ESTABLISHING A COMMUNITY BILL OF RIGHTS FOR THE PEOPLE OF JACKSON COUNTY, WHICH PROHIBITS
ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS THAT WOULD VIOLATE THE BILL OF RIGHTS, AND WHICH PROVIDES FOR
ENFORCEMENT OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS AGAINST CORPORATIONS ENGAGED IN THOSE ACTIVITIES AND
PROJECTS
When people and communities find that laws ostensibly enacted to protect them, and to foster their health, prosperity, and fundamental rights, do neither; and that the very air, land, and water – on which their lives and happiness depend – are threatened, it becomes necessary for the people to reaffirm, reclaim, and assert their inalienable rights.
Therefore, We the People of Jackson County, in the State of Illinois, affirm Article 1, Sections 1, 23, and 24 of the Illinois State Constitution, which state respectively:
“All men are by nature free and independent and have certain inherent and inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights and the protection of property, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
“A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of civil government is necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty. These blessings cannot endure unless the people recognize their corresponding individual obligations and responsibilities.”
“The enumeration in this Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the individual citizens of the State.”
We the People of Jackson County, in the State of Illinois, affirm Article 11, Sections 1 and 2 of the Illinois State Constitution, which state respectively:
“The public policy of the State and the duty of each person is to provide and maintain a healthful environment for the benefit of this and future generations...”
“Each person has the right to a healthful environment. Each person may enforce this right against any party, governmental or private ...”
As citizens of Jackson County, we recognize that while our state government has recognized these rights, it actively denies us the power to protect these rights, seeking to reserve that power for itself;
As citizens of Jackson County, we recognize that while our state government seeks to monopolize the power to secure and protect our rights, our state government simultaneously passes laws that violate the rights it supposedly protects;
As citizens of Jackson County, we recognize our responsibility – and that of our county representatives – to enforce and protect our inalienable rights, including our right to a healthful environment, through the enactment of this ordinance;
We recognize that the duty “to provide and maintain a healthful environment for the benefit of this and future generations,” as set forth in our state Constitution, is a duty held both by local elected officials of Jackson County, as well as by citizens of Jackson County;
As citizens of Jackson County, we recognize the quality of life for county residents would be irreparably harmed if hydraulic fracturing for oil or gas occurs, or associated infrastructure is sited, within the county;
And since all power of governance is inherent in the people, We, the People of Jackson County, Illinois, declare and 1 of 5
When people and communities find that laws ostensibly enacted to protect them, and to foster their health, prosperity, and fundamental rights, do neither; and that the very air, land, and water – on which their lives and happiness depend – are threatened, it becomes necessary for the people to reaffirm, reclaim, and assert their inalienable rights.
Therefore, We the People of Jackson County, in the State of Illinois, affirm Article 1, Sections 1, 23, and 24 of the Illinois State Constitution, which state respectively:
“All men are by nature free and independent and have certain inherent and inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights and the protection of property, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
“A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of civil government is necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty. These blessings cannot endure unless the people recognize their corresponding individual obligations and responsibilities.”
“The enumeration in this Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the individual citizens of the State.”
We the People of Jackson County, in the State of Illinois, affirm Article 11, Sections 1 and 2 of the Illinois State Constitution, which state respectively:
“The public policy of the State and the duty of each person is to provide and maintain a healthful environment for the benefit of this and future generations...”
“Each person has the right to a healthful environment. Each person may enforce this right against any party, governmental or private ...”
