A Sample Declaration of Rights for the United States

This is a sample declaration of rights that includes all the minimum of rights that ought to be presumed by democratic peoples today.  The document is extensive, because the list of rights and liberties denied by the United States to its citizens is extensive.  The extent of our explicit rights and duties are derived from the means by which human freedom – our sole, original right – encounters the changing conditions of specific societies.  The social union has to account for changes in, say, the technological basis of the society that it unites.  What I’m saying is, we have to put “no killer robots” in our constitutions.  That’s the world we live in.

Language found in the Declaration has been taken from many sources, primarily the many international conventions on human rights, other national constitutions, and existing laws expanding constitutional rights and liberties.  The section on “The Rights of Victims of Crime,” for example, is taken from existing “victims’ rights” legislation found in many US state constitutions.  Also, the material concerning law enforcement has been inspired by the work of conservative Jon Roland, of the Constitution Society.  Finally, I have used the phrase “Public Power” as a stand-in for the totality of various governments in the Union, whether federal, state, or local.  All of these governments have the responsibility for executing these rights, so I used a term that would not distinguish between them.

Declaration of Rights

Article I.                  (Freedom and Equality)

Section 1.01         All persons are free and equal, shall exercise the same rights, and shall be subject to the same duties.

Section 1.02         Men and women shall have the same rights and duties in all areas of family, political, economic, social, and cultural life.

Section 1.03         No person may be discriminated against on the basis of race or ethnicity, sex or gender, national origin or migration, language and culture, religion, philosophy or creed, sexual orientation or identity, health status or disability, or familial or social status, and no discrimination shall be permitted with the intent or effect of nullifying or encroaching upon the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on equal terms, of the rights and liberties of every individual.

Section 1.04         The law shall guarantee conditions such as to make equality before the law real and effective, shall adopt affirmative measures for the benefit of any group that is discriminated against, marginalized, or vulnerable, shall protect those persons who, because of any of the aforementioned circumstances, are in a manifestly weak position, and shall punish those who abuse or mistreat such persons.

Section 1.05         Those rights guaranteed to all persons shall be guaranteed to any human being, regardless of citizenship, but those rights guaranteed to citizens shall only be guaranteed to citizens.

Article II.               (Right to Vote and Participate)

Section 2.01         All citizens have the right to vote in free and universal elections by secret ballot.

Section 2.02         All citizens have the right to stand for, and if elected, hold office, with the exceptions established by term limits, of those who have been convicted of crimes during their term of office, and otherwise as determined by the Constitution.

Section 2.03         All citizens have the right to participate in the political and public affairs of the nation, and to participate in the administration of the Public Power.

Section 2.04         The People alone possess sovereignty, and therefore possess supreme legislative power to pass, amend, or repeal any law, and alone have the competence to amend their Constitution.

Section 2.05         The People have the right of legislative initiative, to introduce bills or constitutional amendments, either for their own consideration or that of the legislature.

Section 2.06         The People may vote on the removal of any public officer, once per term of that office, upon completion of one-third of the term of that office.

Section 2.07         The People may vote to impeach any officer, with an accusation of criminal action conducted in the course of fulfilling the duties of office.

Section 2.08         All persons have the right to petition the Public Power for redress of grievances, and to have such petitions considered, promptly and without delay.

Article III.            (Freedom of Expression and Media)

Section 3.01         All persons have the right to the freedom of thought and opinion, and the freedom to express or publish those thoughts and opinions.

Section 3.02         Censorship, by law, administration, contract, or association, is forbidden.

Section 3.03         No person exercising his or her freedom of expression may be held criminally liable for violence caused by that speech in others.

Section 3.04         All persons have the right to art, artistic creation, and symbolic expression, and no person may be held liable for artistic and symbolic creation and expression that is consistent with the rights and liberties of others.

Section 3.05         The freedom of expression does not protect persons from civil liability for libel, slander, or harassment, on the part of persons, who are not public officers, subjected to such, nor from the obligation to respect fair deliberative procedures.

Section 3.06         Freedom of the media is guaranteed, and includes, but is not limited to, the freedom of speech and creativity for journalists, the access to sources of information, editorial freedom, the protection of independence and professional confidentiality, and the right to create and release publications and other means of public information.

