‘Fiddle Man’ of Lawrenceburg demands verdict be overturned, right to travel

A woman gets a ride on a tractor at a Lawrenceburg, Tenn., fair. (Photo http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=jd&th=426650)

A woman gets a ride on a tractor at a fair in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., in which a court on Thursday will consider grinding a free user of the public roads beneath its treads. (Photo Yesterdaystrators.com)

The man convicted by a jury on four criminal counts is Arthur Jay Hirsch, 65, a bachelor whose livelihood is helping church governments maintain the value of their physical property. He is known as “the Fiddle Man’ in a middle Tennessee farm town for his musical mercies for the elderly in nursing homes and inmates at the county jail. The causeless prosecution of Mr. Hirsch highlights an essential element in the state’s continuing war against Christianity and the liberties, capital and prosperity implied by its doctrines of salvation and the sovereignty of God. That is the sway of impersonal and arbitarily imposed administrative law into the realm of liberty protected by the state and federal constitutions. The sentencing hearing is in the case STATE OF TENNESSEE v. Arthur Jay Hirsch, tried in that court Dec. 22 in Lawrenceburg. Mr. Hirsch says he plans to appeal.

Let it be that every Christian, oppressed in the exercise of his Christian and constitutional liberties, can make as cogent a case for godly government as does Mr. Hirsch.

The following is titled “Statement on assertion of rights, misapplication of law and innocence of wrongdoing” submitted to the circuit court of Lawrence County, Tenn., this Thursday at a sentencing hearing at 1 p.m. by a criminal defendant.

Mr. Hirsch has been badly damaged by state harassment. He would make thankful use of any cash gifts sent to him at 1029 W. Gaines St., Lawrenceburg, TN 38464. — DJT

By Arthur Jay Hirsch

I have been judged and criminalized for claiming and exercising my free God-given, unalienable right to movement/locomotion/travel, to self preservation of my life, to private property ownership, to contract, to privacy and to freedom of religious conscience, established in God’s written Word (i.e., the Bible/Scriptures). Our fundamental rights were recognized and secured by our forefathers in America’s and Tennessee’s organic law documents.

The motor vehicle privileges statutes which I was accused of violating are misapplied, i.e., they are only applicable to those engaged in commerce, but do not apply to me as a private party enjoying my free, constitutionally secured, inherent rights. The weapons charge is contrary to scriptural command, and is in opposition to the guarantees of the Second Amendment and Article 1, Sec. 26 of the Tennessee Declaration of Rights. Further, said weapons statute has been amended and is no longer in effect.

I have injured no one or caused damage to property. I have not sinned in the eyes of the Judge of all the earth; before Him I stand innocent. I have not defrauded the state nor disturbed its peace and dignity by exercising my unalienable rights.

I hereby re-assert my God-given rights having not waived, surrendered or transferred them at any time. Therefore, I stand on the truth of the Word of God, and on the federal and state constitutional guarantees, insofar as they are in accord with God’s revealed Word and Law. “The claim and exercise of a constitutional [protected] right cannot be converted into a crime.” Miller v. US, 230 F 486, 489; “Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no law making or legislation which would abrogate them.” Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 p. 491; “There can be no sanction or penalty imposed upon one because of his exercise of his Constitutional rights.” Sherar vs. Cullen, 481 F. 2d 946. When man-made laws are in conflict with God’s supreme Law, my position is now, and forever will be, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29

Christian background & ministry

I was freeborn in the State of Georgia, my domicile of origin. My parents dedicated me to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ before I was born, and His hand has been upon me throughout my life. At age fourteen by God’s grace I was saved, publicly accepted and confessed Jesus Christ as my Saviour and was baptized into the Body of Christ, His church.

The Scriptures have been my rule of faith and practice from childhood. I am called of the Holy Spirit to minister weekly to the spiritual needs of the sick and dying patients (Matthew 25:36, 40) in the local hospital and nursing homes through gospel fiddle music, prayer and the Word of God. By God’s grace I do exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man. (Attachment A – letters of acknowledgment of service)

My understanding of permanent rights

From the study of Scripture I learned that I am created in the image and likeness of God and endowed with many free, inherent rights by my Creator from birth which enable me to grow, develop and be cultivated to the praise and glory of God. (Gen. 1:26-28; Isa. 43:7; Rev. 4:11) These rights are permanently (i.e., “unalienable”) a part of my very being and cannot be waived, surrendered or transferred. However, trespassing on the rights of others can result in biblical restitution, punishment or forfeiture of life for capital crimes by civil government (Romans 13).