As citizens of Jackson County, we recognize that while our state government has recognized these rights, it actively denies us the power to protect these rights, seeking to reserve that power for itself;
As citizens of Jackson County, we recognize that while our state government seeks to monopolize the power to secure and protect our rights, our state government simultaneously passes laws that violate the rights it supposedly protects;
As citizens of Jackson County, we recognize our responsibility – and that of our county representatives – to enforce and protect our inalienable rights, including our right to a healthful environment, through the enactment of this ordinance;
We recognize that the duty “to provide and maintain a healthful environment for the benefit of this and future generations,” as set forth in our state Constitution, is a duty held both by local elected officials of Jackson County, as well as by citizens of Jackson County;
As citizens of Jackson County, we recognize the quality of life for county residents would be irreparably harmed if hydraulic fracturing for oil or gas occurs, or associated infrastructure is sited, within the county;
And since all power of governance is inherent in the people, We, the People of Jackson County, Illinois, declare and 1 of 5
enact the following civil rights law:
We the people of Jackson County find that our current system of government fails to recognize our self-governing authority because corporations may assert their “rights” to override our laws; our local government and elected representatives can be preempted by state or federal government even when our elected representatives act to protect our community’s health, safety, and welfare; and our local government is banned from adopting and enforcing laws that have not been authorized by the state; and
We the people of Jackson County assert that the operation of those legal doctrines renders our county government unable to protect our rights, and the application of those doctrines renders us powerless to exercise our self-governing authority; and
We the people of Jackson County possess the constitutional right to change our current system of government because that system of government fails to recognize our self-governing authority and it has been rendered unable to secure our rights; and
We the people of Jackson County hereby declare that our current system of government is illegitimate and that we adopt this law to create a new system of county governance that recognizes our self-governing authority while securing and protecting our rights.
Therefore, we the people of Jackson County hereby exercise our inherent and inalienable right of local community self-governance to adopt this Community Bill of Rights law, in order to assert and enforce our fundamental civil, human, and environmental rights.
Section 1 – Definitions
(a) “Chemical Trespass” means the involuntary deposition of toxic substances or potentially toxic substances within a human body, natural community, or ecosystem.
(b) “Corporation,” for purposes of this law, includes any corporation, or other business entity, organized under the laws of any state or any country.
(c) “Ecosystem” includes, but is not limited to, wetlands, streams, rivers, aquifers, and other water systems, as well as naturally occurring habitats that sustain humans, wildlife, flora and fauna, and soil-dwelling or aquatic organisms.
(d) “Extraction” means the digging, drilling, conversion, or operation of a well for the purpose of exploring for, developing, removing, or producing oil or gas.
(e) “Natural Communities” means wildlife, flora, fauna, soil-dwelling and aquatic organisms, as well as humans and human communities that have established sustainable interdependencies within a proliferating and diverse matrix of organisms, within an ecosystem.
(f) “Sustainable energy” means energy that is produced without violating the rights of the human and natural community, which is specifically not derived from fossil fuels or nuclear fission, which does not expand reliance upon fossil fuels or nuclear fission, and which is generated in an economically decentralized manner. This term means energy derived from existing energy flows generated by on-going natural processes, including, but not limited to, energy generated from the sun, flowing water, wind flows, and geothermal heat flows. The term does not include any source of energy generated from an increase in the use of fossil fuels, nuclear fission, or any derivative of those energy sources.
(g) “Toxic Substances and Potentially Toxic Substances,” for purposes of this Ordinance, includes chemicals or chemical compounds, sludge and waste, radioactive ores, mine tailings, millings, waste liquors and radioactive substances, particulate matter, or gasses that have been found to cause adverse effects to animals, humans, or ecosystems. This term includes chemicals, chemical compounds, sources of radiation, and all other substances deemed to be mutagenic, neurotoxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic, reproductive or developmental toxicants, or any
We the people of Jackson County find that our current system of government fails to recognize our self-governing authority because corporations may assert their “rights” to override our laws; our local government and elected representatives can be preempted by state or federal government even when our elected representatives act to protect our community’s health, safety, and welfare; and our local government is banned from adopting and enforcing laws that have not been authorized by the state; and
We the people of Jackson County assert that the operation of those legal doctrines renders our county government unable to protect our rights, and the application of those doctrines renders us powerless to exercise our self-governing authority; and
We the people of Jackson County possess the constitutional right to change our current system of government because that system of government fails to recognize our self-governing authority and it has been rendered unable to secure our rights; and
We the people of Jackson County hereby declare that our current system of government is illegitimate and that we adopt this law to create a new system of county governance that recognizes our self-governing authority while securing and protecting our rights.