Section 3.07         The Public Power shall guarantee the freedom and independence of all media, both public and private, and thus prohibits private or public monopolies and oligopolies, and the ownership of media corporations by non-media corporations and associations.

Section 3.08         The Public Power shall guarantee opportunities for the expression of diverse views and opinions, and shall guarantee the existence of autonomous and diverse public media services for the use of the People.

Section 3.09         The freedom of speech and the media is not violated by the regulation of the form and placement of commercial advertising, nor the requirement that advertising be truthful.

Section 3.10         The electromagnetic spectrum shall remain the inalienable property of the People.

Article IV.            (Freedom of Information)

Section 4.01         All persons have the right to public information, including complete access to all the records, documents, or other material of the Public Power without censorship or the interference of public officers.

Section 4.02         All persons exposing malfeasance in the Public Power, or any association, to the public may not suffer penalties for such exposure.

Section 4.03         No public officer may prevaricate, or otherwise knowingly provide false information, to any citizen, without being subject to criminal penalties determined by law.

Article V.               (Freedom of Conscience, Religion, and Worship)

Section 5.01         All persons have the right to the freedom of conscience, and to religious practice and worship, not to practice any religion, or to profess against religion.

Section 5.02         No person may be persecuted or discriminated against on the basis of his or her religious convictions and practices, the absence thereof, or opposition to religion.

Section 5.03         No religion or religious practice may be established in law, no public officer shall enforce or enjoin the participation of others in religious practices, or prevent the exercise of religious freedom, and the symbols and language of the Public Power shall contain no religious or anti-religious symbols or phrases.

Article VI.            (Freedom of Assembly)

Section 6.01         All persons have the right to freely assemble, peacefully and unarmed, without the need for prior authorization, in public areas.

Section 6.02         All persons have the right to engage in public celebrations, petitions, protests, demonstrations, strikes, civil disobedience, and all other public gatherings.

Section 6.03         All public assemblies shall be free from the presence of armed officers, who may not be present except in the actual occurrence of violence.

Article VII.         (Freedom of Association)

Section 7.01         All persons have the right to form, join, and leave associations.

Section 7.02         No association possesses the rights of natural persons, but only those rights as determined by law.

Section 7.03         Associations do not possess the right to privacy and may be required to expose to the public their constitutions, practices, and expenses as determined by law.

Section 7.04         Associations may not disable the fundamental rights of its members or of other persons, and the tribunals of associations must respect basic due process.

Article VIII.      (The Freedom of Movement)

Section 8.01         All persons have the right to move freely and settle anywhere in the nation.

Section 8.02         All persons have the right to move through and use public spaces.

Section 8.03         All persons have the right to leave and return to the nation freely.

Section 8.04         No citizen shall suffer banishment, expulsion, or exile, and non-citizens may be deported to their country of origin only by the due process of law.

Section 8.05         No person may be extradited without due process of law, nor extradited in the expectation that such extradition shall result in political persecution, the death penalty, life imprisonment, torture, or other treatment that is evil in itself.

Section 8.06         No person may be denied entry to the United States on the basis of their expressed beliefs.

Section 8.07         All persons who have suffered political persecution shall be welcomed to the United States.

Section 8.08         No person who has committed crimes against humanity shall be granted asylum in the United States.

Article IX.            (Right to Personal Property)

Section 9.01         All persons have the right to their personal possessions and primary residence.

Section 9.02         The right of persons to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, personal communications, and effects against unreasonable seizures and searches may not be violated, but by warrant as provided by the Constitution.

Section 9.03         All primary residences are inviolable, and may not be entered against the will of its residents, except in the case of a serious threat to the life or safety of somebody inside, and otherwise as provided by the Constitution.

Section 9.04         All persons have the right to attribution for their creative work.

Section 9.05         All persons have the right to bequeath and inherit personal possessions and primary residence.

Section 9.06         All persons have the right to the possession of the personal means of protection, including firearms, as determined by law.

Section 9.07         All persons have the right to self-employment and personal and family businesses.

Section 9.08         No person may be deprived of their personal property, nor forced from their primary residence, without the due process of law.

Section 9.09         All other rights to private property are founded in law alone, and thus subject to any and all taxation, regulation, and expropriation for public purposes.

