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Oath of Office in the State of Maryland

Compiled by Angel Shamaya, Founder/Director, KeepAndBearArms.com
with assistance from Jeff Rau, Grassroots North Carolina Inter-organizational Coordinator

He who cheats on an oath acknowledges that he is afraid of his enemy, and he thinks little of God. ~~ Plutarch

 

Under Maryland law, there is a clear difference between the unorganized and organized militia. The Governor can call into service the unorganized militia for defense of the State; he is given specific power to use the unorganized militia when the organized militia is of insufficient number to get the job done. And if you, as part of the unorganized militia, do not come when called, you can be court-martialed, prosecuted and put in prison. 

Public servants in the State of Maryland or any city, town, county or municipality thereof who are not abiding by their oath of office are operating outside the law. Below are Federal and state laws and statutes by which Maryland public servants MUST abide.

The Maryland Constitution's Requirement to take the Oath of Office

and

The Actual Oath of Office Public Servants in Maryland are Required to Take

Article 1, Elective Franchise

SEC. 9. Every person elected, or appointed, to any office of profit or trust, under this Constitution, or under the Laws, made pursuant thereto, shall, before he enters upon the duties of such office, take and subscribe the following oath, or affirmation: 

I, _______________, do swear, (or affirm, as the case may be), that I will support the Constitution of the United States; and that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the State of Maryland, and support the Constitution and Laws thereof; and that I will, to the best of my skill and judgment, diligently and faithfully, without partiality or prejudice, execute the office of ________________, according to the Constitution and Laws of this State, (and, if a Governor, Senator, Member of the House of Delegates, or Judge,) that I will not directly or indirectly, receive the profits or any part of the profits of any other office during the term of my acting as ___________ (originally Article I, sec. 6, renumbered by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

Source:  http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/01art1.html

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Refusal/Neglect to Take Oath, Violation of Oath

Constitution

Article 1, Elective Franchise

SEC. 11. Every person, hereafter elected, or appointed, to office, in this State, who shall refuse, or neglect, to take the oath, or affirmation of office, provided for in the ninth section of this Article, shall be considered as having refused to accept the said office; and a new election, or appointment, shall be made, as in case of refusal to accept, or resignation of an office; and any person violating said oath, shall, on conviction thereof, in a Court of Law, in addition to the penalties now, or hereafter, to be imposed by Law, be thereafter incapable of holding any office of profit or trust in this State (originally Article I, sec. 7. Thus renumbered and amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

Source:  http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/01art1.html 

Statute

§ 16-107. State Government

An individual elected or appointed to an office shall be deemed to have refused the office if the individual declines or neglects to take and subscribe the oath prescribed by Article I, § 9 of the Maryland Constitution or by law or ordinance:

(1)   within 30 days after the day when the office of a clerk of a circuit court receives the commission of the individual; or

(2)   if the commission is not sent to a clerk of a circuit court, within 30 days after the individual receives the commission or the notice of appointment.

Source:  Click here.

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Statutory Law Listing Which Public Servants Must Take This Oath

§ 16-102. State Government

(a)  The oath prescribed by Article I, § 9 of the Maryland Constitution shall be taken and subscribed before the Governor by:

(1)  the Adjutant General;
(2)  the Attorney General;
(3)  the Comptroller;
(4)  the judges of the Court of Appeals and their clerks;
(5)  the judges of the Court of Special Appeals and their clerks;
(6)  the Secretary of State;
(7)  the State Reporter; and
(8)  the Treasurer.

(b)  On or as soon as practicable after the third Monday of January next after the election for Comptroller, the successful candidate for that office shall qualify by taking the oath prescribed by Article I, § 9 of the Maryland Constitution.

(c)  The Secretary of State shall maintain a book that records the oaths taken and subscribed under this section.

Source:  Click here.

And, yes, the Governor must take the same oath:

§ 16-101. State Government

(a)   The Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall take and subscribe the oath prescribed by Article I, § 9 of the Maryland Constitution:

    (1)   on the third Wednesday of January next following the election of the Governor, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, between the hours of noon and 2:00 p.m. in the chamber of the Senate of Maryland; and

    (2)   before the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals; or

    (3)   if the Chief Judge is unable to attend, before one of the associate judges of the Court of Appeals.

(b)  The clerk of the Court of Appeals shall maintain a book that records the oaths taken and subscribed under this section.

Source:  Click Here.

And Many Other Public Servants Must Take This Oath, as well

§ 16-105. State Government

Except for an officer specified in §§ 16-101 through 16-104 of this title, an officer elected or appointed to any office of trust or profit under the Maryland Constitution or a law of this State, including a mayor or other chief magistrate of a municipal corporation, shall take and subscribe the oath required by Article I, § 9 of the Maryland Constitution before a clerk of the circuit court or before a sworn deputy of the clerk.

Source:  Click here.

See also:

Oath for Organized Militia

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Appointed Officials Must Take Constitutional Oath

§ 4-908. Governor - Executive and Administrative Departments

Each person appointed under this subtitle, within thirty days after his certificate of appointment has been issued and before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take and subscribe the constitutional oath of office before the clerk of the court in the county or Baltimore City, where the commission may be received. The clerk of the court shall transmit to the Secretary of State a certificate indicating that the person commissioned has taken the constitutional oath of office.

Source: Click here.