Therefore, we the people of Jackson County hereby exercise our inherent and inalienable right of local community self-governance to adopt this Community Bill of Rights law, in order to assert and enforce our fundamental civil, human, and environmental rights.
Section 1 – Definitions
(a) “Chemical Trespass” means the involuntary deposition of toxic substances or potentially toxic substances within a human body, natural community, or ecosystem.
(b) “Corporation,” for purposes of this law, includes any corporation, or other business entity, organized under the laws of any state or any country.
(c) “Ecosystem” includes, but is not limited to, wetlands, streams, rivers, aquifers, and other water systems, as well as naturally occurring habitats that sustain humans, wildlife, flora and fauna, and soil-dwelling or aquatic organisms.
(d) “Extraction” means the digging, drilling, conversion, or operation of a well for the purpose of exploring for, developing, removing, or producing oil or gas.
(e) “Natural Communities” means wildlife, flora, fauna, soil-dwelling and aquatic organisms, as well as humans and human communities that have established sustainable interdependencies within a proliferating and diverse matrix of organisms, within an ecosystem.
(f) “Sustainable energy” means energy that is produced without violating the rights of the human and natural community, which is specifically not derived from fossil fuels or nuclear fission, which does not expand reliance upon fossil fuels or nuclear fission, and which is generated in an economically decentralized manner. This term means energy derived from existing energy flows generated by on-going natural processes, including, but not limited to, energy generated from the sun, flowing water, wind flows, and geothermal heat flows. The term does not include any source of energy generated from an increase in the use of fossil fuels, nuclear fission, or any derivative of those energy sources.
(g) “Toxic Substances and Potentially Toxic Substances,” for purposes of this Ordinance, includes chemicals or chemical compounds, sludge and waste, radioactive ores, mine tailings, millings, waste liquors and radioactive substances, particulate matter, or gasses that have been found to cause adverse effects to animals, humans, or ecosystems. This term includes chemicals, chemical compounds, sources of radiation, and all other substances deemed to be mutagenic, neurotoxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic, reproductive or developmental toxicants, or any
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other toxic chemical or hazardous substance the County identifies by resolution to be subject to this Ordinance. The
phrase specifically includes, but is not limited to, frack water and materials used in, and resulting from, the
extraction of oil or gas.
(h) “Unsustainable energy infrastructure” means any structure, vehicle, or equipment, for use in:
(i) the extraction of oil or gas; the importation or extraction of water or any other substance, including but not
limited to, propane, sand, and other substances used in the extraction of oil or gas, into or out of Jackson County or its watershed(s) for use in the extraction of oil or gas; the deposition, storage, “treatment,” injection, transportation, or processing of waste water, “produced” water, “frack” water, brine or other materials, chemicals or by-products used in the extraction of oil or gas, in or onto the land, streets, air or waters within Jackson County; or
(ii) the siting of extraction, production, or delivery infrastructures within Jackson County, or the construction or maintenance of infrastructure related to the extraction of oil or gas within Jackson County or its watershed(s). Such infrastructures include, but are not limited to, pipelines; processing facilities; waste storage structures; compressors; storage and transportation facilities used to support the corporate extraction, production, or distribution of oil or gas; and housing for workers involved in extraction, production, and distribution of oil or gas.
Section 2 – Statements of Law – A Community Bill of Rights
(a) Right to Clean Water. All residents, natural communities, and ecosystems in Jackson County possess a right to sustainably access, use, consume, and preserve clean water, untainted by toxic substances or potentially toxic substances, and drawn from natural water cycles that provide water necessary to sustain life within the County.
(b) Right of Water for Agriculture. All residents of Jackson County possess the right to unpolluted water to produce healthy food, and to sustain human life, pastured livestock, and the land.
(c) Right to Clean Air. All residents, natural communities and ecosystems in Jackson County possess a right to breathe air untainted by toxic substances or potentially toxic substances.