Article X.               (Right to Domestic Union)

Section 10.01     All persons have the right to form families and other domestic unions, based upon the free and equal consent of adult persons.

Section 10.02     All domestic unions shall be equal under the law.

Article XI.            (Right to Privacy and Reputation)

Section 11.01     All persons have the right to privacy in their personal data, information, cognitions, anatomy, correspondence, and communications.

Section 11.02     The collection and processing of personal data without the consent of the interested person is prohibited.

Section 11.03     All persons not serving as public officers have the right to the protection of their reputation against defamation, slander, libel, and misrepresentation.

Article XII.         (Rights of Children and Young People)

Section 12.01     Eighteen years shall be the age of majority.

Section 12.02     No person younger than the age of majority shall be held criminally or civilly liable for their actions.

Section 12.03     All children (human beings under the age of twelve) have the right to special protection and consideration by families or other domestic arrangements, communities, and the Public Power, particularly against all forms of abandonment, discrimination, violence, oppression, sexual abuse, and exploitation.

Section 12.04     All young people (human beings between the ages of twelve and eighteen) have the right to special protection and consideration, by families or other domestic arrangements, communities, and the Public Power, as having distinct needs from that of children and adults.

Article XIII.      (Rights of Workers)

Section 13.01     All persons have the right to employment of his or her choice, with a wage or salary sufficient to maintain themselves and their families in dignity and comfort.

Section 13.02     All persons have the right to equal pay for equal work, and equal treatment at work.

Section 13.03     All persons have the right to safe and hygienic conditions at work.

Section 13.04     All persons have the right to be protected from arbitrary treatment and dismissal in their workplace.

Section 13.05     All persons have the right to leave from their work with pay for cause of illness and family needs.

Section 13.06     All persons have the right to form and join trade or labor unions and professional associations in defense of his or her rights and interests, independent and without interference by employers or the Public Power.

Section 13.07     All persons have the right to strike without interference from employers or the Public Power, provided that striking workers provide for the safety and maintenance of equipment and facilities, as well as the minimum services that are necessary to meet essential social needs.

Section 13.08     Migrant persons shall not be deprived of these rights for reasons of migrancy or citizenship status.

Article XIV.      (Rights of Consumers)

Section 14.01     All persons have the right to diverse goods and services of good quality, to truthful information and protection of their health, safety, and economic interests, and to reparation for damages.

Section 14.02     All persons have the right to be free from odious and usurious debts.

Section 14.03     Private monopolies and oligopolies, and trade or commercial secrecy, are prohibited.

Article XV.         (Right to Public Property)

Section 15.01     Public property is property that is owned by the People.

Section 15.02     All persons have the right to the use of public property, insofar as such use does not destroy or waste public property.

Section 15.03     All infrastructure essential to civic participation shall be the inalienable property of the People.

Section 15.04     Abandoned land, domiciles, and other buildings may be used by non-owners in accordance with public health and safety, and may pass into the ownership of occupying persons by virtue of their prolonged occupancy, as determined by law.

Section 15.05     All persons shall have the right to roam across undeveloped property of any kind.

Article XVI.      (Right to Basic Needs)

Section 16.01     All persons have the right to food and nutrition sufficient for good health; the Public Power shall guarantee the population a secure food supply, defined as the sufficient and stable availability of food and timely and uninterrupted access to the same for consumers.

Section 16.02     All persons have the right to free and equal access to the use of water; the Public Power shall guarantee the population a secure and sustainable supply of clean water, consistent with the needs of a sustainable natural environment and hydrological cycle.

Section 16.03     All persons have the right to health, medical care, and sanitation.

Section 16.04     All persons have the right to a safe, sanitary, and comfortable residence for himself or herself and for his or her family.

Section 16.05     All citizens have the right to social security to guarantee protection in the case of maternity, paternity, illness, invalidity, catastrophic illness, disability, special needs, occupational risks, loss of employment, unemployment, old age, loss of parents or spouse, housing, burdens deriving from family life, and any other social welfare circumstances.

Section 16.06     All senior persons have the right to the full exercise of their rights and autonomy, and any assistance needed for such purposes, and to the guarantee of their quality of life, with an income not less than is guaranteed to the worker.

