Being that the legislature is working on Constitutional amendments: Can legislators consider a constitutional amendment, which protects civilians from being punished under Military or Martial Law? Current statute (29A), provides no protections for civilians from such punishment.
Check out this is an example from the Tennessee Constitution Sec 25 for inspiration:
“That no citizen of this state, except such as are employed in the army of the United States, or militia in actual service, shall be subjected to punishment under the martial or military law. That martial law, in the sense of the unrestricted power of military officers, or others, to dispose of the persons, liberties or property of the citizen, is inconsistent with the principles of free government, and is not confided to any department of the government of this state.”
Also to protect civilians from this type of government overreach, I pray that the 99 counties of Iowa have Constitutional sheriffs to stand as a buffer between the people and a tyrannical government, be it local, state or federal. May the legislature correct 135.35, which burdens Law Enforcement Officers with the enforcement of rules and orders from an un-elected body, (Department of Public Health).
“135.35 Duty of peace officers. – All peace officers of the state when called upon by the department shall enforce its rules and execute the “lawful” orders of the department within their respective jurisdictions.”
I put the word lawful in extra quotations, because I find it doubtful that anything the department orders would be lawful, being that it probably doesn’t come with informed consent if you need the force of officers. If you are a LEO, would you feel comfortable following orders to force quarantine or isolate, or even force inject someone with an experimental agent? Would you know that it violates human rights and ethics, since the voluntary consent of the subject is essential? Are peace officers going to enforce rules & orders that can potentially violate a person’s conscience or sincerely held religious belief?
On that note of government overreach, I have written about this and more in my 14-page Petition of Remonstrance on the Emergency Powers which was filed in the House 01/19/21 & Senate 01/11/21, with the support of 280 people from 29 different counties in Iowa, and the expert witness statement of a PhD Biostatistician. If you are a legislator and haven’t seen it please ask Chief Clerk Nelson or Sec of Senate Smithson for a copy. A huge thank you to those of you who took the time to read early drafts, and who signed on in support. Thank you also to Rep Shipley who was brave and bold enough to file on our behalf in the House. I sincerely hope that the legislature has the integrity to take seriously the first amendment right to petition the government to redress grievances, and pass it on to a committee for study, review and recommendation.