(d) Rights of Nature. Ecosystems and natural communities within Jackson County possess the right to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve.
(e) Right to a Sustainable Energy Future. All residents, natural communities, and ecosystems within Jackson County possess a right to a sustainable energy future, which includes, but is not limited to, the development, production, and use of energy from renewable fuel sources in a decentralized fashion.
(f) Right to Peaceful Enjoyment of Home. Residents of Jackson County possess a right to the peaceful enjoyment of their homes, free from interference, intrusion, nuisances, or impediments to access and occupation, caused by unsustainable energy infrastructure.
(g) Right to be Free from Chemical Trespass. All residents, natural communities, and ecosystems within Jackson County possess a right to be free from chemical trespass caused by unsustainable energy infrastructure.
(h) Right to a Legitimate Government. The people of Jackson County possess a right to a legitimate government. All legitimate governments in the United States owe their existence to the people of the community 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.
(i) Right of Local Community Self-Government. The people of Jackson 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.
(j) Right to Assert the Right of Self-Government. The people of Jackson 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, county, or any other institution, shall not eliminate, limit, or reduce their sovereign right of local community
(h) “Unsustainable energy infrastructure” means any structure, vehicle, or equipment, for use in:
(i) the extraction of oil or gas; the importation or extraction of water or any other substance, including but not
limited to, propane, sand, and other substances used in the extraction of oil or gas, into or out of Jackson County or its watershed(s) for use in the extraction of oil or gas; the deposition, storage, “treatment,” injection, transportation, or processing of waste water, “produced” water, “frack” water, brine or other materials, chemicals or by-products used in the extraction of oil or gas, in or onto the land, streets, air or waters within Jackson County; or
(ii) the siting of extraction, production, or delivery infrastructures within Jackson County, or the construction or maintenance of infrastructure related to the extraction of oil or gas within Jackson County or its watershed(s). Such infrastructures include, but are not limited to, pipelines; processing facilities; waste storage structures; compressors; storage and transportation facilities used to support the corporate extraction, production, or distribution of oil or gas; and housing for workers involved in extraction, production, and distribution of oil or gas.
Section 2 – Statements of Law – A Community Bill of Rights
(a) Right to Clean Water. All residents, natural communities, and ecosystems in Jackson County possess a right to sustainably access, use, consume, and preserve clean water, untainted by toxic substances or potentially toxic substances, and drawn from natural water cycles that provide water necessary to sustain life within the County.
(b) Right of Water for Agriculture. All residents of Jackson County possess the right to unpolluted water to produce healthy food, and to sustain human life, pastured livestock, and the land.
(c) Right to Clean Air. All residents, natural communities and ecosystems in Jackson County possess a right to breathe air untainted by toxic substances or potentially toxic substances.
(d) Rights of Nature. Ecosystems and natural communities within Jackson County possess the right to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve.
(e) Right to a Sustainable Energy Future. All residents, natural communities, and ecosystems within Jackson County possess a right to a sustainable energy future, which includes, but is not limited to, the development, production, and use of energy from renewable fuel sources in a decentralized fashion.
(f) Right to Peaceful Enjoyment of Home. Residents of Jackson County possess a right to the peaceful enjoyment of their homes, free from interference, intrusion, nuisances, or impediments to access and occupation, caused by unsustainable energy infrastructure.
(g) Right to be Free from Chemical Trespass. All residents, natural communities, and ecosystems within Jackson County possess a right to be free from chemical trespass caused by unsustainable energy infrastructure.
(h) Right to a Legitimate Government. The people of Jackson County possess a right to a legitimate government. All legitimate governments in the United States owe their existence to the people of the community 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.
(i) Right of Local Community Self-Government. The people of Jackson 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.
(j) Right to Assert the Right of Self-Government. The people of Jackson 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, county, or any other institution, shall not eliminate, limit, or reduce their sovereign right of local community
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self-government.
(k) Rights as Self-Executing. All rights secured by this law are inherent, fundamental, and inalienable, and shall be self-executing and enforceable against both private and public actors. Further implementing legislation shall not be required for the County, the residents of Jackson County, or the ecosystems and natural communities protected by this law, to enforce all of the provisions of this law.
