The People vs The United States of America, et al
Holding the country, the government, police and the military accountable for decades of systemic injustice and corruption
The United States is broken. The shards of democracy lay in the streets from Main Street to Wall Street. The damage to the people amounts to trillions of dollars lost. A tragedy of epic economic proportions trickled up to the wealthy leaving the population broke and struggling in a perpetual state of poverty. The enormous unsustainable economic practices and their impact on the posterity of the nation cannot be allowed to continue unchecked, unchanged, and unfettered. We must act now despite the concept of Sovereign Immunity and give ourselves permission to sue our own government.
In the US, the government is immune to lawsuits — unless it consents or allows itself to be sued. The Supreme Court in Price v. United States observed: “It is an axiom of our jurisprudence. The government is not liable to suit unless it consents thereto, and its liability in suit cannot be extended beyond the plain language of the statute authorizing it.”
Because the United States is a Representative Republic that practices democracy, “We The People” ARE THE GOVERNMENT. Thus, we can give consent through our representatives or a constitutional convention.
Grounds for Lawsuit
To determine the government acted negligently or criminally, one only has to look at history. Even recent history has many examples of crimes against the people. But those have largely gone unchecked because most people point fingers at individuals or policies rather than systems and systemic corruption of the organization we call “The Government”.
Have the people been injured physically, emotionally, and/or monetarily? This is an important question that’s not so easily measured and the evidence is so massive it would take a lot of people a very long time to document the big picture, but suffice it to say that the evidence shows the USA has been negligent and the result of said negligence has cost the people physical, emotional and monetary harm.
Let’s briefly consider what the government has done recently to the people.
Illegally Spying on the People
Agents of the government have spied on the people without cause. Edward Snowden, Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning revealed some of the spying and wrongdoing of the USA upon it’s own people and other nations.
I don’t need to describe in detail all the types and incidents of espionage against the people, because it’s so widely known today. Suffice it to say the damage to our privacy is massive and perhaps unrepairable.
The government has not been held accountable for these unconstitutional intentional actions and continues this illegal activity today.
Negligence of Governance
The intent of the Constitution is explained in the Preamble:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The Constitution, the contract with America, has been breached. See details in this article:
The negligence by the US Government has caused immense damage to the country and the people. That negligence has been intentional and much of it the unintentional negligence because those in power ignored the rules set forth in the Constitution. Therefore, the government is liable and responsible for damages caused by it’s failure to act according to the law, and failure to properly represent the people according to the Constitution.
Where’s our promised domestic tranquility? Our liberty has become on the condition of our economic status, not merely because we are citizens. And what about our general welfare? And most importantly, the government has been kicking the can down the road on America’s posterity for at least 50 years. Thus, our country is broken, and the contract with America is breached!
Checks and Balances Ignored
The Constitution set forth the three branches of government and to each responsibilities. The legislative branch has failed to put the Supreme Court in check by legislating laws that protect citizens. The Supreme Court has limited protections for citizens and has even told Congress to legislate better laws to remedy these shortcomings. But Congress has failed to act. When the Supreme Court is swaying heavily conservative and the opportunity to increase the number of justices to a SCOTUS that more closely resembles the population, Congress fails to act on behalf of the people. This is negligence.
Constitutional Violations
The government has failed to act to protect the interests of the people and has failed to preserve the posterity of the country for generations to come. This systemic failure has been both intentional to aid and abet corporate interests and unintentional due to the government’s failure to adhere to the Constitution and to hold those accountable for violating the laws of the land.
During the Trump administration, there are countless examples of Constitutional violations. But here’s one example. When President Trump wanted to do a photo op in front of St, John’s church near the White House, there were protestors peacefully protesting there. So the government ordered those protestors dispersed in violation of their Constitutional rights. Additionally, several reporters were documenting the protest and were attacked by agents of the government in violation of their Constitutional rights. These actions were intentional and were clear violations of the 1st and 14th Amendments to the Constitution. But again, nobody was held accountable.
The scope of negligence is vast, coupled with a long standing corrupt partnership with Wall Street and upheld as a common practice for many decades. The loss in wealth to the people is estimated in the tens of trillions of dollars. The emotional and physical harm to the people is so immense it would be difficult to put a price tag on the pain and suffering generations have endured since the early 1900s.
Not to mention the multitudes of wrongdoing the government has done to Native Americans and African Americans for hundreds of years. Such a gigantic failure of humanity cannot be fully explained herein this brief statement.
However, we can accurately measure the last 50 years, detail the government’s failures, and come up with damages that are adequate to hold the government accountable for at least some of the historic wrongdoing those living have experienced. We can also set things on the right track to prevent further wrongdoing. But it’s not going to be easy, in fact, it’s nearly impossible to accomplish.