Section 16.07     All disabled persons, or persons with special needs, have the right to the full exercise of their rights and autonomy, and any assistance needed for such purposes, the guarantee of their quality of life, and their integration into the community.

Article XVII.   (Right to Education, Science, and Culture)

Section 17.01     All persons have the right to free and equal access to education of all kinds, and at all times in their lives, to the highest levels of education, scientific research, and artistic creativity.

Section 17.02     The Public Power shall establish a system of universal education, free at the point of delivery, and with the direct participation of teachers, school workers, and parents, for the free and full development of all individuals.

Section 17.03     All persons have the right to pursue scientific, intellectual, academic, technical and all other knowledge and research without interference, and to publish research without censorship.

Section 17.04     The Public Power shall protect the rights of persons and animals employed in research, and no person shall be subjected to medical or other scientific experimentation against their will or without their consent or knowledge.

Section 17.05     All persons have the right to the enjoyment of the cultural heritage of the United States.

Article XVIII.                        (Right to the Natural Environment)

Section 18.01     All persons, including future generations, have the right to a clean and sustainable natural environment free of pollution and toxins.

Section 18.02     The Public Power has the duty to protect the environment from pollution, ensure the persistence of ecosystems indefinitely, protect and advance biological and genetic diversity, and protect endangered species from extinction.

Section 18.03     The Public Power has the duty to establish precautions, restrictions, and regulations of industry and other social activities by law for the preservation of a clean and sustainable natural environment.

Section 18.04     The Public Power shall establish natural parks and reserves for wildlife, endangered species, and endangered ecosystems, both on land and in the waters.

Section 18.05     The Public Power has the duty to prevent climate change and other ecological catastrophe as far as it is able, or to mitigate its effects where it is not able to prevent change.

Section 18.06     The guardians and trustees of domesticated and livestock animals have the duty to keep such animals free from preventable pain.

Section 18.07     Animals may be used in scientific experimentation only when other means of performing research is demonstrably impossible.

Section 18.08     The Public Power has the duty to preserve natural resources.

Article XIX.      (Right to Life)

Section 19.01     All persons have the right to life, and the protection thereof.

Section 19.02     The Public Power shall deprive no person of his or her life, except in the case that lethal force is necessary to prevent imminent death or serious injury.

Section 19.03     There shall be no death penalty in the United States.

Article XX.         (Right to Public Safety)

Section 20.01     All persons have the right to public safety and security.

Section 20.02     All persons have the right of self-defense against violence to their person, and the right to defend the lives of others against violence to them, and may not be held liable for injuries or deaths to the offender, if actions against the offender were proportionate to the threat.

Section 20.03     All citizens have the right to make arrests, without warrant, of persons if he or she has demonstrable reason to believe that such persons are committing a felony, and may not be held liable for injuries to the accused, if actions against the accused were proportionate to the need for arrest.

Section 20.04     The Public Power has the duty to protect the lives and personal property of all persons, subject to the following restrictions:

(a) All persons have the right to monitor and record the names and activities of persons enforcing the law or exercising lawful coercion.

(b) All persons have the right to resist false arrest, or otherwise unlawful or arbitrary assault, detention, or deprivation of liberty, on the part of public officers not adhering to procedures determined by law and the Constitution, and resisting persons may not be held liable if such resistance results in injury or death to the offending officer.

(c) Public officers may not initiate, instigate, or otherwise enjoin citizens to engage in criminal acts.

(d) Public officers may not reward citizens formally or informally for information regarding crimes.

(e) Any public officer commanding or carrying out unlawful or arbitrary acts shall be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

(f) Public officers organized for the purpose of enforcing law or exercising lawful coercion shall not bear firearms against unarmed persons.

(g) Public officers organized for the purpose of enforcing law or exercising lawful coercion shall not deliberate, form associations or unions, nor manage themselves.

(h) Public officers organized for the purpose of enforcing law or exercising lawful coercion shall not be military in nature, organization, armament, equipment, or methods, nor shall law be enforced by the military but by the necessities of invasion.

Article XXI.      (Right to Justice)

Section 21.01     (Criminal Law)

(a) No action that does not directly abridge the rights and liberties of others may bear criminal penalties.

