Oath of Office in the State of Wisconsin
Compiled by Steven Frank and Angel Shamaya
KeepAndBearArms.com
He who cheats on an oath acknowledges that he is afraid of his enemy, and he thinks little of God. ~~ Plutarch
If you are a public servant in the State of Wisconsin or any city, town, county or municipality
thereof and are not abiding by your oath of office, you are operating outside
the law. At least two generations of political and social pressures have urged
disregard of certain of your most important legal duties, and the time has come
to say enough is enough. Below are Federal and state laws and statutes by which
you MUST abide. Failure to abide by your oath of office carries both civil and
criminal penalties.
The Wisconsin Constitution's Requirement to take the Oath of Office
Article IV, Section 28
Oath of office.
Oath of office. Members of the legislature, and all officers, executive and judicial, except such inferior
officers as may be by law exempted, shall before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices,
take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support the constitution of the United States and the constitution
of the state of Wisconsin, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective offices to the best of their ability.
Source: Wisconsin Constitution: Article IV, Section 28:
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/2wiscon.html
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The Actual Wisconsin Oath of Office Public Servants in Wisconsin are Required to Take
Wisconsin Statute EB-154 (6/86).
"I, (official's name), having been elected or appointed to the office of (title) swear
(or affirm) that I will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution
of the State of Wisconsin, and will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of said
office to the best of my ability. So help me God."
Source: http://elections.state.wi.us/pdf/EB-154 Official Oath.pdf
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Wisconsin Constitution on the right to keep and bear arms
Wisconsin Constitution: Article I, Section 25
[As created Nov. 1998]
"The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose."
[1995 J.R. 27, 1997 J.R. 21, vote November 1998]
Source: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/2wiscon.html
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U.S. Constitution on the right to keep and bear arms
"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)
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The Constitution Comes Before Statutes, Edicts, Ordinances, Rules or Regulations
Article VI, U.S. Constitution
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, anything
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.
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
42 U.S.C. Chapter 21
SUBCHAPTER I--GENERALLY
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. 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.)
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
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
Wisconsin Constitution
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/2wiscon.html