§ 3-202. State Personnel and Pensions

(b)  Before taking office, each appointed member shall take the oath required by Article I, § 9 of the Maryland Constitution.

Source:  Click here.

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Treasurer Must Take Another Oath in Addition to This Oath

§ 5-101.1.  State Government

In addition to the oath specified in Article I, § 9 of the Maryland Constitution, the Treasurer shall take an oath to discharge the duties of the Office of Treasurer faithfully, diligently, and honestly.

Source: Click here.

QUESTION: If the State Treasurer is releasing funds for gun law enforcements (bans, buybacks, blockages of arms shipped into State, etc.) that violate the oath of office, how can we most effectively make life miserable for this public servant?

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Maryland Constitution on the right to keep and bear arms

The state of Maryland's Constitution does not specifically protect the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms. However, there are certain elements in the Declaration of Rights for the State of Maryland that do point to the right to keep and bear arms, as follows:

Declaration of Rights

Preamble, Intention to Secure Liberty

"We, the People of the State of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty, and taking into our serious consideration the best means of establishing a good Constitution in this State for the sure foundation and more permanent security thereof, declare:"

Source:  http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/00dec.html

NOTE:  The intention of the Declaration of Rights was, among other things, to cause permanent security of civil liberty. How can permanent civil liberty be achieved and maintained without free access to arms -- when such has never been lastingly achieved throughout history?

Constitution is Supreme Law of Land

Art. 2. The Constitution of the United States, and the Laws made, or which shall be made, in pursuance thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, are, and shall be the Supreme Law of the State; and the Judges of this State, and all the People of this State, are, and shall be bound thereby; anything in the Constitution or Law of this State to the contrary notwithstanding.

NOTE:  The so-called "laws" passed off by liberal-socialists hold no water in the State of Maryland when they conflict with the U.S. Constitution.

Source:  http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/00dec.html

Right to Life and Liberty Not to Be Deprived in Any Manner

Art. 24. That no man ought to be taken or imprisoned or disseized of his freehold, liberties or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or, in any manner, destroyed, or deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or by the Law of the land (amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).

Source:  http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/00dec.html

Perversion of Government, New Government Ought to Be Established

Art. 6. That all persons invested with the Legislative or Executive powers of Government are the Trustees of the Public, and, as such, accountable for their conduct: Wherefore, whenever the ends of Government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the People may, and of right ought, to reform the old, or establish a new Government; the doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.

Source:  http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/00dec.html

Militia is proper under a free government

Art. 28. That a well regulated Militia is the proper and natural defence of a free Government.

Source:  http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/00dec.html

Departure from Constitution is Anarchy and Despotism

Art. 44. That the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, apply, as well in time of war, as in time of peace; and any departure therefrom, or violation thereof, under the plea of necessity, or any other plea, is subversive of good Government, and tends to anarchy and despotism.

Source:  http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/00dec.html

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U.S. Constitution on the right to keep and bear arms

"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Source: Bill of Rights, Second Amendment (ratified 1791, and still the Law of the Land)

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The Constitution Comes Before Statutes, Edicts, Ordinances, Rules or Regulations

Article VI, U.S. Constitution

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

From Law.Cornell.Edu:

"This means that state governments and officials cannot take actions or pass laws that interfere with the Constitution, laws passed by Congress, or treaties. The Constitution was interpreted, in 1819, as giving the Supreme Court the power to invalidate any state actions that interfere with the Constitution and the laws and treaties passed pursuant to it. That power is not itself explicitly set out in the Constitution but was declared to exist by the Supreme Court in the decision of McCulloch v. Maryland."

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CIVIL RIGHTS ACT

42 U.S.C. Chapter 21

SUBCHAPTER I--GENERALLY

Sec. 1983 Civil action for deprivation of rights

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.

(R.S. Sec. 1979; Pub. L. 96-170, Sec. 1, Dec. 29, 1979, 93 Stat. 1284.)

Source: For date law was enacted, history of law, amendments (slight, and very much intact in spirit), go here: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+42USC1983

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PUBLIC LAW 96-303

CODE OF ETHICS FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE (signed into law on July 3, 1980)

ANY PERSON IN GOVERNMENT SERVICE SHOULD:

I. Put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or Government department.

II. Uphold the Constitution, laws, and regulations of the United States and of all governments therein and never be a party to their evasion.

III. Give a full day's labor for a full day's pay; giving earnest effort and best thought to the performance of duties.

IV. Seek to find and employ more efficient and economical ways of getting tasks accomplished.

V. Never discriminate unfairly by the dispensing of special favors or

VI. Make no private promises of any kind binding upon the duties of office, since a Government employee has no private word which can be binding on public duty.

VII. Engage in no business with the Government, either directly or indirectly, which is inconsistent with the conscientious performance of governmental duties.

VIII. Never use any information gained confidentially in the performance of government duties as a means for making private profit.

IX. Expose corruption wherever discovered.

X. Uphold these principles, ever conscious that public office is a public trust.

DECA Poster 80-3, Feb 94

When this law was passed, it included a requirement for posting the above in government facilities. That requirement was later repealed. (Source 1, Source 2) But the law itself is still very much a LAW.

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U.S. State Constitutions

State Constitutions on the Right to Keep And Bear Arms

Maryland Constitution
http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/const.html