all costs of support for the mother
through the birth of the child, any costs relating to the birth,
any costs of care for the mother and any of her other dependent
children resulting from the continuation of the pregnancy to
term, and  burdens of parenthood for the fetus when born, in
which case an abortion of such a fetus shall be tried as
homicide; but in the event that no qualified person has committed
to all these costs and responsibilities, then no criminal or
civil charges for the abortion of even a viable and healthy fetus
shall be permitted.
 
No law shall prohibit any Sovereign Individual from using as a
medium of exchange any legal commodity, nor require any Sovereign
Individual to accept any note as legal tender, nor shall the
Republic issue any currency not backed by a commodity in the
Republic's treasury, nor shall the Republic or any of its
subdivisions contract a bond or debt mortgaged upon the
government's ability to collect future revenues except in time of
war or public disaster.
 
No tax shall be levied without the majority of the people voting
in a direct referendum; and furthermore no tax may be levied
except that it is to be used for a specific public purpose and no
revenue raised for one purpose may be used for another without
the majority of the people voting in a direct referendum; and no
tax may be enacted such that it requires burdensome accounting or
is ambiguous in its requirements or requires professional
assistance to understand or comply with it; nor shall any
Sovereign Individual suffer any criminal penalty for failure to
pay a tax or evasion thereof.
 
In all tax cases or other civil cases in which the government
shall be a plaintiff against a Sovereign Individual or private
property, all protections accorded to a defendant in a criminal
proceeding shall be afforded to the defendant or property owner;
neither shall there be any civil forfeiture of private property
to the government except after judgment in a jury trial.
 
The government may neither operate any enterprise in competition
with a private enterprise; nor by grant of monopoly, subsidy, or
other advantage to a private enterprise discourage free
competition in any service or product offered to the public; nor
prohibit or burden any private enterprise which would provide a
service or product previously offered by a unit of government or
enjoying an advantage due to government privilege.
 
The enumeration in this Declaration of certain Rights shall never
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the People;
and while no Rights here enumerated may be abolished or abridged
by constitutional amendment or law, nothing here shall be
constructed to prevent additional limitations on public power to
enhance the protection of the people from tyrannical abuse.
 
In all questions relating to the Construction of these Rights,
let decisions be ruled according to the original intent of the
framers of this Declaration, that Individual private powers be
nurtured and the Sovereign Individual be protected from the
natural tendency of any government to expand the sphere of public
power.  The protection of these Rights shall be the first and
last duty of all persons holding any office of public trust, and
the interpretation of these Rights shall firstly and lastly be
decided by the Sovereign Individuals of the Republic, as
expressed in their acts as members of juries and Grand Juries.
 
 
First draft of this Initiative and Declaration of Rights was
submitted by Scott Paul Graves, J. Neil Schulman, and Timothy H.
Willis on August 26, 1994.
 
This draft submitted by J. Neil Schulman, September 1, 1994.
 
 
    Reply to:
 J. Neil Schulman
 Mail:                 P.O. Box 94, Long Beach, CA 90801-0094
 Voice Mail: (on AT&T) 0-700-22-JNEIL (1-800-CALL-ATT to access AT&T)
 Fax:                  (310) 839-7653
 JNS BBS:              1-310-839-7653,,,,25
 Internet:             softserv@genie.geis.com
 
 
 J. NEIL SCHULMAN is the author of two Prometheus award-
 winning novels, Alongside Night and The Rainbow Cadenza,
 short fiction, nonfiction, and screenwritings, including the
 CBS Twilight Zone episode "Profile in Silver."  His latest
 book is STOPPING POWER: Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns.
 Schulman has been published in the Los Angeles Times and
 other national newspapers, as well as National Review,
 Reason, Liberty, and other magazines.  His LA Times article
 "If Gun Laws Work, Why Are We Afraid?" won the James Madison
 Award from the Second Amendment Foundation.  Schulman's books
 have been praised by Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, Anthony
 Burgess, Robert A. Heinlein, Colin Wilson, and many other
 prominent individuals.  Charlton Heston said of STOPPING POWER:
 "Mr. Schulman's book is the most cogent explanation of the gun
 issue I have yet read.  He presents the assault on the Second
 Amendment in frighteningly clear terms. Even the extremists who
 would ban firearms will learn from his lucid prose."
 
Post as filename: BALLOT.TXT

------------------------------------------------
(This file was found elsewhere on the Internet and uploaded to the
Patriot FTP site by S.P.I.R.A.L., the Society for the Protection of
Individual Rights and Liberties. E-mail alex@spiral.org)

