WHILE
WE WERE
SLEEPING
The Administrative
Rule Nightmare
By Curt
Chancler
and Jeane Wollman
Government Agencies are unique in that they exercise the power of all three branches of government—judicial, legislative and executive. These agencies are as a cancer in our system. We, the American citizen, have felt secure thinking that our elected officials were working for our best interests when they were not. While we slept they were propagating a cancer that has infected other public officials, our courts, the very fabric of our lives leaving us defenseless against the tyrannical side of government.
This cancer is defined as Administrative Rule. The side affects of this Administrative cancer are an army of faceless bureaucrats armed with the power to take your Constitutional rights of due process concerning your children, your property rights and ultimately affecting literally every facet of your lives.
You ask, “What is Administrative Rule?” Black’s Law describes it as a broadly applicable agency statement that interprets a law or policy. What they neglect to tell us is that Administrative Rule is not within Constitutional Law. It is a method of controlling the people outside of our Constitution. In England as early as the 12th century administrative rule belonged exclusively to the king and queen in order to control their subjects. Over time this power was given to the king’s friends and relatives in order that they might control and regulate the lives of their subjects. Obviously, historically, Administrative Rule has been used for the purpose of controlling the populace.
In the United States a form of administrative rule was first used in 1789 for the control of customs, ocean-going vessels and veteran’s pension payments. However it was the passing of the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 and the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission that gave birth to modern administrative rule in the United States.
In the 1930s, under President Roosevelt and a Democratic Congress, new federal agencies proliferated as part of the “New Deal” legislation. This was promoted and sold to the people as the only way to pull the United States from the grip of the Great Depression. The people were not told of their loss of sovereignty.
President Franklin Roosevelt, commenting on a study of administrative rules, stated that by creating administrative agencies and giving them the authority to legislate and adjudicate would create a fourth branch of government for which there was no Constitutional provision.
It appears that everyone involved in the creation of the Administrative Procedure Act knew they were creating a monster that was akin to a dictatorship and obviously not constitutionally friendly. They deliberately and willingly took the giant step away from our Constitutional process. And no one spoke up in protest.
Our elected representatives felt that because of the rapid growth in the administrative regulation of private conduct a method of administrating this control must be devised. The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 was to be that vehicle.
It would appear that the basic purpose of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 was to create a framework of regulating agencies and procedures designed to circumvent our rights of constitutional due process while giving the procedure the appearance of constitutionality. Many in government felt that the need for administrative rules was paramount because of the rapid growth of our nation. So, for the greater good, they were willing to look the other way. With this perception of the “Greater Good” our elected officials made the decision to strip, to circumvent the American citizen’s rights under the Constitution. For under Administrative Rule Americans lost their right to a trial by their peers. They lost their right to appeal. They lost their right to Constitutional protection. And it wasn’t a faceless “they” that lost it, it was you, the individual citizen. And you lost simply because your elected officials wanted to make it easier for themselves and to better control the individual.
In our opinion administrative rule and the agents thereof fall under the legal term “Color of Law.” Color of Law refers to the appearance or semblance of a legal right but not really allowing that right. Black’s Law states that the term usually implies a misuse of power made possible because the wrongdoer is clothed with the authority of the state.
Administrative Rules were created when our elected officials decided they could delegate their law-making authority to a government agency and its employees. They did this by passing a law granting to a government agency the power and authority to make rules that have the same effect as constitutional law. However, the Constitution severely limits and dictates that only duly elected representatives can make laws. It doesn’t say, “And by the way if you get overloaded you can pass your law making ability on to administrative agencies.” It must also be remembered that this watering down of our Constitutional rights began almost before the ink on the Constitution was dry.
The basic need of some to control others is inherent in human nature. It was from this knowledge that the United States Constitution evolved. It is grounded by a strong sense of Christian ethics, a deep sense of morality and the knowledge of the need for eternal vigilance over our government.
But it then appears there were those that knew that if they wished to control our lives and our property they had to find a way to bypass our Constitution and Bill of Rights. This was done with the creation of administrative agencies. These agencies appear constitutionally friendly but they are not. They do not afford us the protection of Constitutional law. This system operates under the “Color of Law.” It seems like Constitutional law and is sold to us as the same but it is not.
An Administrative Court is the very definition of a “quasi- judicial proceeding.” Again, it seems like the real thing but not really. The administrative judge is a “quasi” judge often referred to as a hearing officer because by definition he is not a judge. He cannot be a judge because he is acting outside the Constitution. He is only an “Administrative” officer. He is not a constitutionally elected and mandated judge. He is an appointed quasi-judge. He is outside Constitutional Law.
This quasi- judicial administrative process violates every Constitutional concept of substantive due process. It must first be fully understood that our elected legislators are only loaned the power to create law. The ability of the legislature to make law comes with Constitutional rules and restrictions. The power to enact law rests solely with the people who have given their duly elected officials permission to act in their stead. It definitely does not give them the right to act for either their own self interest or the interest of their party. They are elected representatives of the people not officers of the king.
Our founding fathers were clear that no law can be created that infringed on the rights as provided for in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. However, there have always been those who have surreptitiously and cleverly woven a thread of deceit through the governmental processes. Did they truly feel it was for the “good of the people” or was there even then a desire by some to subjugate and control? When they first began the process of administrative law who did they want to help? Who was going to profit from Administrative Law?
These actions are only possible through “Color of Office” which is an act by a public official that appears to be a duty that official has but in reality does not. Our elected representatives do not possess the right to give anyone else the authority to make or adjudicate law even though it may be known as a regulation or a code rather than a law.
Some in government say that our Constitution is an outdated document. To them we would say that our Constitution, though perhaps not perfect, is man’s best effort to restrain and restrict the inherent nature of man to dominate and control others when given power. This inherent nature of man for power, money and sex has never changed, only controlled.
Our founding fathers knew from living under a monarchy that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the evolutionary process of administrative rule it has become a leviathan monster of epic proportion hell bent on power and control over the lives they have sworn to protect. In the hands of a corrupt public employee it is the art of deception taken to a new level. When we elect those with no grounding in morals or ethics we can expect nothing better. Wake up America! Wake up before it is too late!