Section 3 – Statements of Law – Prohibitions Necessary to Secure the Bill of Rights
(a) It shall be unlawful within Jackson County for any corporation or government to engage in the operation or siting of any new unsustainable energy infrastructure.
(b) It shall be unlawful within Jackson County for any corporation or government to cause chemical trespass through any new unsustainable energy infrastructure.
(c) Corporations and persons using corporations to engage in oil or gas extraction, or to support the activity of oil or gas extraction, in a neighboring municipality, county, or state shall be strictly liable for the violation of rights recognized by this ordinance, and for all harms consequently caused to natural water sources, ecosystems, and human and natural communities within Jackson County and its jurisdiction. Government agencies and units of government, including counties, municipalities, and other local governments, that issue permits or allow the extraction of oil or gas, shall be held liable for the violation of the rights of Jackson County residents, ecosystems, and natural communities if a chemical trespass results.
(d) It shall be unlawful for any corporation or government to violate the rights recognized and secured by this law.
(e) 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 Jackson County.
Section 4 – Enforcement
(a) Any corporation or government that violates any provision of this law shall be guilty of an offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay the maximum fine allowable under State law for that violation. Each day or portion thereof, and violation of each section of this law, shall count as a separate violation.
(b) The County, or any resident of Jackson County, may enforce the rights and prohibitions of this law through an action brought in any court possessing jurisdiction over activities occurring within Jackson County. In such an action, the County or the resident shall be entitled to recover all costs of litigation, including, without limitation, expert and attorney’s fees.
(c) Ecosystems and natural communities within Jackson County may enforce their rights, as well as this law’s prohibitions, through an action brought by the County or residents of Jackson County in any court possessing jurisdiction over activities occurring within Jackson County, in the name of the ecosystem or natural community as the real party in interest. Damages shall be measured by the cost of restoring the ecosystem or natural community to its state before the injury, and shall be paid to Jackson County to be used exclusively for the full and complete restoration of the ecosystem or natural community.
(d) If Jackson County fails to enforce or defend this law, or a court fails to uphold this law’s limitations on corporate power, the law shall not be affected by the failure to enforce or defend, or by the failure to uphold the limitations on corporate power, and any person may then enforce the rights and prohibitions of the law through direct action. If enforcement through direct action is commenced, this law shall prohibit any private or public actor from filing a civil or criminal action against those participating in direct action. If filed in violation of this provision, the applicable court must dismiss the action promptly, without further filings being required of direct action participants. “Direct action” as used by this provision shall mean any non-violent activities or non-violent actions carried out to directly enforce the rights and prohibitions contained within this law.
(k) Rights as Self-Executing. All rights secured by this law are inherent, fundamental, and inalienable, and shall be self-executing and enforceable against both private and public actors. Further implementing legislation shall not be required for the County, the residents of Jackson County, or the ecosystems and natural communities protected by this law, to enforce all of the provisions of this law.
Section 3 – Statements of Law – Prohibitions Necessary to Secure the Bill of Rights
(a) It shall be unlawful within Jackson County for any corporation or government to engage in the operation or siting of any new unsustainable energy infrastructure.
(b) It shall be unlawful within Jackson County for any corporation or government to cause chemical trespass through any new unsustainable energy infrastructure.
(c) Corporations and persons using corporations to engage in oil or gas extraction, or to support the activity of oil or gas extraction, in a neighboring municipality, county, or state shall be strictly liable for the violation of rights recognized by this ordinance, and for all harms consequently caused to natural water sources, ecosystems, and human and natural communities within Jackson County and its jurisdiction. Government agencies and units of government, including counties, municipalities, and other local governments, that issue permits or allow the extraction of oil or gas, shall be held liable for the violation of the rights of Jackson County residents, ecosystems, and natural communities if a chemical trespass results.
(d) It shall be unlawful for any corporation or government to violate the rights recognized and secured by this law.
