Camp Lone Star – The World Turned Upside Down

I believe that the prosecutor, #. US Attorney William Hagan, in the K. C. Massey felon in possession matter, is worried. Why would I think that to be the case? Well, Massey recently sat with Mr. Hagan to discuss the upcoming trail. Hagen has some interesting, and rather desperate, thoughts.

We'll start with the fact that the "has-had" argument (See Camp Lone Star -- A Favorable Ruling?) seems to have put him on the defensive. He explained to KC that what he was doing by stopping or detaining illegals at the border was "in or affecting commerce" (from the felon in possession law, 18 U. S. Code § 922 (g)(1). Interesting the illegally entering the country, and/or smuggling people, firearms, and drugs, is considered, by the #. US Attorney to be "commerce". So, what is commerce? Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Edition, defines it as: The exchange of goods, productions, or property of any kind; buying, selling, and exchanging of articles. The transportation of persons and property by land, water, and air [for payment]. So, let's put some perspective on this -- from our own history. John Hancock, and many others, would buy goods at one port, outside of the colonies, and bring them into the colonies. Often, much of the cargo would be off-loaded prior to entry into the port and then the taxes would be paid only on that portion of the cargo that was declared. That portion was "in or affecting commerce". But, what of the cargo that had been offloaded? Was it "commerce", which is legal, or was it smuggling, which is illegal? Since they only had tariffs and other fees for the cargo that was off-loaded in port, it was "commerce" and had no criminal penalties associated with it. However, those goods that were off-loaded elsewhere, well, were consider "smuggled contraband", and were in no wise considered to be commerce. If the transporter were caught, he would lose the goods, his ship, and, perhaps, serve time in jail.

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Commerce, then, is legal transporting. Smuggling is criminal, and is not, in the least, any aspect of commerce. If caught, the property is not transferred to the owner, or the purchaser. It is confiscated by the government, and then sold or destroyed. So, does 18 U. S. Code § 922 (g)(1) apply to legal transportation only, or does it apply to illegal transportation (smuggling), as well? If it also applies to smuggling, then we need to ask Mr. Hagen, and the government, why when they catch people entering illegal, with firearms or without, if they are in commerce, or not. But, if we consider that the government doesn't stop them, rather, they escort them to a bus or train station, sends them around the country to where they are not wanted, gives them our hard earned money so they don't have to work, thereby rewarding them far better than those who wait, and abiding by the existing immigration laws, which are otherwise not enforced. Perhaps I am wrong, since government, apparently, considers smuggling to be "commerce". So, it could be rather confusing to those who think they know the law, as opposed to those who can read and comprehend the English language, and can differentiate between the meanings of words. However, if we are a nation of laws, as we are led to believe, then should the precise wording of a law be the applicable interpretation? Or, have we become a nation subject to the rule of illiterate, or otherwise politically driven, prosecutors. Let's enter another interesting realm based upon the discussion between Massey and Hagen. Mr. Hagen states that Massey was not on the premises where he lived. Now, the discussion centered on whether the premises were the house -- the building, or the property that the house was on. Black's tells us that the estate, the premise, is "the land and buildings thereon". So, here we have another discrepancy between the law (Texas Penal Code, Section 46.04) applicable in Texas, whereby Massey can posses a firearm, and the federal interpretation. Mr. Hagen says the house, the state law says the "premise". This was discussed, absent the recent reinterpretation, in Camp Lone Star -- Massey & The Clash of Laws. But, that is not quite the point that we want to make. By Mr. Hagen even suggesting that Massey might have not been charged with a crime if he had been in his house, he also recognizes the validity of the state law. However, since Massey wasn't in his house, then the feds can charge him with felon in possession (regardless of the wording of that law), because he is not in his house. Is the implication that Texas law would have applied, had Massey been in his house? If so, why would Texas law not apply if Massey were not in his house? And, if it did apply if Massey was not in his house, or on the premises, then it would still be Texas jurisdiction, since the Massey house is in Texas -- and, if the feds can assume jurisdiction over any land in Texas, then can't they also assume jurisdiction in Massey's house? Now, let's visit one more part of the discussion that has to do with "erroneous" statements made during the hearing. This was discussed in a previous article, Camp Lone Star -- Act Two: The Contradictions Scene 2: To Detain, or Not to Detain? That is the Question. Mr. Hagen told Massey that it didn't matter if the "government agents lied, misspoke, or misrepresented the facts in their testimony, as long as the meat of the story is true". Let's see if we can put a perspective on this, and then digest it. Government agents are trained to observe and report. Some of those agents referred to their notes during their testimony at the March 30, 2015 hearing (referenced in the above link). That hearing was, among other purposes, to justify the procedure used to detain Massey -- to make sure that it satisfied the ruling on stops, detentions, searches, etc, based upon Supreme Court rulings. So, what they "misspoke, or misrepresented, in court, at that hearing, were simple "errors" that made what the did appear to be lawful, in accord with the Supreme court rulings, what might have been deemed unlawful, if the truth were told. Now, if you or I were to lie, misspeak, or misrepresent, under oath, we would be criminal under the federal perjury laws: 18 U.S.C. § 1621: Perjury generally Whoever -- (1) having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed, is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true; or (2) in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code, willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe to be true; is guilty of perjury and shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by law, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. This section is applicable whether the statement or subscription is made within or without the United States. 18 U.S.C. § 1622: Subornation of perjury Whoever procures another to commit any perjury is guilty of subornation of perjury, and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. So, the three important questions are:

1. Was there any testimony on "any material matter" that might have lead to a different determination as to whether the stop, or detention, satisfied the Supreme Court rulings? (§1621)
2. Did Mr. Hagen know that the information provided by the witnesses was misspoken, misrepresented, or a downright lie? (§1622)
3. What would happen to you, or me, if we lied, misspoke, or misrepresented, any material matter, as they did at the hearing?

So, being a nation of laws, or so we are told, we can revisit the words of James Madison, in Federalist #62, when he said, "Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?" If it is to be known, is it to be known in the language we all understand, or a cryptic language, lacking logic, where the government can change "in or affecting commerce" to the "commerce" of illegal entry and smuggling. If the federal government recognizes Texas law, if someone is in his house, does not Texas law apply equally throughout Texas, unless the person is on federal land, having jurisdiction ceded by the state? And, can the (public) servants lie to the master (people), with impunity, and the master be held to the rigid interpretation and application of the law, if he "lies, misspeaks, or misrepresents"? The British, after the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, played an old tune, "The World Turned Upside Down". It appears that the people need to begin playing that same tune.