The Rogue Governor

Written by Margaret Cantrell

In chapter 9 of Matthew J. Trewhella’s book, The Doctrine OfThe Lesser Magistrate, he writes of when lesser magistrates go rogue.

“In February of 2004, America heard tell of a bold lesser magistrate who was willing to oppose the higher magistrate. The only problem was – he was wicked.” Gavin Newson, the mayor of San Francisco, decided to defy state law and issue state marriage licenses to homosexuals.”

Now he is the governor of California, he is still wicked, and he is still defying higher law – the US Constitution and the California State Constitution.

Starting in 1998, California began making laws that weaken our ability to have fair and transparent elections and feel confident that our legal votes count and no illegal votes count. They got rid of the Absentee Ballot, going to no-excuse, permanent vote-by-mail. But it wasn’t until 2011, when they passed on-line voter registration that they really got going passing anti-constitutional laws. Between 2011 and 2023 there were 65 anti-voter laws passed and they are still at it. Most recently, a law taking away our right to meaningful observation and a law forbidding local governments from requiring voters to present IDs were passed. Every time a California county exerts its sovereignty, the governor gets his minions in the legislature to pass a bill he signs into law.

The president is the superior magistrate of the United States and every elected official in the country is a lesser magistrate to someone. Our governor is a lesser magistrate in the US, but he is the superior magistrate—or in this case, dictator—of California.

The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate is rooted in Biblical history. The nursemaids in Moses time may be the first recorded Lesser Magistrates defying an unjust mandate of the King of Egypt to kill all the Jewish baby boys as soon as they were born; but they didn’t and lied to the King about what they were doing.They risked their lives to do what was right. “So God was kind to the midwives…” (Ex 1:20-21)

Historically, the Magna Carta of 1215 was a case of the Lesser Magistrates, known as barons, resisting the tyranny of King John at risk of their lives. “By declaring the sovereign to be subject to the rule of law and documenting the liberties held by “free men,” the Magna Carta provided the foundation for individual rights in Anglo-American jurisprudence.” (National Archives)

“The doctrine of the lesser magistrates declares that when the superior or higher civil authority makes an unjust/immoral law or decree, the lesser or lower ranking civil authority has both the right and duty to refuse obedience to that superior authority. If necessary, the lower authority may even actively resist the superior authority.” Trewhella p2

Our home-grown lesser magistrates were the heroic founding fathers of our country who put their lives and their fortunes(some lost them) on the line to write the Declaration of Independence and the Unites States Constitution—the supreme law of the land—our answer to a capricious ruler.

The kind of rogue behavior we are seeing in California and Shasta County should call out to the Lesser Magistrates—the Board Of Supervisors and the ROV—and prod them into action.They created the Election Commission to assist them by researching election issues and send them recommendations for actions or ordinances. None of the five I could find have been acted on. I once asked the supervisors in a regular board meeting if they were willing to fight “tooth and nail” to get Shasta County’s citizens fair and transparent elections. They have had many opportunities which they haven’t taken so I guess the answer, with one possible exception, is “No”.

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*For more on the obligation of lesser magistrates to go against a tyrannical ruler, listen to Jefferson State of Mine https://rumble.com/v5fhbm2-doctrine-of-the-lesser-magistrate-how-we-take-control-of-our-counties.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp on Rumble.

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Margaret Cantrell is the retired owner, editor and publisher of Encouraging Word Publishing Services (mceditor.com). She has a Masters in Social Work, specializing in human behavior, as well as many teaching credentials.  Margaret has an abiding passion for election integrity—so that every honest vote is counted and every fraudulent vote is not. She is a member of the Shasta Election Task Force.