(b) No action that is not accompanied by criminal intent may bear criminal penalties.

(c) No action may bear criminal penalties unless persons have been provided proper notice that such action is a crime.

(d) No action that was not a crime at the time that action was committed may bear criminal penalties.

(e) All laws defining criminal acts must clearly specify the acts that are to be considered criminal.

(f) No laws may be secret; all laws shall be made available to the public.

(g) The penal system shall attempt above all to rehabilitate offenders.

(h) Criminal liability is not transmissible, and no penalties may extend beyond the person convicted.

(i) No one shall be sentenced to cruel, unusual, perpetual, irreversible, or degrading punishments, or to penalties disproportionate to the crime for which he or she has been convicted.

(j) No person shall be imprisoned for the inability to fulfill a contract, or repay a debt.

(k) No person shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

(l) No person shall be executed as punishment for crime.

(m) Prosecutors and other public officers may not interpret, elaborate, or amend, nor create or manufacture, criminal law in the course of its application; public officers found to be so acting must be punished as determined by law.

Section 21.02     (Public Warrant)

(a) All public officers are the servants and trustees of the People.

(b) The authority of a public officer exists only for as long and to the extent that he or she exercises her or his official powers according to the law, and to any orders and regulations enacting law, and her or his authority ceases immediately upon exceeding or otherwise violating that authority.

(c) All persons have the right to presume the non-authority of public officers and other persons unless those officers can prove their legal authority, and if any person claiming legal authority for any act should fail, upon demand, to provide proof of such authority, before completing the act, such failure shall be conclusive that no such authority exists, or if it existed, that it has ceased to exist.

(d) The authority of public officers shall issue by warrant, except as otherwise provided by the Constitution.

(e) A warrant may not issue except on probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons and things to be seized.

(f) General warrants, to search any suspected places, or to apprehend any suspected person, shall not be granted.

(g) Public officers may not enter a private residence of any kind without prior notification, and, in the absence of a warrant, prior permission, except upon hearing complaint issuing therefrom, or if fire or natural disaster is currently affecting, or will imminently beset, the residence.

(h) Any person involved in executing a warrant must take all reasonable precautions to avoid injury to any person, destruction of evidence, and damage to property, and shall be held personally liable for any unnecessary injury, destruction, or damage that may occur, both civilly and criminally, for failure to exercise such precautions.

(i) Public officers who are found guilty in court of knowingly and willfully violating the rights guaranteed by this Constitution, or the procedures by which those rights are protected, or knowingly and willfully seeking to deceive or propagandize the People, may be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Section 21.03     (Detention and Custody)

(a) No person may be arrested, detained, or deprived of liberty, except under the terms clearly provided for by law, and any person so deprived must be charged and presented for consideration by the relevant court within thirty-six hours.

(b) Any person arrested, detained, or otherwise deprived of liberty has the right to be told immediately of the reason for their detention and their rights clearly and in a language they can understand.

(c) No person shall be tortured, abused, deprived, subject to force excessive to the need to be subdued, or otherwise be subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

(d) No person arrested, detained, or otherwise deprived of liberty shall be transported to any place not designated or permitted by law as a place for public detention.

(e) All persons arrested, detained, or otherwise deprived of liberty have the right to communicate with his or her family, legal counsel, or any other person in whom he or she reposes trust, and such persons in turn have the right to be informed where the detained is being held, and to be notified immediately of the reasons for the arrest.

(f) All persons arrested, detained, or otherwise deprived of liberty have the right to safe, sanitary, and comfortable quarters during his or her detention, apart from those convicted, and, if a juvenile, to be detained apart from adults.

(g) All persons have the right to publicly monitored interrogations, to have interrogations recorded, and to have such recordings publicly released and viewed.

(h) Any public officer commanding or carrying out violations of this section shall be punished by life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

(i) If bail is granted, excessive bail may not be required.

Section 21.04     (Judicial Proceedings and Due Process)

(a) All judicial proceedings shall be free at the point of service, and public officers may not impose costs for their services.

(b) All persons charged with an offense are presumed innocent until convicted, and, after conviction and sentencing, shall continue to have access to resources that might prove his or her innocence.

(c) All trials, hearings, and other proceedings shall be public.

