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Oath of Office in the State of Mississippi

Compiled by Jim Maher, Jeff Rau, Anna Pendland and Angel Shamaya


Article 3 - Bill of Rights - Section 9 - Military

The military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.

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Article 3 - Bill or Rights - Section 12 - Keep and Bear Arms

The right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall not be called in question, but the legislature may regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons.

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Military Subordinate

The military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.

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Members of the Legislature - Section 40 - Oath of Office

Members of the legislature, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, shall take the following oath:

"I, __________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully support the Constitution of the United States and of the state of Mississippi; that I am not disqualified from holding office by the Constitution of this state; that I will faithfully discharge my duties as a legislator; that I will, as soon as practicable hereafter, carefully read (or have read to me) the Constitution of this state, and will endeavor to note, and as a legislator to execute, all the requirements thereof imposed on the legislature; and I will not vote for any measure or person because of a promise of any other member of this legislature to vote for any measure or person, or as a means of influencing him or them so to do. So help me God."

Source: http://www.sos.state.ms.us/msconst/art4/040.htm

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Judges - Section 155 - Judicial Oath of Office

The judges of the several courts of this state shall, before they proceed to execute the duties of their respective offices, take the following oath or affirmation, to-wit:

"I, __________, solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as __________ according to the best of my ability and understanding, agreeably to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the state of Mississippi. So help me God."

Source: http://www.sos.state.ms.us/msconst/art6/155.htm

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All Other State Officers and Officials - Section 268 - Oath of Office

All officers elected or appointed to any office in this state, except judges and members of the legislature, shall, before entering upon the discharge of the duties thereof, take and subscribe the following oath:

"I, __________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Mississippi, and obey the laws thereof; that I am not disqualified from holding the office of __________; that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Source: http://www.sos.state.ms.us/msconst/art14/268.htm

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United States Right to Keep and Bear Arms

UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
BILL OF RIGHTS

AMENDMENT II.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Source: Bill of Rights, Second Amendment (ratified 1791, and still the Law of the Land)
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/billrights/billrights.html

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U.S. Constitution Comes Before Statutes, Edicts, Ordinances, Rules or Regulations

UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE VI.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Source: Constitution of the United States of America
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/constitution/constitution.html

EXPLANATION FROM LAW.CORNELL.EDU:

This means that state governments and officials cannot take actions or pass laws that interfere with the Constitution, laws passed by Congress, or treaties. The Constitution was interpreted, in 1819, as giving the Supreme Court the power to invalidate any state actions that interfere with the Constitution and the laws and treaties passed pursuant to it. That power is not itself explicitly set out in the Constitution but was declared to exist by the Supreme Court in the decision of McCulloch v. Maryland.

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Civil Rights Act

UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 42. THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 21. CIVIL RIGHTS
SUBCHAPTER I. GENERALLY
Section 1983. Civil action for deprivation of rights

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer's judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.

(R.S. Sec. 1979; Pub. L. 96-170, Sec. 1, Dec. 29, 1979, 93 Stat. 1284; Pub. L. 104-317, title III, Sec. 309(c), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3853.)

Source: For date law was enacted, history of law, amendments (slight, and very much intact in spirit), go here: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+42USC1983

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PUBLIC LAW 96-303

TITLE 5. GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
PART III. EMPLOYEES
Subpart F. Labor-Management and Employee Relations
CHAPTER 73. SUITABILITY, SECURITY, AND CONDUCT
SUBCHAPTER I. REGULATION OF CONDUCT
Section 7301. Presidential regulations

CODE OF ETHICS FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE (signed into law on July 3, 1980)

ANY PERSON IN GOVERNMENT SERVICE SHOULD:

I. Put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or Government department.

II. Uphold the Constitution, laws, and regulations of the United States and of all governments therein and never be a party to their evasion.

III. Give a full day's labor for a full day's pay; giving earnest effort and best thought to the performance of duties.

IV. Seek to find and employ more efficient and economical ways of getting tasks accomplished.

V. Never discriminate unfairly by the dispensing of special favors or

VI. Make no private promises of any kind binding upon the duties of office, since a Government employee has no private word which can be binding on public duty.

VII. Engage in no business with the Government, either directly or indirectly, which is inconsistent with the conscientious performance of governmental duties.

VIII. Never use any information gained confidentially in the performance of government duties as a means for making private profit.

IX. Expose corruption wherever discovered.

X. Uphold these principles, ever conscious that public office is a public trust.

DECA Poster 80-3, Feb 94

When this law was passed, it included a requirement for posting the above in government facilities. That requirement was later repealed. (Source 1, Source 2) But the law itself is still very much a LAW.

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U.S. State Constitutions

State Constitutions on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

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