A grassroots project for free American counties.

What is the Freedom County Project?

The Freedom County Project is an idea, not an organization.

Certain liberties are expressed well enough in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. All are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. America has not always lived up to those ideals yet many share in the hope that we would move ever closer as time marches on. However, with consistent and pervasive tyranny in effect across America, it is clear that for all kinds of Americans, true freedom is out of reach.

Governments at all levels have snatched our liberties from under every rock and crevice. Loopholes and flagrant violations of personal liberty have been commonplace. The abuses continue to increase in their recklessness and brazenness. Unelected government agencies have sent swarms of officers to harass and abuse Americans at every turn with endless administrative laws and regulations which fly in the face of the protections the Constitution was supposed to establish. Regardless of which political party is in power, these violations of liberty continue unabated. Whatever degree of freedom Americans enjoyed in the past has eroded beyond the tipping point.

To that end, it falls to the grassroots movements of freedom loving Americans to secure their God given rights. This is not to embrace a chaotic rebellion, but the peaceful restoration of order and justice at the local level through the political process at the grassroots level.

Freedom Counties have a patient, long term, and inter-generational vision. They are committed to peacefully restoring freedoms in all areas of life for all people, but there are several areas of especially pressing importance. Many of these issues are closely intertwined and where liberty is diminished in one area, the imminent danger to other liberties is in jeopardy. Any effort which ignores any of these areas will not last so there must be unity on at least these issues. Any wishing to lead a freedom county project must hold a firm commitment to these principles.

Many often forget what freedom really is and there are some who simply do not want it. For the rest of us, welcome to the freedom county project!

Localism, County Rights, & the Rule of Law

Liberty in society is based upon the rule of law, not the whim of the mob or a king. Rights are not granted by governments or rulers or even by the simple majority of the populace. They are bestowed on us by our creator. Therefore no government and no society has any moral license to remove these rights, to do so is a claim to divinity.

At times throughout American history, and throughout the world, rulers and nations have determined to remove the rights of citizens through the imposition of tyranny and lawlessness disguised as “law”. These lawless decrees are commonly phrased in flowery language designed to detract from their true tyrannical characteristics.

In reality these are no more than the antics of the school yard bully willing to enforce their will with brute force. In order for there to be liberty there must be clear limits placed on the civil government.

The most important limit upon civil government is localism, and localism is the basis of county rights. County rights are based upon the principle that the power of the civil government should be decentralized. Local civil magistrates should be held directly accountable to the people whom they serve and should interpose on their behalf when outside rulers seek to impose tyranny.

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it."

- Frederic Bastiat

Principles of Freedom Counties

Civil Liberties

All Freedom County Project sheriffs, judges, boards, and their appointees are directly bound to use their powers to protect citizens in their county and defend their God given rights from all enemies foreign and domestic. This includes a strident defense of second amendment rights and other freedoms.

Our criminal justice system needs serious reform. The United States has an over-criminalization problem and tends to focus on victimless crime. It has by far, the highest imprisonment rate in the world and holds the most prisoners of any nation. The social consequences of current policies work to destroy the family, put deputies in unnecessarily dangerous situations, and poorer communities inevitably bear the effects of such policies disproportionately. When criminals are found to be guilty, too often, the focus is not on justice and proportionate restitution for the victim, instead we place the burden on the county to pay for long term prison sentences.

Freedom County Project candidates support:

Due process for all.
County sheriffs and deputies should have the same rights as all citizens, no more and no less.
Phase out victimless crime. Reduce the number of imprisonments for non-violent offenders.
End the war on drugs including all related civil asset forfeiture and “drug bust” or related no-knock warrants.
End all forced, no-knock entry where there is not a threat of imminent violence (such as a confirmed hostage situation).
The right to a speedy trial by an impartial jury.
Grand juries cannot be deceptively coerced in a decision to indict by the prosecution through the omission of material facts that would otherwise influence the jury’s decision.
Penalties for false witnesses (including civil officers and attorneys) who hide or withhold evidence that would exonerate or implicate the defendant.
Abolish mandatory minimums and mandatory sentencing guidelines as the punishment should be proportionate to the crime in all cases.
Phase out the mass plea-bargain system which leads to unequal treatment under the law for the poor. Due to over-criminalization, the court system is overburdened with cases. Poor defendants represented by public defenders are inevitably pressured to choose between admitting false guilt for a relatively minor offense or risk a trial result with a mandatory lengthy prison sentence – a trial where the accused has only a public defender going up against the full resources of the government.
Emphasis on proportionate restitution to the victim instead of resorting to unnecessarily caging people at taxpayer expense.
The right of jury nullification must be respected.

Property & Taxation

A deliberate phasing out of property taxes, eminent domain, zoning laws, and all unjust regulation and plunder of life and property. Your property is your property. To confiscate it, take control over it, or pollute it by force or coercion is theft. Claims over the property of your neighbor makes your neighbor into a slave. Citizens who wish to live in certain types of regulated communities can elect to live in HOA’s or other private covenant bound communities. Government services should be privately funded to the extent possible and if such taxes cannot be avoided during a transitionary period, a sales tax is preferred which will not contribute to gentrification or forced abandonment of property due to rising property taxes.