(d) All persons have the right to hearing and defense in judicial proceedings.

(e) All persons have the right to competent and confidential legal counsel that may not itself be liable for persons defended.

(f) No pleas shall be entertained by the courts.

(g) All persons have the right to the careful and deliberate handling of his or her case in a reasonable amount of time.

(h) All persons have the right to be confronted with accusers and witnesses testifying against him or her, and to compel the favorable testimony favorable to his or her case.

(i) No witness may be rewarded formally or informally for his or her testimony.

(j) All persons have the right to evidence in favor of his or her case.

(k) No evidence may be admitted that has been obtained by torture, coercion, mistreatment, or other wrongful act.

(l) Confessions of guilt shall be evidence of criminal action only if supported by further evidence.

(m) Each criminal charge must be approved beyond a reasonable doubt.

(n) No person may be tried twice for the same crime.

(o) All persons have the right of appeal.

Section 21.05     (Right to Trial by Jury)

(a) All persons have the right to be tried or otherwise judged in matters of fact by a fair and impartial jury in all judicial proceedings, and this right cannot be waived or otherwise abridged.

(b) All juries shall be selected at random from among the community in which the court has jurisdiction, after which prospective jurors whose own interests demonstrably conflict with those of the contending parties shall be removed.

(c) The number of jurors for every court shall be fixed by law, but may not be less than twelve.

(d) No person shall be held to answer for a felony, except on indictment of a grand jury in advance of a trial.

(e) No citizen shall be impeded from access to a grand jury for the purpose of prosecuting crimes, or for other purposes of the administration of justice.

(f) Juries are not bound by the decisions of the presiding judge.

(g) All jurors have the right to complete information regarding their rights, duties, and powers.

(h) In criminal trials, the trial jury may acquit even if the defendant has been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, except in trial against public officers who are charged with violations of the law or Constitution.

Section 21.06     (Rights of the Convicted)

(a) All persons convicted of crimes, who have not before committed crimes, have the right to reconciliation to the law by means other than punishment, as determined by law.

(b) All penalties must be separately and explicitly proven as justified and necessary based on the facts accepted and the verdict given, and no penalties may be added by the penal administration beyond what is given.

(c) All persons convicted have the right to all resources that might prove their innocence.

(d) All persons falsely convicted and sentenced have the right to release and compensation.

(e) All persons convicted have the right to humane and rehabilitative treatment.

(f) Discrimination on the basis of appearance before a court or conviction shall not be permitted.

(g) All prisons and other correctional facilities shall be the inalienable property of the People.

Section 21.07     (Rights of the Victims of Crime)

(a) All victims of crime have the right to be treated with fairness and respect for his or her privacy and dignity, and to be free from intimidation, harassment, and abuse, throughout the criminal justice process.

(b) All victims of crime have the right to be reasonably protected, and not to be required to disclose confidential information or records.

(c) All victims of crime have the right to have the safety of the victim and the victim’s family considered in setting bail and release conditions.

(d) All victims of crime have the right to reasonable notice regarding the arrest of suspects, charges filed, public proceedings, conviction and sentencing, place and time of incarceration, or other disposition of the defendant, scheduled release of the convicted, and the release of or escape by the defendant or convicted from custody.

(e) All victims of crime have the right to a prompt and final conclusion of the trial.

(f) All victims of crime have the right to restitution, and the Public Power shall further ensure that victims of crime shall receive support and are adequately compensated for financial difficulties as a result of the crime of which he or she is a victim.

Article XXII.   (The Conduct of War)

Section 22.01     The Public Power shall not maintain standing armies in times of peace, and shall maintain only those professional corps necessary to prepare the nation for defense from invasion.

Section 22.02     The military power shall be kept in real and effective strict subordination to the civil power at all times.

Section 22.03     The military shall not adopt responsibilities beyond the armed defense of the nation, and may not be used for civil purposes, especially the use of force within the boundaries of the United States.

Section 22.04     Neither the Public Power nor the military may advertise, propagandize, or otherwise extol martial values, nor celebrate or valorize the military.

Section 22.05     The Public Power shall neither train nor arm the forces of a foreign nation, nor make funds available for such purposes.

Section 22.06     Journalists and other members of the press of the United States shall not be prevented from coverage of war.

