From: Laura Rush [mailto:RushL@flcourts.org]
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 9:57 AM
To: bob@bobhurt.com
Subject: Loyalty Oaths

Mr. Hurt – Your May 27 e-mail to Steven Hall in the Office of the State Courts Administrator was forwarded to me for review. My staff is researching the issues raised in your e-mail. I will contact you as soon as we have completed our research and analysis.

Sincerely,

Laura Rush
General Counsel
Office of the State Courts Administrator
500 S Duval St
Tallahassee FL 32399
850.488.1824

Thank you, Laura. I appreciate your speedy response. I shall assist you in any way I can. I have attached my latest version of my research article Loyalty Oaths in Florida, revised 11 June 2007, for your review.

Loyalty Oath Problems and Why They Have Such A Serious Nature

We do have serious problems with loyalty oaths in Florida. At the top of the heap: attitudes by high level officials and legal counsel in the government of Florida, beginning with the Governor and Department of State. Someone there decided to remove the jurat from the loyalty oaths. That causes two problems:

We do not know whether the oath-giver actually signed the oath, and cannot prove it in court.
Removal of the jurat flouts the law by conspiring in the violation of Florida Statute 876.05.

We have numerous associated problems as well:

I have found plenty of Public Officer’s oaths (Article II Section 5(b), Florida Constitution) on file, but they do not constitute compliance with 876.05. I have not found any 876.05 oaths on file with state courts administrators.
All paymasters, whether State Courts Administrators or Comptrollers, violate the array of statutes in 876.05-876.10 by failing to have the 876.05 oath on hand before paying the judges.
Your administrators around the state should not hand out paychecks to judges who do not have on file a precisely worded, notarized 876.05 oath, and the Comptroller should not make direct deposits of pay into judges’ bank accounts without having that oath on file.
Statute 876.06 requires that the government discharge employees who fail to execute the 876.05 oath, and any employing official who fails to discharge such an employee thereby commits a second degree misdemeanor under 876.08.

Your administrators should effectively fire every judge who does not have a valid 876.05 oath.
Because of your control over paychecks, you have both the power and the responsibility to take that action.
If you cannot yourselves take the action, then you should insist that the appropriate party do it. I want to know the job title of such parties.
Other than appointed Senior Judges, we elect judges, so I do not presume that they work for the Supreme Court. Thus, the Supremes cannot fire them.
Maybe the Supervisors of Elections have the authority to declare them un-elected for want of executing and having notarized their 876.05 oaths. I believe the Supervisors have that authority because the election process has not run its course till the judge qualifies lawfully to take his first paycheck PRIOR to performing any duties of the office.
Therefore, the State Courts Administrators must inform the Election Supervisors of the fault for any judge who fails to execute and have notarized his or her 876.05 oath.

In the event the State Courts Administrator incurs the penalty of 876.08 by failing to inform the Election Supervisor of the judge’s failure to have a valid 876.05 oath on file, but
the Election Supervisor incurs the penalty by failing to declare the judge Not Elected if so informed by the State Courts Administrator.

The law clearly requires that an executed oath bear the signature of the employee and the signature and seal of the person duly authorized to take oaths for acknowledgement. Without both, the oath does not have legal sufficiency.
The Judge MUST take these loyalty Oaths, and you should demand that the State Courts Administrators and the judges themselves have them available for instant public access:

97.051 Elector’s oath
Bar oath (see Bar Examiner rules – the public cannot access these, but Attorneys can buy a certified copy for $30)
876.05 oath, pre-candidate (most recent election or appointment)
105.031 Candidate’s oath (most recent election or appointment)
A2S5b Public Officer’s oath (most recent election or appointment)
876.05 oath, pre-paycheck (most recent election or appointment)

Note that the law requires all of these oaths in sequence because at any time, a person can “unswear” his oath or “change his mind,” and so a previously sworn oath does not suffice. Thus a judge must swear loyalty before becoming a candidate (876.05), upon getting elected (A2S5b), and again prior to first performing the duties of the office (876.05). While the judge might consider this just too, too tedious, so what? The people and our legislator feel scared out of our wits by the idea of an insufferably arrogant, corrupt judge of the kind that mostly populate our courts these days. We wouldn’t trust our mothers to govern us wisely without the pressure of a loyalty oath guaranteeing to honor and protect our Constitutionally guaranteed rights. Judges provide the consummate vehicle for enforcing that guarantee, so we DEMAND that someone trustworthy like a notary public take the oath-giver’s oral and written oath and witness the oath-giver’s signature upon the oath document, then sign and seal the witness’ attestation. Nothing less can possibly suffice to give us peace of mind.
Attorneys in the Florida State Department have speciously claimed that Florida Statute 92.525 allows the public officer to substitute a penalty of perjury statement for a jurat.

