Problem Analysis - Failure of the U.S.A. and States to Guarantee ALL Citizens' 14th Amendment Rights

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION / ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

FAILURE OF THE U.S.A. AND STATES TO GUARANTEE ALL CITIZENS’ 14TH AMENDMENT RIGHTS

The U.S.A. and the States have failed to ensure and comply with ALL citizens’ “equal protection of the laws” rights as GUARANTEED under the 14th Amendment of 1868. The U.S. government’s Constitutional role is to “interfere” and enforce those rights when the States do not.

The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
- No state has been successful in fully exercising their reserved 10th Amendment powers while guaranteeing “equal protection of the laws” for all of its citizens as required by the 14th Amendment.
- The U.S. government has NOT consistently “interfered” with the laws or the Constitutions of the States on behalf of ALL citizens’ guaranteed 14th Amendment “equal protection of the laws” as designated by the Founders in the Constitution.
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed on July 9, 1868 and guaranteed ALL citizens “equal protection of the laws;”
- The individual States have ALL failed to enforce those inalienable guarantees as granted to ALL of its citizens, including Native citizens, citizens of color, women citizens, LGBTQ citizens, and our low income and poorest citizens.
- The United States government has failed in its role to ensure that the States comply with the 14th Amendment “equal protection of the laws” guarantees.

PROBLEM IMPACTS

1868 – 2020: a 152-year period of historical data that supports the fact that NO State can claim to have met the “equal protection of the laws” requirements of the 14th Amendment as written.
- States have consistently failed to guarantee Native citizens “equal protection of the laws.”
- States have consistently failed to guarantee citizens of color “equal protection of the laws.”
- States have consistently failed to guarantee women citizens “equal protection of the laws.”
- States have consistently failed to guarantee LGBTQ citizens “equal protection of the laws.”
- States have consistently failed to guarantee low income and poor citizens “equal protection of the laws.”
Over 18,000 independently operated police departments in the USA
- All fifty (50) States have their own sets of policies, practices, and officer training programs.
- Police departments have consistently failed to guarantee ALL citizens “equal protection of the laws.”
- Police unions have been successful in establishing policies and practices that shield police officers from efforts to discipline, fire them for cause, or keep them from being rehired in other jurisdictions despite their work records.
Disbanding of federally funded Affirmative Action programs for businesspersons of color to address past racism, forcing millions of companies out of the federal government contracting sector.
Little or no government-funded infrastructure investment in communities of color across the USA.

CORRECTIVE ACTIONS

Citizens: run for office yourself, WIN, become the Change Agent that you wished others would be.
Citizens: exercise your voting rights by contacting your local, state, and federal representatives and make them aware that your vote is going to the person that supports YOUR citizens’ redress needs.
Federal Government Legislation: efforts to provide the 14th Amendment guarantees of “equal protection of the laws” to ALL U.S. citizens, and especially those that have been denied those guarantees: citizens of color, Native citizens, women citizens, and LGBTQ citizens.
State Government Legislation: efforts to provide the 14th Amendment guarantees of “equal protection of the laws” to ALL U.S. citizens.
State Governments: legislative efforts to address past grievances as they apply to the denial of 14th Amendment guarantees to their citizens of color, Native citizens, women citizens, LGBTQ citizens, and our low income and poorest citizens.
Federal Government Oversight of all 18,000 Police Departments in the USA: Congress shall “federalize” local policing standards across the USA, creating a federal level agency to create and enforce a new standard and measurable set of federal policing policies, practices, procedures, and the like.
Establish a new Office of Redress Administration (ORA) for the Descendants of Black Slaves: for the past-due and formal acknowledgement, apology, and restitution for slavery up to the 1868 14th Amendment AND for the failure of both the States and the U.S.A. to “guarantee” black citizen’s 14th Amendment rights AFTER the ratification of the amendment up to today, June 2020.
- NOTE: an ORA was established for redress to Japanese citizens that were interned during World War II but nothing of the sort for freed slaves nor their descendants.
Federal Affirmative Action contracting programs for businesses: re-establish and fully fund new federal level affirmative action programs to address past racism and sexism in the federal contracting community.
Federally funded Community Revitalization programs that address the ignored infrastructure of communities of color across the USA that are in violation of citizens’ 14th Amendment “equal protection of the laws” rights.
Federally funded mental health and wellness programs that address those ignored citizens with mental health and wellness issues across the USA that also enjoy “equal protection of the laws” rights.
U.S. Citizens must continue to practice their right to protest and seek government redress for change where THEY believe it is required..
Aggrieved U.S. Citizens: prepare for a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. federal government and the 50 States to address their aforementioned failures.

