In the video above, speaking about supposed corruption among county sheriff's across Georgia, gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor claimed "The Constitution says when you commit treason, it’s death by firing squad. I didn’t write it - it’s in there.”
I know that the constitution is quite lengthy. Including the amendments, it's close to 7,500 words or a dozen pages in length. In a single sitting, it could take between 20 and 30 minutes to read! Does anybody have time for that? However, you'd expect a candidate for public office to read and understand it. At least to some degree. It is therefore reasonable to assume that Dr. Taylor has not actually read the constitution itself or much about our founding document. Thus, it seems necessary to provide a refresher.
Several of the drafters of the Constitution once carried the title of traitor, having signed the Declaration of Independence or fought in the Revolutionary War. The Constitution actually defines only one crime - treason. Thus the framers showed how serious the crime was, yet they included it more because and in such a way as to protect it against misuse. They feared that treason would be abused by political factions as it had been in England in the past.
Article III Section 3 of the constitution defined treason in precise terms with narrow parameters for conviction.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
It goes on to give Congress the power to set the punishment and that punishment extends only to the persons convicted.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
As we can see, treason is not defined by the constitution to include corruption. There is no mention of death as a punishment and certainly no mention of the firing squads Taylor would use against the sheriffs.
Taylor and candidates like her are inexpressibly misinformed and deluded. Neither they nor their supporters seem to care about truth or evidence that contradicts them. The means to attain power are of little consequence to them. It is bad enough that Kandiss Taylor invokes God in everything she says. But this latest nonsense suggests a visit from people in white coats and a stay in a padded cell might not be a bad plan for her to recover from her electoral delusions.
Before her supporters begin calling for the sheriff of their county to face the firing squad at midday, I urge them to read the words of Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson.
Time has not made the accusation of treachery less poisonous, nor the task of judging one charged with betraying the country, including his trier, less susceptible to the influence and suspicious of rancor.
One final note, she ended by saying that when officials swear an oath to the constitution they are swearing to do the will of the people. This could not be more incorrect. With any luck, this will be the first and last thing I write about Dr. Kandiss Taylor.
Kandiss Taylor & Firing Squads