Let us first remember that 92.525 deals with oaths of witnesses in official (court) proceedings, and not with the general practice of administering loyalty oaths for public office, which typically do not happen in “official” proceedings (although I believe all judges should so swear at the beginning of every judicial proceeding.
Second let us attend to the fact that the statute text “(1) When it is authorized or required by law, by rule of an administrative agency, or by rule or order of court that a document be verified by a person, the verification may be accomplished in the following manner:” specifically refers to a document, not to the oral swearing of an oath, of loyalty, which the notary, clerk, or judge hears orally admitted by the oath giver. The oral swearing of the oath, not the verification of the oath document, constitutes the primary act witnessed. 876.05 says the oath giver is “required to take an oath before any person duly authorized to take acknowledgments of instruments for public record.” It does not say the oath giver must verify a document.
The attorneys who advocate the fraudulent 92.525 argument suffer under a corrupting influence, perhaps one that threatens their job and bar membership if they don’t advocate. Otherwise, how can they possibly explain that for many years prior to 2000, all oaths bore jurats? Had everyone prior to that time lost his mind? Or did Jeb Bush, in a fit of pique over the jurat, demand that his minions remove it from oath forms? I believe he did. I obtained a copy of his 1998 and 2002 oaths. The 1998 oath bore a jurat all right, but Jeb signed the document where he should have AND where the notary should have. The 2002 oath document did not bear a jurat. Go ahead and call Joel Mynard at the Bureau of Records and have him send you a copy of each. Then you might get some inkling as to why the jurat disappeared.

As a consequence of failing to have the 876.05 oaths notarized, every judge elected since 2000 has committed serious crimes regarding loyalty oaths:

Misdemeanor perjury violation of 105.031 (by failing to have a valid 867.o5 oath with jurat prior to swearing candidate oath required by 105.031(5)(a)(3).)
Misdemeanor violation of 876.07, taking office without qualification, under 839.18 Penalty for officer assuming to act before qualification.
Felony violation of 843.0855 Obstruction of Justice by impersonating a public officer

In spite of these blatant crimes, not a single Sheriff’s deputy, Sheriff, State Attorney, State Trooper, or Florida Department of Law Enforcement Official has lifted a finger or a pen to bring these perpetrators to justice… to their everlasting shame.
Florida’s judges have gone out of control and made crime rampant in our courts, from the highest to the lowest.

I have sat in many hearings and watched judges stomp mercilessly and with impunity on litigants’ and observers rights, using bailiffs like a pack of rabid lap dogs to wield and enforce their unmerciful and unjust edicts.
Judges routinely conspire to alter the official record by directing court reporters to omit important discourse or commentary from it, and that has grown so egregious that many Circuit Chief Judges deny the public access to the CourtSmart recordings, lest the public discover their criminal and conspiratorial chicanery.
I believe bribery by law firms commonly corrupts judges in every judicial circuit, and pro se litigants have no hope of obtaining justice.
I know for a fact that the clerk of the Supreme Court routinely and ALWAYS dismisses the cases of pro se litigants who faced opponents represented by attorneys in the District Courts of Appeal, and the DCAs routinely rule against pro se litigants who faced opponents represented by attorneys.
Such collusion to defeat justice amounts to an utter desecration of honor, and all of the judges likewise turn a blind eye to this loyalty oath mess.
I have all but lost complete and total respect for our judiciary.

You do have an opportunity to start the process of straightening out these renegades. Will you do your job and push the process to start firing judges? Or will you become part and parcel of the corruption that has destroyed the Florida Republic?

A Case Against Florida’s Biggest Racketeering Industry

Note this: I have almost finished planning a racketeering lawsuit against the entire judiciary in Florida, including the judges, clerks, and every bar member. Why?

