avatarAlex Crisafulli

Summary

The Pledge to Safeguard the Constitution outlines a commitment by citizens and political candidates to uphold legal obligations, ensure the integrity of elections, and advocate for legislative reforms to prevent the abuse of executive powers.

Abstract

The Pledge to Safeguard the Constitution is a call to action for citizens and political office candidates to support and advocate for a series of legislative measures aimed at reinforcing the rule of law, protecting the electoral process, and enhancing oversight of presidential emergency powers. It emphasizes the importance of obeying court rulings, even in times of national emergency or martial law, and the need for accurate and faithful certification of electoral votes without misuse of constitutional amendments. The pledge also seeks to bring institutions like the Department of Justice under more balanced oversight and to ensure independent investigations are conducted without obstruction. It advocates for greater transparency and scrutiny of the executive branch to safeguard democratic institutions and address the most pressing threats to the constitutional system, including issues of war and peace.

Opinions

  • The authors believe that no individual, including the President, should be above the law, and there should be legal remedies, up to impeachment, for failure to obey Supreme Court orders.
  • There is a strong opinion that the electoral process must be protected from being superseded by declarations of national emergencies or other factors, ensuring that the popular vote is accurately counted and certified.
  • The pledge reflects a view that the National Emergencies Act and the War Powers Act require revisiting to impose stricter congressional oversight and prevent the misuse of emergency powers and military action.
  • The authors express the need for shared congressional and executive branch oversight of key federal institutions to prevent obstruction or undue influence in investigations.
  • The pledge underscores the importance of freedom of speech and information, suggesting that these rights are foundational to preventing irreversible threats to the constitutional system.
  • The authors advocate for a proactive approach to legislative reforms to prevent a repeat of events like the January 6 attack on the Capitol and to safeguard against potential future abuses of power.

click and sign the following summary of

The Pledge to Safeguard the Constitution

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We as citizens and/or as candidates for political office commit to support and call on Congress to enact legislation around the framework of the following four affiliated proposals:

1a — We pledge to advance a congressional resolution and legislation (and ultimately, if required, a Constitutional Amendment) reaffirming that nobody is above the law and the legal obligation of all members of BOTH the executive and legislative branches of the federal government (including the President of the United States) to abide by whatever rulings the courts adjudicate (even under what might be defined as a “national emergency” or martial law declared under justification of Article II of the United States Constitution); and assert that failure to obey a Supreme Court order not specifically excluded by Congress as outside the Court’s jurisdiction would trigger appropriate legal remedy, up to and including an impeachment investigation if absolutely necessary.

1b — Concurrently, we will apply the same principles to the electoral process so that national emergencies or other factors may not be declared to supersede constitutionally established modern judicial or electoral procedures to determine the final outcome of elections, even ones challenged for improprieties, including for President of the United States. We will support steps to ensure that the popular vote in each state will be accurately counted and then faithfully certified by electors with no misuse of the 12th Amendment; will advance stricter monitoring of and restrictions on campaign activities dangerous to our democratic processes, and enforcement of laws to hold violators accountable in the severest ways possible.

2 — We further pledge to insist that Congress revisit the 1976 National Emergencies Act so that presidential emergency powers will be subject to closer congressional oversight and easier override; will be more clearly and narrowly defined; will automatically expire after shorter durations which have to be proactively affirmed and subsequently renewed by Congress; and that funding for any emergency not actively reaffirmed by Congress would automatically be defunded by default. Any continuation of martial law declared by a President could be challenged by Congress before the Supreme Court for ultimate adjudication concerning its reversal; and would need to be upheld by the Supreme Court in order to remain in effect.

Concurrently Congress will be urged to revisit the War Powers Act to place rational restraints on the ability of an of control President to initiate military action or to preemptively launch nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction.

3 — We pledge to support the advancement of legislation to bring the necessary institutions and officials of the federal government of the United States such as the Department of Justice and the Inspectors General of crucial departments under more balanced and shared joint congressional and executive branch oversight, and to ensure that independent investigations will be made expeditiously without obstruction or undue influence from the subjects who are themselves being investigated.

4 — We furthermore pledge to support legislation to rein in other presidential powers as appropriate to prevent covering up abuses in the above areas, and also to guard the integrity of our democratic institutions by making the executive branch more transparent and subject to greater scrutiny. The most important of these reforms are ones which affect freedom of speech and information because these involve the most potentially irreversible threats to our constitutional system (and could lead to the closure of the windows from which other assaults on freedom could even be viewed, let alone countered); and issues of war and peace which could lead to the very destruction of our planet itself.

As citizens, we pledge to advance these propositions.

As members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate, we swear to use our legislative authority to implement the above proposals; and we expect to be held appropriately accountable by the people for our success or failure in so doing.

Click Below to Be Brought to The Pledge Site to Sign the Petition:

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Name: _____________________________

Email Address: ______________________

Zip Code: ___________________________

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Read the full text of The Pledge to Safeguard the Constitution.

Read how the events leading up to the January 6 attack on the Capitol were predicted as early as June of 2020 and what we can do so that they aren’t repeated, including how to approach a second post-impeachment comeback by Donald Trump:

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