My understanding of primary & secondary rights

The primary inherent, God-given rights established in the Word of God (Acts 17:25, 28) and recited by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence are the rights of (1) life, (2) liberty, and (3) the pursuit of happiness/property. Many secondary rights in support of said primary rights are also established in Scripture, e.g. right to free locomotion / movement / travel, right to preservation of life and property, right to absolute ownership of private property, right to privacy, right to earn a living, right to worship the Almighty according to the dictates of conscience, right to contract or abstain from contracting, etc.

Sole purpose of government

The Word of God states that civil government is instituted and ordained of God for the administration of His divine law (Romans 13:4, 6; Deut. 1:16, 17; 2 Chron. 19:6, 7). The Declaration of Independence also states that the only legitimate purpose of government is to secure the individual Creator-endowed, unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness / property (which is in accord with God’s Word as set forth above).

➤ “WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The Declaration of Independence, 1776

Federal and state high courts have agreed and held

➤ “Individual rights protection is the only legitimate reason for government to exist . . . the duty of this court, as of every judicial tribunal, is limited to determining rights of persons or of property. . .” Tyler v. Judges of Court of Registration, 179 U.S. 405, 409 (1900)

➤ “It is the duty of courts to be watchful for the constitutional rights of the citizen, and against any stealthy encroachments thereon. Their motto should be obsta principiis.” Williams v. State, 506 S.W.2d 193 (Tenn.Crim.App. 1973)

Uualienable rights superior to statutory law

Said individual primary and secondary natural, inherent, God-given, unalienable rights are superior and antecedent to all man-made, statutory (positive) law, and are not subject to state manipulation, regulation, control and taxation. (Cites too numerous to list)

Tennessee founders’ original intent to protect peoples’s rights

The original intent of the founders of the State of Tennessee was to protect the Peoples rights by placing them forever outside the authority of the general government, to wit,

➤ Tennessee Constitution (1796) Article 10th – Section 4th “The Declaration of Rights hereto annexed is declared to be a part of the Constitution of this State and Shall never be violated on any pretence whatever. And to Guard against transgressions of the high Powers which we have delegated, we declare that everything in the Bill of Rights contained and every other right not hereby delegated is excepted out of the General Powers of Government and shall for ever [i.e. forever] remain inviolate.”

The Bill of Rights, Amendment IX, recognizes and constitutionally secures enumerated and all unenumerated rights of the people, i.e.,

➤ “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

My understanding of state-granted privileges / franchises / licenses

My research has shown that the state does have authority to granted taxable “privileges” or “franchises” to persons or classes of persons engaged in commerce, i.e., those transporting people or goods for hire on the public highways by motor vehicle/carrier, and to require driver licenses, vehicle registration, insurance and excise tax of those so engaged in state regulated commercial activity. Example:

➤ License: Streets and highways. A permit to use street is a mere license revocable at pleasure. Lanham v. Forney, 196 Wash. 62, 81 P.2d 777, 779. The privilege of using the streets and highways by the operation thereon of motor carriers for hire can be acquired only by permission or license from the state or its political subdivisions. Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Ed., p. 919

Further, my research has shown that the state does not have authority to regulate, control, license and tax the inherent, unalienable right to private travel on the public highways in the ordinary course of life and business in one’s private conveyance.

➤ “The claim and exercise of a constitutional [protected] right cannot be converted into a crime.” Miller v. US, 230 F 486, 489.

➤ In Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969), Justice Potter Stewart noted in a concurring opinion that the “right to travel is a right broadly assertable against private interference as well as governmental action. Like the right of association…it is a virtually unconditional personal right, guaranteed by the Constitution to us all.” The Articles of Confederation had an explicit right to travel; and we hold that the right to travel is so fundamental that the Framers thought it was unnecessary to include it in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.”

➤ Hale vs. Hinkel, 201 US 43, 74-75 “The individual may stand upon his Constitutional Rights as a Citizen. He is entitled to carry on his private business in his own way. His power to contract is unlimited. He owes no duty to the State or to his neighbors to divulge his business, or to open his doors to investigation, so far as it may tend to incriminate him. He owes no such duty to the State, since he receives nothing therefrom, beyond the protection of his life, liberty, and property. His Rights are such as the law of the land long antecedent to the organization of the state, and can only be taken from him by due process of law, and in accordance with the Constitution. Among his Rights are the refusal to incriminate himself, and the immunity of himself and his property from arrest or seizure except under warrant of law. He owes nothing to the public so long as he does not trespass upon their rights.