The US Constitution guarantees that the states will have Republic governments. Article IV Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.
A republic has balance and separation of powers so that the same laws bind both the rulers and the ruled.
Our loyalty oaths constitute the only guarantee that public officers will protect our rights, and not stomp on them.
In 1949, the Supreme Court absorbed the Florida Bar Thus all bar members (attorneys and judges) belong to the Judicial Branch of Florida’s government
The Florida Bar is a private corporation that holds secret meetings the public cannot attend. See State Dept filing - FLORIDA BAR, Document Number X00629, Status ACTIVE, Filed Date 04/06/1989 (no other data available). http://www.sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq_doc_number=X00629&inq_came_from=NAMFWD&cor_web_names_seq_number=0000&names_name_ind=N&names_cor_number=&names_name_seq=&names_name_ind=&names_comp_name=FLORIDABAR&names_filing_type=
Compare this with “The Florida Bar Association, Inc” of Bradenton, probably a poke in the eye of the Florida Bar. http://www.sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq_doc_number=N05000009115&inq_came_from=NAMFWD&cor_web_names_seq_number=0000&names_name_ind=N&names_cor_number=&names_name_seq=&names_name_ind=&names_comp_name=FLORIDABAR&names_filing_type=,

The Executive Branch contains numerous bar members, some Constitutional officers, like the Attorney General, State Attorneys, Assistant State Attorneys, and staff counsel like you.
The Legislative Branch contains numerous bar members, including many legislators and a bunch of staff members and legislative aids and staff counsel like you.
Thus, all three branches contain bar members who belong to the Judicial Branch.
Florida Constitution Article II SECTION 3. Branches of government.--The powers of the state government shall be divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches. No person belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers appertaining to either of the other branches unless expressly provided herein.
Thus, the Florida Constitution is criminal on its face - it violates the US Constitution by destroying the Republic’s republican nature through requiring Constitutional officers to belong to the Bar, a private corporation, and it commits governmental insanity by allowing Bar members to participate in government at all. No wonder judges and law firms collude to destroy the very fair and impartial justice they promised under “loyalty oaths” that they would deliver.
The whole scheme of Bar infiltration of every nook and cranny of every level and branch of government amounts to an enormous racketeering scam intended to defraud the people and extort millions of dollars annually from them through bogus trials in which all attorneys (yes, even defense attorneys) have their first loyalty to the court, not to the Constitution (and clients become wards of the court - see CJS V7 on Attorney-Client Relationship).

Don’t you agree that I can make a good case for racketeering? Never mind. Consider that question rhetorical.

I hope you will correspond openly and honestly with me, and not pretend that 92.525 excuses the judges from the obligation to give their proper 876.05 oaths, including having the oaths signed and sealed by a proper notary or other appropriate officer.

Please, let me see some fast and decisive action in forcing all public employees properly to execute oaths to which a notary or other appropriate officer signs and seals a jurat.

Sincerely and without prejudice (UCC 1-308),

**************************************
Bob Hurt, All Rights Reserved
2460 Persian Drive #70 × Clearwater, FL 33763
+1 (727) 669-5511 × bob@bobhurt.com
**************************************
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Appendix – The Law

Florida Constitution Article II Section 5

(b) Each state and county officer, before entering upon the duties of the office, shall give bond as required by law, and shall swear or affirm:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, protect, and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States and of the State of Florida; that I am duly qualified to hold office under the Constitution of the state; and that I will well and faithfully perform the duties of (title of office) on which I am now about to enter. So help me God.", and thereafter shall devote personal attention to the duties of the office, and continue in office until a successor qualifies.

876.05 Public employees; oath.--

(1) All persons who now or hereafter are employed by or who now or hereafter are on the payroll of the state, or any of its departments and agencies, subdivisions, counties, cities, school boards and districts of the free public school system of the state or counties, or institutions of higher learning, and all candidates for public office, are required to take an oath before any person duly authorized to take acknowledgments of instruments for public record in the state in the following form:

I, _____, a citizen of the State of Florida and of the United States of America, and being employed by or an officer of _____ and a recipient of public funds as such employee or officer, do hereby solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Florida.

(2) Said oath shall be filed with the records of the governing official or employing governmental agency prior to the approval of any voucher for the payment of salary, expenses, or other compensation.

History.--s. 1, ch. 25046, 1949; s. 22, ch. 83-214.

876.06 Discharge for refusal to execute.--If any person required by ss. 876.05-876.10 to take the oath herein provided for fails to execute the same, the governing authority under which such person is employed shall cause said person to be immediately discharged, and his or her name removed from the payroll, and such person shall not be permitted to receive any payment as an employee or as an officer where he or she was serving.

History.--s. 2, ch. 25046, 1949; s. 1414, ch. 97-102.

876.07 Oath as prerequisite to qualification for public office.--Any person seeking to qualify for public office who fails or refuses to file the oath required by this act shall be held to have failed to qualify as a candidate for public office, and the name of such person shall not be printed on the ballot as a qualified candidate.

History.--s. 3, ch. 25046, 1949; s. 23, ch. 83-214.