Violations of Federal Law by agents of the government
When the government fails to act when it should, or takes action against the people when it should not, it is in violation of law. Reading some of these Federal Laws you can see that it’s fairly common practice for the Federal Government and even local government to violate these laws. Yet few have ever been held accountable for these usurpations and violations.
For example, when the government threatened Edward Snowden with arrest after he released documentation as a whistleblower, the government was violating whistleblower laws and Federal Laws, Title 18, section 241 and 242. But the Federal Prosecutor, of course, did not hold itself accountable for those violations of law. If they did, they would simply say “we investigated ourselves and found that we did nothing wrong”.
The many injustices at the hands of law enforcement in recent years has been widely discussed. Unarmed citizens gunned down by police for at best questionable reasons is on the rise. If the government has been cracking down on police brutality, racism, and corruption all along, Americans would not be fearing interactions by police and would not be suffering violence and death at the hands of police.
The following three Federal Laws would have been used every day in nearly every incident of injustice, brutality or violations of citizen rights in the last 50 years, we would have seen a dramatic change in American Justice and Law Enforcement. But because the government has neglected to protect citizens, injustice and violence against citizens is commonplace.
18 U.S. Code § 241. Conspiracy against rights:
If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or
If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured —
They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/241
18 U.S. Code § 242. Deprivation of rights under color of law
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242
34 U.S. Code § 12601. Cause of action
(a)Unlawful conduct
It shall be unlawful for any governmental authority, or any agent thereof, or any person acting on behalf of a governmental authority, to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers or by officials or employees of any governmental agency with responsibility for the administration of juvenile justice or the incarceration of juveniles that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.
(b)Civil action by Attorney General
Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of paragraph (1) [1] has occurred, the Attorney General, for or in the name of the United States, may in a civil action obtain appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate the pattern or practice.
Types of misconduct covered include, among other things:
Excessive Force
Discriminatory Harassment
False Arrest
Coercive Sexual Conduct
Unlawful Stops, Searches, or Arrests
Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/34/12601
The above mentioned Federal Laws have been violated each time a police officer harasses, intimidates, threatens, harms or infringes upon the rights of citizens. And this is allowed to happen every single day in America.
The government is in violation of Federal Laws and the Constitution for permitting agents of the government to mistreat citizens and by allowing government personnel to violate our Constitutional rights.
Economic Slavery
The last 50 years has been a struggle for most Americans, and a close examination of why reveals that it’s all been intentional. The government has been working with corporate interests and has created policy and conducting the practice of economic oppression.
Yes, you are a slave to the economy. It’s a bold way to describing your reality, but it’s better to be honest about where we are and how we got here then to continue to candy-coat our situation for another decade or more.
Involuntary servitude or slavery is a legal and constitutional term for “a person laboring against that person’s will to benefit another, under some form of coercion other than the worker’s financial needs, to which it may constitute slavery.”
If you ask any person if they would be willing to work at a job they don’t like just to pay their housing and food bills, and to go into debt for anything else, they would say that are not willing to enter into that arrangement. But that’s what most Americans do every day. People don’t have a choice whether or not to pay for housing, taxes, fees, etc. The Cost of Living isn’t affordable anymore, and isn’t a choice because the government has made alternative living illegal in most parts of the country with a paywall for those who wish to opt out of economic slavery.
For example, you can’t live on the streets as that’s against the law. Homeless people are often harassed and treated by law enforcement as criminals. They get citations, and have no privacy, nor any 4th Amendment rights “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures…”
This means that a person who voluntarily unsubscribes from traditional rental housing is subjecting themselves to legal liabilities. In other words, you cannot be a free person unless you are allowed to live freely without being bothered by police. The mere act of living outside of traditional housing should not be illegal in a free society. And in order to subscribe to traditional housing arrangements, a citizen must pay rent regardless of how that might enslave that person.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual “Out of Reach” report minimum wage full time workers, in 93% of U.S. counties, can’t afford a modest one-bedroom. And that situation as been steadily worsening since the late 70s. Housing costs compared to wages and incomes have become completely unsustainable. The average housing cost increase has been about 6% per year since the 80s while wages have stagnated at about 1% per year. Clearly this is unsustainable. Every year the number of people who are on the brink of homelessness grows, and the amount of people who go deeply in debt trying to dig themselves out of poverty increases. This adds to our cycle of poverty which results in a perpetual state of economic slavery.