➤ Persons faced with an unconstitutional licensing law which purports to require a license as a prerequisite to exercise of right… may ignore the law and engage with impunity in exercise of such right. Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham 394 U.S. 147 (1969)

Vehicle code is commercial in nature

I have come to understand from my research that the definitions, terminology and nature of the administrative rules and regulations of the motor vehicle code show that it is commercial in nature. “Driving privileges” and “motor vehicle” statutes regulate commercial activity on the public highways, not private travel. The natural, unalienable right of travel in one’s private capacity in the ordinary course of life and business is outside the legislative authority of the state as mentioned above.

State lacks authority to convert constitutionally secured rights into state-granted privileges

Upon research I can find no delegated authority for the state to convert free, constitutionally secured, individual rights into state-granted taxable privileges.

Revenue scheme

Research has shown me that the state through craft has deceived the public into believing that everyone, commercial and private, must obtain a taxable privilege / franchise license to use the public highways and forfeit valuable rights. The history of this invasion of the peoples’ right to use the public highways shows clearly that the legislature simply found a heretofore untapped source of revenue, got greedy, and attempted to enforce a statutory code in an unconstitutional manner upon those free and natural individuals who have a right to travel privately upon the highways. This was not attempted in an outright action, but in a slow, meticulous, calculated encroachment upon the peoples’ right to travel.

It is my studied observation that the roadways have become a primary source of income for the state by imposing contracts against the peoples’ will in order to extort money from our property.

The truth is that law enforcement is not here to keep the peace or to protect the people…unless it is profitable! There is no profitability in continued peace and safety so law enforcement has become bounty hunters in order to fleece the public through scare tactics, intimidation, and the threat of loss of freedom in order to keep those funds flowing.

Note: Should the licensed “privilege” of using the highways be revoked by the state the private party so affected is given a civil death sentence resulting in all primary and most secondary rights being destroyed. and their life ruined if denied the right to travel.

No record authorizing conversion

I have found no record from my research showing that the state is authorized to convert a natural person’s constitutionally secured, unalienable, free right to travel privately on the public highways in the ordinary course of life and business in his privately owned conveyance into a state-granted taxable commercial privilege or franchise, i.e., that the law has converted free private travel by right into a regulated, taxable privilege.

Right of conscience

Further, I have a sincerely held conscientious religious belief that forbids me from using a social security number for any purpose, which appears to be the stepping stone to the soon-to-be mandated REAL I.D. chip embedded card leading to the biblical mark, number or name of the beast referred to in Revelation 13. To trivialize and violate God’s stern biblical warning is disobedience to Him that will incur eternal punishment.

My right of conscience to serve the Almighty as the Holy Spirit directs is God-given, and is firmly secured from state interference in the Tennessee Declaration of Rights, Article I, Sec. 3, i.e.,

➤ “That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience. . . that no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience. . .”

Arthur Jay Hirsch was convicted for having constitutional rights, the exercise of which had been converted into a crime. (Photo David Tulis)

Arthur Jay Hirsch, the “Fiddle Man” of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., was convicted for having constitutional rights, the exercise of which had been converted into a crime. (Photo David Tulis)

Summary defense

I declare my defense in summary by stating

(1) EXERCISING GOD-GIVEN RIGHTS: That on December 10, 2014 when encountered by Trooper Jeff Reed I was exercising my free, inherent, God-given, unalienable right

a) to liberty/movement/locomotion/travel in my private capacity,

b) to preserve, protect and defend myself according to God’s Word and the Second Amendment

c) to absolute ownership of private property,

d) to contract or to abstain from contracting,

e) to privacy, and

f) to right of conscience.

(2) NOT ENGAGED IN COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY: That there is no evidence of record that on said date I was engaged in the regulated commercial activity of transporting people or goods by motor vehicle for hire on the public highway – only rebuttable presumption; When an issue is conclusively presumed without proof due process has been denied. (Maxim of law)

(3) COMPOUND DEFINITION OF MOTOR VEHICLE = FREIGHT MOTOR CARRIER: That there is no evidence of record that I was “driving,” “operating” or owned a “motor vehicle” i.e., commercial freight motor carrier by compound definition, in commerce on said date – only rebuttable presumption; When an issue is conclusively presumed without proof due process has been denied. (Maxim of law)