876.08 Penalty for not discharging.--Any governing authority or person, under whom any employee is serving or by whom employed who shall knowingly or carelessly permit any such employee to continue in employment after failing to comply with the provisions of ss. 876.05-876.10, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

History.--s. 4, ch. 25046, 1949; s. 1140, ch. 71-136.

876.09 Scope of law.--

(1) The provisions of ss. 876.05-876.10 shall apply to all employees and elected officers of the state, including the Governor and constitutional officers and all employees and elected officers of all cities, towns, counties, and political subdivisions, including the educational system.

(2) This act shall take precedence over all laws relating to merit, and of civil service law.

History.--ss. 5, 7, ch. 25046, 1949.

876.10 False oath; penalty.--If any person required by the provisions of ss. 876.05-876.10 to execute the oath herein required executes such oath, and it is subsequently proven that at the time of the execution of said oath said individual was guilty of making a false statement in said oath, he or she shall be guilty of perjury.

History.--s. 6, ch. 25046, 1949; s. 1141, ch. 71-136; s. 1415, ch. 97-102.

105.031 Qualification; filing fee; candidate's oath; items required to be filed.--

(1) TIME OF QUALIFYING.--Except for candidates for judicial office, nonpartisan candidates for multicounty office shall qualify with the Division of Elections of the Department of State and nonpartisan candidates for countywide or less than countywide office shall qualify with the supervisor of elections. Candidates for judicial office other than the office of county court judge shall qualify with the Division of Elections of the Department of State, and candidates for the office of county court judge shall qualify with the supervisor of elections of the county. Candidates for judicial office shall qualify no earlier than noon of the 120th day, and no later than noon of the 116th day, before the primary election. Candidates for the office of school board member shall qualify no earlier than noon of the 50th day, and no later than noon of the 46th day, before the primary election. Filing shall be on forms provided for that purpose by the Division of Elections and furnished by the appropriate qualifying officer. Any person seeking to qualify by the petition process, as set forth in s. 105.035, who has submitted the necessary petitions by the required deadline and is notified after the fifth day prior to the last day for qualifying that the required number of signatures has been obtained, shall be entitled to subscribe to the candidate's oath and file the qualifying papers at any time within 5 days from the date he or she is notified that the necessary number of signatures has been obtained. Any person other than a write-in candidate who qualifies within the time prescribed in this subsection shall be entitled to have his or her name printed on the ballot.

(2) FILING IN GROUPS OR DISTRICTS.--Candidates shall qualify in groups or districts where multiple offices are to be filled.

(3) QUALIFYING FEE.--Each candidate qualifying for election to a judicial office or the office of school board member, except write-in judicial or school board candidates, shall, during the time for qualifying, pay to the officer with whom he or she qualifies a qualifying fee, which shall consist of a filing fee and an election assessment, or qualify by the petition process. The amount of the filing fee is 3 percent of the annual salary of the office sought. The amount of the election assessment is 1 percent of the annual salary of the office sought. The Department of State shall forward all filing fees to the Department of Revenue for deposit in the Elections Commission Trust Fund. The supervisor of elections shall forward all filing fees to the Elections Commission Trust Fund. The election assessment shall be deposited into the Elections Commission Trust Fund. The annual salary of the office for purposes of computing the qualifying fee shall be computed by multiplying 12 times the monthly salary authorized for such office as of July 1 immediately preceding the first day of qualifying. This subsection shall not apply to candidates qualifying for retention to judicial office.

(4) CANDIDATE'S OATH.--

(a) All candidates for the office of school board member shall subscribe to the oath as prescribed in s. 99.021.

(b) All candidates for judicial office shall subscribe to an oath or affirmation in writing to be filed with the appropriate qualifying officer upon qualifying. A printed copy of the oath or affirmation shall be furnished to the candidate by the qualifying officer and shall be in substantially the following form:

State of Florida
County of _____

Before me, an officer authorized to administer oaths, personally appeared (please print name as you wish it to appear on the ballot) , to me well known, who, being sworn, says he or she: is a candidate for the judicial office of _____; that his or her legal residence is _____ County, Florida; that he or she is a qualified elector of the state and of the territorial jurisdiction of the court to which he or she seeks election; that he or she is qualified under the constitution and laws of Florida to hold the judicial office to which he or she desires to be elected or in which he or she desires to be retained; that he or she has taken the oath required by ss. 876.05-876.10, Florida Statutes; that he or she has qualified for no other public office in the state, the term of which office or any part thereof runs concurrent to the office he or she seeks; and that he or she has resigned from any office which he or she is required to resign pursuant to s. 99.012, Florida Statutes.

(Signature of candidate)

(Address)

Sworn to and subscribed before me this _____ day of _____, (year) , at _____ County, Florida.

