You would think that exercising your constitutional rights should be something you can do on your own initiative. And you would be right. But government officials feel differently. They think that they have the right to deny you your rights anytime they please. Pass a law, statute, or ordinance, and there . . . it’s done. You need their permission.
In Idaho, your constitutional rights are recognized and protected, but the statutes are carefully crafted to make you think that they have the power. However, upon closer inspection, the opposite is often the case.
Case in point are the statutes pertaining to building codes.
As argued here, local governing bodies might think they have the power to pass draconian building codes, but the fact of the matter is that these statutes pertain to public works, the licensing of the building professions, and managing the “commons” in local municipalities which are incorporated. The landholder working on his own land to build, remodel, cultivate and otherwise improve his property is not within the jurisdiction of that authority. It can’t be. It would be unconstitutional otherwise.
Nevertheless, governments take advantage of the ignorance of the public (thank you to our inept public schools which no longer teach civics) to bully their way over you.
It used to be that the citizen could sue a government official for this bullying, but now, thanks to the Governor’s Executive Order 2022-04 on “All Hazards Prevention and Mitigation,” they are trying to take that recourse away from you, too.
Contact your legislator and point them to this website to learn more.
And go here, if you want to know what others are doing to protect themselves from government intrusion:
— JWS, 2/16/25
Leave a Reply