Welfare & Charity

As with most top down government solutions, the war on poverty has been an abject failure. For too long, we have assumed that we can outsource charity to the government which then inevitably becomes a dependency breeding cancer that systematically destroys communities and families. It eliminates the role of one-on-one mentorship and accountability for those who are receiving welfare from others. It displaces the role and responsibility of fathers, replacing them with government handouts and then destroys the greatest source of financial security, the family. Mothers suffer. Children suffer. The family suffers. This creates a self-perpetuating cycle of inter-generational poverty and a mentality of entitlement and irresponsibility. It destroys dignity.

This destructive cycle must be broken. Love your neighbor. Love your communities. Private citizens, organizations and churches are responsible for helping their fellow citizens in need, not the government. Freedom counties are counties marked by service and support through voluntary means.

Parental Medical Freedom

The state is not the arbiter of parental medical decisions. A healthy medical system is based on personal and familial stewardship as well as the bond of trust between parents and doctors. Parents have the ultimate responsibility and authority to determine the best course of action for their children being free from coercion from the state. Government has no right or authority to coerce parents to insert vaccines into their children. Government cannot make laws which banish citizens or their children from society or otherwise infringe on their freedoms based on their vaccination status.

Right to Keep and Bear Arms

All citizens possess an inherent right to self-defense from the violence of others. Freedom counties have an unwavering commitment to support of the 2nd Amendment. For hunting, sport, self-defense and to maintain a well-regulated citizen militia, every citizen has the right to keep and bear arms. This right shall not be infringed in any freedom county whether through red flag laws, magazine capacity limits, so-called “assault weapons” bans or the like.

Protection of the Unborn

All human beings, old and young, boy or girl, will be protected in Freedom Counties. This includes the most vulnerable humans, the unborn – these are those who cannot speak for themselves or act to defend themselves from violence against their young lives. Freedom Counties protect the rights of the unborn by abolishing the legal sanction of abortion in any freedom county. Any society that will sanction the slaughter of innocent, defenseless, unborn humans will soon find itself not respecting the rights of born humans. Woman have autonomy over their own bodies and this means no person has the right to destroy the bodily autonomy of others, including other little unborn girls and boys regardless of their size, their level of dependency or development or where they are located. If communities disregard the rights of the most vulnerable, then what moral standing do they have to assert it for themselves?

Parental Educational Freedom

Protecting the parental educational freedom of all parents. The state has no business being the educator of children or regulating how parents choose to educate their children. End the property tax funded state monopoly on education which inevitably becomes nothing more than a bloated institution of statist indoctrination and control. It ultimately destroys liberty and free society while making it harder for market options to thrive.

There are good and well-meaning people in the public schools, but the fact of the matter is, the state-run educational approach we have adopted has led us to where we are today. Any county which wants the state to educate the children will not remain free for more than a generation.

Put the tax dollars back in the pockets of parents where they belong. Unleash the free market to provide the most efficient, flexible, cost-effective educational options to families and create a competitive market for teachers based on merit and demand. Schools are to be funded the same way that grocery stores are, through entrepreneurship and market demand.

There are hard cases such as single-parent homes in poor communities who do not have extended family to assist them where they are currently dependent upon property tax funded welfare education. In these cases, community groups need to step up and re-prioritize their efforts to help fund private-voucher funds that such families can tap into as they seek to wean themselves from dependence on government. This means that neighborhood co-ops, churches, businesses, charities, endowments, and other community organizations need to take ownership over their own neighborhoods and communities. To aid in a transition period a temporary educational welfare sales tax (not a property tax) could be considered.

Medical Lockdowns & Travel

The government has no right to remove your rights of travel or commerce, forcibly test you, dictate what you wear on your face, or mandate vaccination. Recommendations can be made but there can be no coercion of any kind. If people are truly afraid to venture out from their homes, they can stay home. No mass lock downs or shelter at home orders. No mandatory vaccination policies. For the state to remove the means by which citizens feed their families is an attack on life itself. An individual cannot have their freedoms removed via speculations about who may have possibly infected whom through methods like contract tracing. No preemptive restrictions on movement, association, or the mass imposition of masks etc. Working immigrants are welcome to travel to freedom counties and are free to live and work in the county provided they abide by the laws.

Patient, not revolutionary. resolute, not reckless.

From the Bottom Up

Change begins with voluntary citizen action. Not a movement centered around a singular politician or personality, but of shared principles reflecting the will of the people in each county.

Local Action

No riots, lawlessness or violence. Focused, local, political involvement to reform the county through local political engagement. Raise and support local candidates who pledge to advance all Freedom County principles and interpose against tyranny.

Decentralization

New Freedom County projects are entirely dependent on the voluntary action of grassroots participants. Each project has a shared commitment to FC principles but is otherwise autonomous and not centrally controlled.

Migration

In order for reform to occur in a county, there needs to be a critical mass of voting Freedom County supporters present within it. Local FC projects will be supplemented by individuals and families who choose to move to a county in order to support local efforts there.

About Freedom County Project

The Freedom County Project is an idea, not an organization. It was conceived by regular American citizens who love their neighbor, despise tyranny, and desire to reform their counties into beacons of liberty in keeping with the rights bestowed on all mankind to the glory of Jesus Christ who is Lord of all. It is completely decentralized and is not centered around any one person or leader. It is not affiliated with any political organization, or denomination, and does not take donations. All efforts are dependent upon the voluntary actions of participants in their localities. The project is backed by a resolute commitment to principles of freedom enacted at the local level through peaceful, lawful means of patient local activism and community involvement. We reject all forms of violence, rioting and racism. Freedom county projects are long term, inter-generational efforts with the goal of realizing freedom and human flourishing to the glory of the triune God of the bible.