(Signature and title of officer administering oath)

(5) ITEMS REQUIRED TO BE FILED.--

(a) In order for a candidate for judicial office or the office of school board member to be qualified, the following items must be received by the filing officer by the end of the qualifying period:

1. Except for candidates for retention to judicial office, a properly executed check drawn upon the candidate's campaign account in an amount not less than the fee required by subsection (3) or, in lieu thereof, the copy of the notice of obtaining ballot position pursuant to s. 105.035. If a candidate's check is returned by the bank for any reason, the filing officer shall immediately notify the candidate and the candidate shall, the end of qualifying notwithstanding, have 48 hours from the time such notification is received, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, to pay the fee with a cashier's check purchased from funds of the campaign account. Failure to pay the fee as provided in this subparagraph shall disqualify the candidate.

2. The candidate's oath required by subsection (4), which must contain the name of the candidate as it is to appear on the ballot; the office sought, including the district or group number if applicable; and the signature of the candidate, duly acknowledged.

3. The loyalty oath required by s. 876.05, signed by the candidate and duly acknowledged.

4. The completed form for the appointment of campaign treasurer and designation of campaign depository, as required by s. 106.021. In addition, each candidate for judicial office, including an incumbent judge, shall file a statement with the qualifying officer, within 10 days after filing the appointment of campaign treasurer and designation of campaign depository, stating that the candidate has read and understands the requirements of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct. Such statement shall be in substantially the following form:

Statement of Candidate for Judicial Office

I, (name of candidate) , a judicial candidate, have received, read, and understand the requirements of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct.

(Signature of candidate)

(Date)

5. The full and public disclosure of financial interests required by s. 8, Art. II of the State Constitution or the statement of financial interests required by s. 112.3145, whichever is applicable. A public officer who has filed the full and public disclosure or statement of financial interests with the Commission on Ethics or the supervisor of elections prior to qualifying for office may file a copy of that disclosure at the time of qualifying.

(b) If the filing officer receives qualifying papers that do not include all items as required by paragraph (a) prior to the last day of qualifying, the filing officer shall make a reasonable effort to notify the candidate of the missing or incomplete items and shall inform the candidate that all required items must be received by the close of qualifying. A candidate's name as it is to appear on the ballot may not be changed after the end of qualifying.

(6) Notwithstanding the qualifying period prescribed in this section, a filing officer may accept and hold qualifying papers submitted not earlier than 14 days prior to the beginning of the qualifying period, to be processed and filed during the qualifying period.

History.--s. 3, ch. 71-49; s. 36, ch. 77-175; s. 1, ch. 78-260; s. 5, ch. 79-365; s. 54, ch. 79-400; s. 17, ch. 81-105; s. 10, ch. 83-251; s. 1, ch. 89-152; s. 34, ch. 89-338; s. 5, ch. 91-107; s. 630, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 95-156; s. 13, ch. 97-13; s. 13, ch. 99-6; s. 2, ch. 99-326; s. 2, ch. 99-355; s. 23, ch. 2002-17; s. 65, ch. 2005-277; s. 21, ch. 2005-286.

Title VII
EVIDENCE

Chapter 92
WITNESSES, RECORDS, AND DOCUMENTS

View Entire Chapter

92.525 Verification of documents; perjury by false written declaration, penalty.--

(1) When it is authorized or required by law, by rule of an administrative agency, or by rule or order of court that a document be verified by a person, the verification may be accomplished in the following manner:

(a) Under oath or affirmation taken or administered before an officer authorized under s. 92.50 to administer oaths; or

(b) By the signing of the written declaration prescribed in subsection (2).

(2) A written declaration means the following statement: "Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing [document] and that the facts stated in it are true," followed by the signature of the person making the declaration, except when a verification on information or belief is permitted by law, in which case the words "to the best of my knowledge and belief" may be added. The written declaration shall be printed or typed at the end of or immediately below the document being verified and above the signature of the person making the declaration.

(3) A person who knowingly makes a false declaration under subsection (2) is guilty of the crime of perjury by false written declaration, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

(4) As used in this section:

(a) The term "administrative agency" means any department or agency of the state or any county, municipality, special district, or other political subdivision.

(b) The term "document" means any writing including, without limitation, any form, application, claim, notice, tax return, inventory, affidavit, pleading, or paper.

(c) The requirement that a document be verified means that the document must be signed or executed by a person and that the person must state under oath or affirm that the facts or matters stated or recited in the document are true, or words of that import or effect.

History.--s. 12, ch. 86-201.