Boone County, Iowa Community Bill of Rights

Transcription

1 Boone County, Iowa Community Bill of Rights ESTABLISHING A COMMUNITY BILL OF RIGHTS FOR THE PEOPLE OF BOONE COUNTY, WHICH PROHIBITS TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP, USE OR CONTROL, OF LAND FROM BOONE COUNTY, RESIDENTS OF THE COUNTY OR ITS MUNICIPALITIES TO INDIVIDUALS AND CORPORATIONS ENGAGED IN PROJECTS THAT WOULD VIOLATE THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE COMMUNITY. THIS LAW ALSO PROVIDES FOR ENFORCEMENT OF THE RIGHT TO A SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL FUTURE AGAINST CORPORATIONS AND GOVERNMENTS ENGAGED IN THE TAKING OF LAND FOR PURPOSES Preamble THAT WOULD VIOLATE THAT RIGHT When people and communities find that laws ostensibly enacted to protect them, and to foster their health, prosperity, and fundamental rights, do neither; it becomes necessary for the people to reaffirm, reclaim, and assert their inalienable rights. Therefore, we the People of Boone County affirm Article 1, Section 1, Rights of persons, of the Iowa State Constitution, which states: All men are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights - among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness. As well, we the People of Boone County affirm Article 1, Section 2, Political power, of the Iowa State Constitution, which states: All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people, and they have the right, at all times, to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it. And since all political power is inherent in the people, and since the people have the right, at all times, to alter or reform government, whenever the public good may require it, we the people of Boone County, Iowa declare and enact the following civil rights law. Statement of Purpose We the people of Boone County find that certain irrational and unjust decisions by the Department of Commerce Utilities Board, an agency of the State of Iowa, would result in the violation of fundamental rights if allowed to be acted upon. The exercise of eminent domain has been invoked by a private business corporation seeking to site a hazardous material conveying pipeline across Boone County. The State s facilitation of the transfer of ownership, use or control of agricultural land from the County or residents of the County to individuals insulated from the community by the corporate shield, in order to permit the siting of this industrial pipeline, would be a clear violation of certain rights retained by the people. As herein asserted by the people of Boone County, the protection and preservation of a sustainable agricultural future and rural quality of life, as well as the cultural heritage of the people of the County, most directly promotes the public convenience and necessity, and the proposed pipeline directly threatens these firmly held values. We the people of Boone County hereby declare that our current system of state government has illegitimately empowered a corporation to assault the rights of the people of Boone County, and that to correct this error of governance we adopt this law, recognizing that the duty to secure and protect 1 of 5

2 fundamental rights compels all levels of government to act for the protection, security, and benefit of the people, as asserted by Article 1, Section 2 of the Iowa Constitution. In accordance with this obligation, the people of Boone County reaffirm our self-governing authority while securing and protecting our rights. Section 1 Definitions (a) Corporation, for purposes of this law, includes any corporation, or other business entity, organized under the laws of any state or any country. The term does not apply to family farm corporations. (b) County, means Boone County, Iowa, its Board of Supervisors, and the County s representatives or agents. (c) Family farm corporation is a corporation substantially owned or controlled engaged in farming or the ownership of agricultural land, in which at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the partnership interests, shares, stock, or other ownership interests are held by members of a family or a trust created for the benefit of a member of that family.. In order to qualify as a family farm corporation, at least one of the family members in a corporation shall reside on or be actively engaged in the day-to-day labor and management of the farm located within Boone County. (c) Person, means a natural person, or an association of natural persons that does not qualify as a corporation under this Ordinance. (d) Resident, means a person residing in Boone County, Iowa. Section 2 Statements of Law A Community Bill of Rights (a) Governmental Legitimacy. All legitimate governments in the United States owe their existence to the people of the community that those governments serve, and governments exist to secure and protect the rights of the people and those communities. Any system of government that becomes destructive of those ends is not legitimate, lawful, or constitutional. (b) Right of Local Community Self-Government. The people of Boone County possess both a collective and individual right to self-government in their local community, a right to a system of government that embodies that right, and the right to a system of government that protects and secures their human, civil, and collective rights. This right shall include the right of the residents and elected officials of Boone County to be free from civil and criminal liability to corporations for enacting laws to protect their rights. (c) Right to Assert the Right of Self-Government. The people of Boone County possess the right to use their local government to make law, and the making and enforcement of law by the people through a municipal corporation, or any other institution, shall not eliminate, limit, or reduce their sovereign right of local community self-government. (d) Right to Establish a Sustainable Agriculture Future. The residents of Boone County possess a right to establish policies to promote and support locally-based, sustainable agriculture within the County. That right includes the right to make laws that support a system of agriculture which is economically 2 of 5