(4) MISAPPLICATION OF STATUTES: That there is no evidence of record that the vehicle code privileges statutes cited in the indictment apply to me in my constitutionally secured private status or that I have waived, surrendered or transferred my unalienable rights to the state– only rebuttable presumption; When an issue is conclusively presumed without proof due process has been denied. (Maxim of law)

(5) VEHICLE CODE COMMERCIAL IN NATURE: That I agree that the motor vehicle code is correct with respect to regulating and taxing commercial activity for hire on the public highways;

(6) MISREPRESENTATION: That I contend that the motor vehicle code is misrepresented and misapplied across the board to private travelers through deceptive state definitions for the sake of generating considerable state revenue;

(7) NO CONVERSION OF RIGHTS INTO CRIMES: That the exercising of my constitutionally secured rights as mentioned above cannot be converted into a crime as the prosecutor by indictment has tries to do;

The doctrine of necessity

(8) NECESSITY DOCTRINE: That my traveling privately on said date was not only a right but a vital necessity to care for my dying 96 year old mother in my care which supercedes any real or presumed laws under the doctrine of necessity, e.g.

➤ Necessarium est quod non potest aliter se habere. That is necessity which cannot be dispensed with.

➤ Necessitas inducit privililegium quoad jura privata. Necessity gives a preference with regard to private rights. Bacon’s Max. REg. 5.

➤ Necessitas non habet legem. Necessity has no law. Plowd. 18. See Necessity, and 15 Vin. Ab. 534; 22 Vin. Ab. 540.

➤ Necessitas vincit legem. Necessity overcomes the law. Hob. 144.

➤ Necessitas est lex temporis et loci. Necessity is the law of a particular time and place. 8 Co. 69; H. H. P. C. 54.

(9) BIBLICAL COMMAND: That my having a weapon in my truck is in obedience to Jesus’ command (Luke 22:36) to acquire a defensive weapon, and is also an unalienable right secured by the Second Amendment;

(10) NO LAW = NO TRANSGRESSION: That the indictment weapons charge citing 39-17-1307 has been amended and no longer exists – “for where no law is, there is no transgression.” Romans 4:15.

(11) RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE: That my conscientious religious belief regarding the non-use of a social security number is my constitutionally secured right of conscience and cannot be compelled.

(12) VICTIMLESS CRIMES NOT RECOGNIZED: That the indictment charges allege victimless crimes, i.e., no injury or damage to person or rights is alleged (note: the Word of God and common law do not recognize victimless crimes);

(13) INNOCENT BEFORE GOD: That I stand innocent before God of any wrongdoing. I have not sinned against His divine law or trespassed on the rights of others;

(14) IN DEFENSE OF RIGHTS: That I defend my God-given, unalienable rights against state encroachment;

(15) INTERFERENCE WITH GOD-ORDAINED MINISTRY: That to sentence me to jail for alleged victimless crimes and for exercising my unalienable God-given rights would be unjust, unmerciful and condemned by God in His Word; and further, it would cause a serious interruption to my God-ordained calling, whereby I minister to hundreds of patients each and every Sunday and most national holidays, praying with many who are terminally ill, and helping them to find salvation in Jesus Christ before death.

(16) MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE: That punishment for laws that do not exist and/or are misapplied in violation of constitutionally secured unalienable rights is a breach of oath of office and a miscarriage of justice;

(17) PUNISHMENT FOR RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE: That punishment against my conscience and my unalienable rights which I have not waived, surrendered or transferred to the state serves no purpose since nothing will change upon my release, i.e., my position on my God-given rights and regarding my conscience will remain the same.

Godly duty of courts

(18) SCRIPTURE FOR CONSIDERATION: That I offer the following scripture texts for the court’s consideration

➤ “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment. And the

second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12: 30, 31

➤ “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12:13, 14

➤ “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doeth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” Micah 6:8

➤ “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil. . . which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him.” Isaiah 5:20, 23

➤ “Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17

Arthur Jay Hirsch, 1029 W. Gaines St., Lawrenceburg, TN 38464

— David Tulis hosts a talk show weekdays in Chattanooga from 9 to 11 a.m. on 1240 AM Hot News Talk Radio, covering local economy and free markets in Chattanooga and beyond. Support this site and his radio station on the real airwaves in Chattanooga, on your smartphone via the TuneIn radio app or at Hotnewstalkradio.com. You back David by patronizing his advertisers with specific reference to him. Even better, encourage independent media by having David run commercials for your business. Also, “buy me a coffee at the tip jar.”