Page 85 - Fruits from a Poisonous Tree

Mel Stamper 69

in perpetuity. It was intended as a compact between the individual Citizen on
the one hand and, on the other hand, the people as a whole, acting through
their representatives. (Glass v. The Sloop Betsey, 4 US [4 Dall.] 8)
The Constitution was a compact drawn between the people and effective
between the states. It created a union of States, not a union of people.
The people are not members of the union; only the States are members.
This is critical to your understanding of your proper relationship with the
government. One is a Citizen of his state. National Citizenship is derived
from state citizenship. Implicit to this process is the recognition that the true
sovereignty was not with the States, but rather with the people as a whole.
(Gaines et al. v. Buford, 31 KY 481, 500-501)
By virtue of this contract, three concepts of “United States” came into
existence. First is the concept that the United States is a sovereign nation
in the family of nations. This requires foreign governments to deal with the
government of the United States of America rather than with each State
or Citizen separately. Second is the idea that the United States is sovereign
over its territory. This refers to the sovereignty of the government over that
territory that is subject to its exclusive legislation, not to the territory of
the fifty States. This is usually conceived to be the political jurisdiction of
the United States. Third, the term is merely the collective name of the fifty
States which are united under the Constitution. Federal sovereignty is not
sovereignty over “We, the People.”
Everything in our system operates on a contract principle. We give
something to government and get something in return. If there is no benefit,
there is not reciprocal obligation. It is a maxim of contract law that a contract
is not enforceable, lacking equal consideration inuring to both parties of
the agreement. No state and no citizen surrendered any sovereignty to any
government. It was merely agreed that the national government, the state
government and the people would be bound to obey proper laws made under
the authority of that compact. They would suffer penalties if they did not.
This is a common law viewpoint applicable among free men. It does not
make the sovereign people subject to their government. The beneficiaries
and their descendants remain bound because the compacts have created
governmental entities pertaining to specific territories. If a person lives in the
territory, either he obeys the common law of the territory thereof, or he is an
outlaw.
Article 1 of the Constitution deals with the structure and powers of
Congress. If Congress does not have a power to legislate in some area, then
generally the other branches have no powers there either. If there is no law,
there is nothing for the executive branch to enforce and nothing for the
judiciary to interpret. The function of Congress is to make our laws, to the