(e) 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 Jackson County.
Section 4 – Enforcement
(a) Any corporation or government that violates any provision of this law shall be guilty of an offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay the maximum fine allowable under State law for that violation. Each day or portion thereof, and violation of each section of this law, shall count as a separate violation.
(b) The County, or any resident of Jackson County, may enforce the rights and prohibitions of this law through an action brought in any court possessing jurisdiction over activities occurring within Jackson County. In such an action, the County or the resident shall be entitled to recover all costs of litigation, including, without limitation, expert and attorney’s fees.
(c) Ecosystems and natural communities within Jackson County may enforce their rights, as well as this law’s prohibitions, through an action brought by the County or residents of Jackson County in any court possessing jurisdiction over activities occurring within Jackson County, in the name of the ecosystem or natural community as the real party in interest. Damages shall be measured by the cost of restoring the ecosystem or natural community to its state before the injury, and shall be paid to Jackson County to be used exclusively for the full and complete restoration of the ecosystem or natural community.
(d) If Jackson County fails to enforce or defend this law, or a court fails to uphold this law’s limitations on corporate power, the law shall not be affected by the failure to enforce or defend, or by the failure to uphold the limitations on corporate power, and any person may then enforce the rights and prohibitions of the law through direct action. If enforcement through direct action is commenced, this law shall prohibit any private or public actor from filing a civil or criminal action against those participating in direct action. If filed in violation of this provision, the applicable court must dismiss the action promptly, without further filings being required of direct action participants. “Direct action” as used by this provision shall mean any non-violent activities or non-violent actions carried out to directly enforce the rights and prohibitions contained within this law.
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 standing to challenge this law, 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 Jackson County lack the authority to adopt this law.
(b) All laws adopted by the legislature of the State of Illinois, and rules adopted by any State agency, shall be the law of Jackson 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 Illinois legislature in any attempt to overturn the provisions of this law shall be rejected by Jackson County, deemed an illegitimate effort to subvert the people’s right to local self-government, and considered null and void. Use of the courts or the Illinois legislature in attempts to overturn the provisions of this law shall require the County Board to hold public meetings that focus on the adoption of other measures and changes to local governance that would further secure the people's fundamental and inalienable right of local community self-government. County residents shall have the right to participate in these public meetings by bringing forth proposals and by making arguments for and against proposals, without limitation upon the duration or content.
Section 8 – State and Federal Constitutional Changes
Through the adoption of this law, the people of Jackson County call for amendment of the Illinois 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 Jackson County are hereby repealed, but only to the extent necessary to remedy the inconsistency.
Section 11 – Interpretation
Any reviewing court must liberally interpret this law’s provisions to achieve the goals stated in the preamble. ENACTED AND ORDAINED this ___ day of __________, 2015, by Jackson County, Illinois.
By:
_______________________________
(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 standing to challenge this law, 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 Jackson County lack the authority to adopt this law.
(b) All laws adopted by the legislature of the State of Illinois, and rules adopted by any State agency, shall be the law of Jackson 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 Illinois legislature in any attempt to overturn the provisions of this law shall be rejected by Jackson County, deemed an illegitimate effort to subvert the people’s right to local self-government, and considered null and void. Use of the courts or the Illinois legislature in attempts to overturn the provisions of this law shall require the County Board to hold public meetings that focus on the adoption of other measures and changes to local governance that would further secure the people's fundamental and inalienable right of local community self-government. County residents shall have the right to participate in these public meetings by bringing forth proposals and by making arguments for and against proposals, without limitation upon the duration or content.
Section 8 – State and Federal Constitutional Changes
Through the adoption of this law, the people of Jackson County call for amendment of the Illinois 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 Jackson County are hereby repealed, but only to the extent necessary to remedy the inconsistency.
Section 11 – Interpretation
Any reviewing court must liberally interpret this law’s provisions to achieve the goals stated in the preamble. ENACTED AND ORDAINED this ___ day of __________, 2015, by Jackson County, Illinois.
By:
_______________________________
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