We live under a system of Unfettered Capitalism that’s been guiding our politics, lawmakers, and elected officials for decades. That system has benefitted corporate interests and created wealth funnels that have trickled up wealth from most people to rich corporate interests. Our government has neglected to represent the people and instead partnered with corporate interests in an effort to maintain and promote a corrupt economic system that preys upon the less fortunate and rewards those at the top of the economic ladder. But it’s not truly a ladder after all it’s a completely different place that most people only think they have access to. You don’t.
Since the government has allowed corporations to influence our laws, our legislators, policy, our elections, the media, and helped corporate interests gain immunity protections from the people’s right to redress our grievances, the government is actively violating the Constitution and the people are the victim.
Excerpt from “Economic Slavery under the guise of American Capitalism (see link to article below):
“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.” — United States Declaration of Independence, 1776
Unalienable Rights are human rights that cannot be taken away; therefore, in the United States of America, human rights are basically, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. It says, “among these” to express that there are more rights that are also self-evident (Civil Rights, for example). Moreover, anything that oppresses or hinders those rights is denying the people their human rights. In fact, the 5th Amendment guarantees that no person shall “be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law”. Nevertheless, anyone can cite numerous violations of human and civil rights throughout history all the way up until today. And we know more are going to happen tomorrow. It is a guarantee.
Government Culpability
The government has therefore violated our Constitution by permitting citizens to be subjected to economic slavery.
Our government is no longer representative of the people, they represent the interests of corporations and their shareholders. A Princeton Study revealed, “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”
By failing to represent the people, the government is negligent in protecting the people according to the Constitution. Because the government has clearly represented corporate interests, and those corporate interests have developed economic slavery into a profitable system that oppresses the less fortunate, the government is culpable.
The People vs The United States: The Remedies
Scholars have argued over brandy and cigars in smoke-filled speakeasys about Sovereign Immunity. The list of failures of government to act appropriately are many. There’s no question the government has violated the Constitution, and breached the contract with America.
The government has been negligent and has failed to adhere to the Constitution. The violations of laws extend throughout recent history and are well documented. The evidence is clear, we the people have been wronged by the government. The only thing that stands in the way of our holding the government accountable is for us to demand the right to sue the government and force the government to do the right thing.
Doing the right thing includes refocusing representation to the people and not corporate interests. And since corporations have had decades of wealth transferred from the people to their many institutions and the trusts of rich families, one part of the remedy is to tax them accordingly to correct the imbalance of wealth in the United States over time.
Corporations must pay their share and then a little more for their part in the saga of Modern American Slavery. They should be progressively taxed to make up the difference in the next 20 years and repay the trillions of dollars that’s been stolen from the people.
Lobbying and monetary influencing elections by corporations needs to criminalized and actively monitored by the justice department. Fines for lobbying members of congress should result in epic billion-dollar fines to be levied and members of congress being instantly jailed.
We need to overturn Citizen’s United and create laws that prevent money in politics.
We need to better control the media and internet to address the many issues where the truth is often under attack, and misinformation is given the stage unchecked.
The military needs to focus on smart practices instead of wildly overbearing bullying worldwide. We don’t need corporations that profit from military contracts making policy or influencing congress, or starting wars either. We need laws to ensure the military is focused on the core missions and protecting the interests of people and peace.
The Supreme Court should have sufficient numbers of justices to represent the population growth and political makeup of the country.
Elections should be made transparent and conducted free from the undue political influence of political parties.
To offset 50+ years of economic slavery, the people should be subsidized to make up for the difference in the cost of living since unfettered Capitalism was artificially manipulated by the partnership between corporate interests and the government. By taxing wall street and big corporations, a Universal Basic Income could be created that injects money into the economy from the people would force corporations to do what the people want rather than forcing people to succumb to the whims of industry and economic oppression. This would provide the freedoms we were once guaranteed in the Constitution, and the liberties promised in the Preamble.
Because economic slavery has taken a terrible toll on the people of the United States in the form of chronic health issues and stress related conditions, one remedy must be Healthcare for All that’s not limited to “that care which corporations deem necessary” but what the people actually need. Then we can truly have a country that promotes the general welfare of the people.
The Federal government must hold local police accountable for protecting and serving the people. They can no longer stand aside and let local governments protect their own and ignore systemic problems in our society. There must be federal oversight. If that means we hire more federal personnel, so be it!
Examples should be made of public officials that are found to be corrupt or that violate laws. Corporations and corporate leaders should also be held accountable.
Finally, we need to fetter capitalism and perhaps change to a better system that actually works. Over time we should be evolving and trying better ways of doing things. We can look to what’s working in other countries to try those out here. The days of bandaids and ignoring the problem is over.
But first we need to give ourselves permission to sue the government.