Section 22.07     The Public Power forswears means of warfare that are contrary to the established laws of war.

Section 22.08     The Public Power renounces aggression, threats of aggression, or first strike for any reason whatsoever, and shall seek to resolve conflicts through the use of diplomacy insofar as is possible.

Section 22.09     The Public Power shall employ military forces in the event of invasion by a foreign nation, or with a declaration of war against nations specifically named, by the express and direct authority of the People, in accord with the requirements of international law to which the United States is signatory.

Section 22.10     The Public Power shall not undertake violence against civilian infrastructure or non-combatants, in war or otherwise, nor carry out assassinations.

Section 22.11     The Public Power shall treat all non-combatants and prisoners of war according to the laws of war.

Section 22.12     The Public Power shall not send military forces abroad except in time of war, and shall return all defense services to the United States on the conclusion of the peace.

Section 22.13     The Public Power shall not maintain military forces on foreign or international soil, waters, airspace, or outer space, nor permit foreign military forces to reside on its soil, or in international spaces, nor shall the Public Power intervene or interfere in the domestic affairs of other nations.

Section 22.14     The Public Power shall not protect by violence or threats of violence citizens, or their property, located in foreign territory.

Section 22.15     No private commercial association or corporation shall earn profit from the production of munitions and other military equipment, or the provision of military services.

Section 22.16     Commerce in war is prohibited; private military forces and services are prohibited within the territory of the United States, and the Public Power shall not contract with private military forces and services; and the sale or sending of military arms and equipment abroad is prohibited.

Section 22.17     The Public Power shall not entrust the decision to use lethal force to robotic or computer intelligence.

Section 22.18     The Public Power shall not produce or make available to other nations weapons of mass destruction either nuclear, chemical, biological, or other means yet to be developed, and shall seek to eliminate all such weapons; the Public Power shall never use any weapon of mass destruction for any reason.

Section 22.19     The defense services shall not be used for public displays or celebrations.

Section 22.20     All public officers, citizens, and other persons, have the duty to defy commands to violate these provisions of the Declaration, and those who follow commands to violate these provisions shall be held equally culpable as those issuing the commands.

Section 22.21     All public officers found guilty of violating this section by performing, commanding, or knowingly allowing acts contrary to these provisions to be committed by his or her subordinate officers, shall be sentenced to no less than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, commutation, or pardon, and no rationale for committing such acts will be entertained to mitigate the sentence.

Article XXIII.                        (Absolute Prohibitions)

Section 23.01     The Public Power may never violate the rule of law, regardless of circumstance.

Section 23.02     No public officer may prevaricate, or otherwise knowingly provide false information, to any citizen, without being subject to criminal penalties determined by law.

Section 23.03     No person may be tortured, abused, or exceptionally deprived, for any purpose.

Section 23.04     Slavery and human trafficking is prohibited.

Section 23.05     The use of robotics for lethal or coercive purposes is prohibited.

Section 23.06     The death penalty is prohibited.

Section 23.07     No person shall be subjected to invasions of their person, nor be subjected to medical or other scientific experimentation, against his or her will or without his or her consent or knowledge.

Section 23.08     No public officer has the power to use or command lethal force against unarmed persons.

Section 23.09     All public officers, citizens, and other persons, have the duty to defy commands to violate these absolute prohibitions, and those who follow commands to violate these provisions shall be held equally as culpable as those issuing the commands.

Section 23.10     All public officers found guilty of violating this section by performing, commanding, or knowingly allowing absolutely prohibited acts to be committed by his or her subordinate officers, shall be sentenced to no less than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, commutation, or pardon, and no rationale for committing such acts will be entertained to mitigate the sentence.

Article XXIV.                        (Right of Revolution)

Section 24.01     All persons have the right and duty to disobey and to resist orders contrary to law, or to disregard law that is contrary to the Constitution.

Article XXV.   (Status of the Declaration of Rights)

Section 25.01     The Declaration of Rights is inviolable, may not be set aside or disregarded for any contingency, nor may any of its rights and liberties be waived.

Section 25.02     The Declaration of Rights does not disparage or deny the existence of other rights not described here.

Section 25.03     The Declaration of Rights may only be amended with the approval of two-thirds of the People.