By William Haupt III | The Center Square
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“Our forefathers wisely knew that the U.S. Constitution
would be utterly worthless to restrain government legislators unless it was
clearly understood and could be enforced by the people.”
– Charles R. Olsen
After witnessing human indignity and lost liberties
during World War II, when a Marine returned home he had one goal: He wanted to
continue serving America and prevent it from succumbing to the evil malignities
of socialism and fascism. He was not an academic, an author, a writer, or even
a critic. But Charles R. Olsen shared a common bond with one of our wisest of
founders, Ben Franklin; he was a printer. As he labored in thought how to
prevent Europe’s tragedies from occurring here, he chronicled what had happened
there. Each country where he fought to resurrect their liberty was subjugated
by socialist regimes when the citizenry ceased participating in their judicial
systems.
Charles R. Olsen, author of "The Citizens Rule
Book," was an ordinary patriot who experienced the holocaust of a war that
would have never taken place if citizens had been vigilant. When he set foot on
American soil he realized our liberties are a gift from God, not government,
and no earthly bureaucrat has the right or the authority to take them from us.
As he proceeded to pen his thoughts about why America was so free and how to
preserve its peace and freedoms, he remembered the words of Thomas Paine: “He
that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from
oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will
reach to himself.”
Experiencing first hand the horrors of fascism and
socialism, he concluded the citizens allowed this to happen; one bad law at a
time. None of these countries surrendered their freedom overnight. It took
place candidly as a complacent citizenry looked on. Although some cared, too
many did not. It was his desire to send Americans a message, to protect their
freedoms and rights; they must recall their past heritage and participate in
the judicial process.
“We can have all of the rights in the world but if we do
not use them to our advantage, others will use them for theirs.”
– Charles R. Olsen
Since the first step in confiscating civil liberties is
to take control of the legal process, the courts are the immediate target for
all dictators. He wrote, “Your right as a juror is to cast your vote of guilt
or innocence by only that which is right under the laws of God.” The First
Amendment was born out of this concept. He recalled a passage he had read in
the Minneapolis Star: "What Judges Don't Tell Juries.” Our Constitution
gave the juries a role to protect us against political oppression. And this
jurisprudence was never questioned. But through evolution and dilution of our
liberties under bad laws, cases are won or lost interrupting laws that set
precedents which have eroded democracy.
While judicial law states juries have the power to return
a verdict of guilty or not guilty determined by “facts”, not just the rule of
law, few jurors know it. He claims courts do not allow counsel or their
defendants to inform jurors of this duty or right. And those who attempt to do
this are considered in contempt of court. Because of this, juries that were
originally conceived as a safety valve to soften bureaucratic rigidity by
making common sense decisions, no longer act in that capacity.
“If the citizens educated themselves they could teach
judges a lesson in civics."
– Charles R. Olsen
He considered educating citizens on the judicial process
as the most important part of his booklet. He supported his beliefs with a
compilation of quotes from our founders and salient select works to support
constitutional law. Since all government is local, it’s our local courts that
establish the basis for interruption of cases appealed to the Supreme Court. If
they are not interpreted with wisdom as they pertain to law, our judicial
system fails. This will open the doors to socialism, dictatorship and fascism.
He explains that our nation's founders provided our court system to insure that
we, not an army of politicians, judges, lawyers, and bureaucrats, are the ones
running our nation. He said one juror can stop tyranny with a not guilty vote.
And every juror should know; it is their duty to do this.
He explained we are moving quickly away from a country of
republican law and headed toward a land of judicial law making. This is taking
place in every court in the land because citizens forget; they are the judge
and the jury. For when the process reaches the Supreme Court, it is out of
their hands. When law is decided in the courts, it is no longer a “jury of
peers” but a “jury of judges”; and that is no jury at all. It becomes a courtroom
of unelected attorneys judging laws instead of citizens.
“Common Law is common sense and is rooted in the Ten
Commandments.”
– Thomas Jefferson
Olsen believed voting is the most important right a
citizen has to protect liberty. His most powerful vote is on a jury. He has
more power than a president, Congress, and all Supreme Court justices. Congress
only legislates, the president issues orders, and judges make decisions. But
the jurors interpret law, and decide innocence or guilt. It is the citizens in
court rooms across America that have the greatest influence on laws. And its
bad decisions influenced by judges that empower the government over the citizen
in determining law by setting bad precedent. Thus, those acting in the name of
government are interpreting and rewriting law rather than a “group of common
citizens.”
While witnessing fellow Americans die for the freedom of
others on foreign soil, Olsen pondered: Who would do this for us if we stop
defending the rights granted to us in our Constitution? Is it not the
foundation of our liberty? Isn’t it better to defend it than lose it, then have
to fight to win it back?
Olsen observed what happened when citizens were told to
surrender their rights for the good of the state? Once they did, the state
never worked for their common good.
“In a socialist state no matter how it is framed, if
government controls the courts and the laws, it controls you.”
– Charles R. Olsen
General Douglas MacArthur once said, “The soldier above
all others prays for peace.” Frustrated veterans return to America after
witnessing what can happen in a country when citizens do not do their civic
duty at all levels of government. They lose a liberty each time a bad local law
is passed or a good one is not defended. One returning veteran who wanted to
maintain peace and freedom in America did something about it. He gathered
documents and works of our founding and printed a pamphlet for every American
to read: So they never forget that “Liberty once lost, is lost forever.”
Olsen wrote this book to impress on citizens that they
have a duty to protect their rights, which are mostly abridged in our courts.
What happens in these forums, determines what rights they lose when they are
not on the jury in the Supreme Court. He included a copy of The Declaration of
Independence, the Commandments, The Constitution and Bill of Rights. Over three
million copies of his book have been sold by the Whitten family and distributed
by The Informed Jury Association.
“These are the tools given to us by our founders and they
are our only palladium for liberty.”
– Charles R. Olsen
William
Haupt III is a retired professional journalist, author, and citizen legislator
in California for over 40 years. He got his start working to approve California
Proposition 13.