3 and environmentally sustainable and that protect land against uses likely to harm the ability of farms to produce food indefinitely, against damage to ecosystems, which sustains the economic viability of independent farm operations, and which does not violate the rights secured by this Ordinance. (e) Right to Cultural Heritage All residents of Boone County possess a fundamental and inalienable right to their communities cultural heritage within the County. Residents right to their own histories shall include a right to the preservation of historic buildings, historic districts and landscapes, and other structures, relationships, and lands that residents and indigenous people of Boone County consider important to the preservation of their cultural heritage. (f) Right to Livelihood and Home All residents of Boone County possess a fundamental and inalienable right to their livelihood, homes and land, and a right to enjoy those homes and land uncompromised by harm caused to natural communities and ecosystems by the conveyance or depositing of hazardous materials via pipelines and other means. This right includes the right to protect property, as asserted by Article 1, Section 1 of the Iowa Constitution, against seizure of ownership or use by government or corporations chartered by government. (g) Rights as Self-Executing. All rights secured by this law are inherent, fundamental, and unalienable, and shall be self-executing and enforceable against both private and public actors. Section 3 Statements of Law Prohibitions Necessary to Secure the Bill of Rights (a) It shall be unlawful for any corporation or government, or for any director, officer, owner, agent, or manager of a corporation, to use or empower a corporation to initiate eminent domain proceedings to take private property within the County of Boone for use in activities that would violate the rights of residents of Boone County. It shall be unlawful for any person acting on behalf of a corporation or for any government employee to assist a corporation to take private or public property within Boone County for such purposes. (b) It shall be unlawful for any corporation or government to violate the rights recognized and secured by this law. (c) No permit, license, privilege, charter, or other authorization issued to a corporation, by any state or federal entity, that would violate the prohibitions of this law or any rights secured by this law, shall be deemed valid within Boone County and its jurisdiction. Section 4 Enforcement (a) Any corporation or government that violates any provision of this law shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay the maximum fine allowable under State law. Each day or portion thereof, and violation of each section of this law, shall count as a separate violation. (b) The County of Boone, or any resident of Boone County, may enforce the rights and prohibitions of this law through an action brought in any court possessing jurisdiction over activities occurring within Boone County. In such an action, the County of Boone or the resident shall be entitled to recover all costs of litigation, including, without limitation, expert and attorney s fees. 3 of 5

4 Section 5 Enforcement Corporate Powers (a) Corporations that violate this law, or that seek to violate this law, shall not be deemed to be persons to the extent that such treatment would interfere with the rights or prohibitions enumerated by this law, nor shall they possess any other legal rights, powers, privileges, immunities, or duties that would interfere with the rights or prohibitions enumerated by this law, including the power to assert state or federal preemptive laws in an attempt to overturn this law, or the power to assert that the people of Boone County lack the authority to adopt this law, or the power to assert that Boone County or any residents of Boone County are liable for damages to the corporation. (b) All laws adopted by the legislature of the State of Iowa and rules adopted by any State agency, shall be the law of Boone County only to the extent that they do not violate the rights or prohibitions of this law. Section 6 Effective Date and Existing Permit Holders This law shall be effective immediately on the date of its enactment, at which point the law shall apply to any and all actions that would violate this law regardless of the date of any applicable local, state, or federal permit. Section 7 People s Right of Self-Government Use of the courts or the Iowa legislature in attempts to overturn the provisions of this law shall require community meetings focused on changes to local governance that would secure the people's right of local community self-government. Section 8 State and Federal Constitutional Changes Through the adoption of this law, the people of Boone County call for amendment of the Iowa Constitution and the federal Constitution to recognize a right of local community self-government free from governmental preemption and nullification by corporate rights. Section 9 Severability The provisions of this law are severable. If any court decides that any section, clause, sentence, part, or provision of this law is illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect, impair, or invalidate any of the remaining sections, clauses, sentences, parts, or provisions of the law. This law would have been enacted without the invalid sections. Section 10 Repealer All inconsistent provisions of prior laws adopted by Boone County are hereby repealed, but only to the extent necessary to remedy the inconsistency. Section 11 Interpretation 4 of 5

5 Any reviewing court must liberally interpret this law s provisions to achieve the goals stated in the preamble. ENACTED AND ORDAINED this day of, 20, by the Boone County Board of Supervisors, Boone County, Iowa. By: (Boone County Auditor) 5 of 5