RESPONSIBLE PARTIES

The United States federal government: Constitutional role is to “interfere” when States fail in their roles to “guarantee” ALL citizens 14th Amendment rights.
All fifty (50) States and U.S. Territorories: Constitutionally required to comply with the 14th amendment and provide “equal protection of the laws” to ALL State’s citizens.
Local and municipal government entities: have the same responsibility as the States.
The +18,000 police departments across the United States: have the same responsibility as the States and includes enforcement of the laws. “To protect and serve” MUST be applied to ALL citizens and are “guaranteed.”
U.S. Citizens: continue to practice their right to protest and seek redress, including class actions lawsuits.

EXECUTION STEPS

Spread the word: send out this CreativeBrotha.org problem analysis and connect to other like minded organizations.
Run for Office: who better than Y-O-U to take on the task of making America great for ALL of its citizens.
Education: online educational courses on the many forms of citizens’ redress, providing everyday Americans with knowledge that don’t presently enjoy.
Citizen Redress: keep up the existing protesting efforts and organize new nationwide efforts, long-term, and seek financial support to maintain sustainability. Know your protester rights!
Citizen & Business Financial Support: provide financial support to the protesting efforts to provide sustainability.
Citizens: your vote counts; contact your relevant local, state, and federal level Representatives, Congresspersons, Senators, and let them know, specifically, what they need to do to get your vote.
NonProfits and Community Organizations: organize citizen redress protests and mentor the younger and less experienced, organize your strategic redress goals and then contact your local political representatives about representation and change, send them this CreativeBrotha.org problem analysis.
Federal legislators and lawmakers: you may lose your job if you don’t communicate with your affected constituents, collate and consider their collective redress issues, formulate a plan to address the aforementioned corrective actions (and more) that ENSURE that ALL citizen’ rights are guaranteed, and introduce legislation that comes from those plans.
State legislators and lawmakers: ditto the aforementioned, just at the States’ level where the laws are created and enforced; get in compliance with the 14th Amendment’s guaranteed rights for ALL citizens. All existing lawmakers jobs are seemingly under threat now.
Aggrieved U.S. Citizens: organize the efforts and prepare a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. federal government and the 50 States to address their aforementioned failures.
Legal Aid Organizations: organize the efforts and prepare a class-action lawsuit on behalf of U.S. citizens that are also descendants of African slaves AGAINST the U.S. federal government and the 50 States to address their aforementioned failures and the creation of Office of Redress Administration (ORA).
State, Municipal, & Local Governments: take a positively preemptive approach to assess and take action on those laws, regulations, and related that do not pass the guaranteed “equal protection of the laws” for ALL citizens test.
Federal Government and its Agencies: again, take a positively preemptive approach to assess and take action on those laws, regulations, and related that do not pass the guaranteed “equal protection of the laws” for ALL citizens test.
Legal Aid Organizations & Aggrieved Citizens: identify potentially illegal state and local statutes, prepare legal “facial or as-applied challenges” to those statutes, and be prepared to defend them against the state.
MORE TO COME…

EXECUTION TIMELINE

Short-term Timeline: immediately address the existing hot-button issues of policing standards and practices and existing situations in which there are obvious failures to guarantee ALL citizens’ “equal protections of the laws” rights.
Intermediate-term Timeline: address those issues that take an intermediate amount of time to assess, plan, and execute such as States’ laws that do not guarantee ALL citizens’ 14th Amendment “equal protections of the laws” rights.
Long-term Timeline: efforts to address the structural issues of the aforementioned communities of color is an ongoing and continual process.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION / ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

PROBLEM IMPACTS

CORRECTIVE ACTIONS

RESPONSIBLE PARTIES

EXECUTION STEPS

EXECUTION TIMELINE

FURTHER READING

PODCAST SERIES

Episode #98: I'm the POTUS now and I'm creating a two-state solution. – CreativeBrotha.org