Constitution Party (United States)

The Constitution Party of Montana re-affiliated with the national party in 2011.[69] According to the party website, since November 2012, the Alaskan Independence Party has not been an affiliate.

The Nebraska state affiliate of the Constitution Party[70] is called the Nebraska Party. The party had candidates for statewide offices placed on ballots from 2002 to 2008.

The stated mission of the Nebraska Party is "to restore economic prosperity to all Nebraskans, to restore the Christian Principles of our Forefathers, and to get the Government back in the hands of the people. The Nebraska Party is founded on the principles of the Democrat-Republican Party, which was established in the early 1800s by Thomas Jefferson. The Democrat-Republican Party, now the Nebraska Party, represents the people, the working people (labor), family farmers, small business and, of course, our senior citizens".

The Constitution Party branches in North Carolina and several other states adhere to what they proclaim as the "Seven Essential Core Values". These core values are defined as "the Sanctity of Life, Religious Freedom, Traditional Family, Private Property Rights, Pro-Second Amendment, National Sovereignty, and Anti-Socialism".[71] The party claims to be the state's only truly 100% Anti-abortion political party.[71]

The state party was originally formed in 1952, and reincorporated in 2000 as an affiliate of the national Constitution Party. On May 20, 2006, a proposal to break with the national party was debated and ultimately adopted. Similar measures were taken by other state parties after the national party partially abandoned their anti-abortion position, supporting it in the cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother. The amendment argued that "...until the national Constitution Party resumes a principled, pro-life position – we, in Oregon, should separate ourselves and proceed as an independent state party."[72] It has not re-affiliated to the national Constitution Party,[73] but has since affiliate itself to National Alliance of Independent American Parties.[74]

The origins of the state party can be traced to October 2000, when founding member Brenda Donnellan and activists from Wood County served as plaintiffs in Phillips v Hechler, civ 6:00-894.[64] This litigation resulted in a November 3, 2000, ruling against then Secretary of State Ken Hechler, forcing him to allow Constitution Party presidential nominee, Howard Phillips, to run as a declared write-in (WI) candidate without paying a filing fee.[75]

The 1964 Constitution Party presidential nominee, Joseph B. Lightburn, was a neighbor of Donnellan's in Jane Lew, where he owned a local general store. Lightburn served as National Committeeman for the Constitution Party of West Virginia,[76] but the original party had long been defunct. There was no connection between the two.

Because the Constitution Party is not a major party in the state, its voters are permitted to vote in the primary but must take the initiative to ask for either a Republican or Democratic party ballot in lieu of the standard non-partisan ballot.[77]

In early 2006, Christopher H. Hansen, the gubernatorial candidate of Independent American Party of Nevada (the former Constitution Party state affiliate in Nevada), and candidates in Colorado and Idaho, publicly expressed support for allowing abortions in the cases of rape, incest, and for those performed to save the life of the mother, a contrary view to the official Nevada platform. At the party's April 2008 national convention in Tampa, Florida, the assembly voted not to disaffiliate Nevada, citing that affiliate's official position on the issue and the national party's policy against dictating the internal affairs (such as electing leaders) of any affiliate. They also made it more difficult to introduce a disaffiliation resolution. The Oregon and Montana affiliates voluntarily disaffiliated from the party later that year. The Constitution Party of Nevada was created on October 15, 2013, in response to the controversies.

The 2016–2020 Platform of the Constitution Party is available for download on the party's website.[78][79] It has 31 planks.[78]

The 2016 preamble of the Constitution Party platform "gratefully acknowledges the blessing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as Creator, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe and of these United States,"[78] and supports the constitutional provision in Article VI, Section 3 that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States" and calls on all those who love liberty and value their inherent rights to join with them in the pursuit of their goals.

The Constitution Party's website states that it "is the philosophical home of the TEA Party, where candidates who are committed to the same constitutional principles as most TEA Party groups can run for office without opposition from within their own party"[21] and encourages "Constitution Party leadership and candidates to work with local TEA Party and other like-minded groups to re-establish the American Constitutional Republic in their communities and states."[21] The 2016–2020 platform contains no reference to the Tea Party.

The Constitution Party, in the 2016 platform, supported retaining the Electoral College and was opposed to establishing a popular vote system to elect the president and vice president of the United States.[78]

The Constitution Party in 2012 supported reducing the role of the United States federal government through cutting bureaucratic regulation, reducing spending, and replacing the income tax with a tariff-based revenue system supplemented by excise taxes. The party also takes the position that the "imposition [...] of Federal income, payroll, and estate taxes [...] is an unconstitutional Federal assumption of direct taxing authority".[80]

The Constitution Party in 2012 called for phasing out social security.[81] The 2016 platform states: "Social Security is a form of individual welfare not authorized in the Constitution".[78]

The Constitution Party in 2012 favored a non-interventionist foreign policy. It advocates reduction and eventual elimination of the role the United States plays in multinational and international organizations such as the United Nations and favors withdrawal of the United States from most treaties, such as NATO, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization. The party takes mercantilist positions in supporting protectionist policies on international trade.

The party also believes in exercising a tariff system to counteract the United States' increasingly negative balance of trade.[82] The tariff system would levy additional import costs, the amount of which would vary proportionally with how much lower the exporting country's production costs are compared to that of U.S. companies.

The party in 2012 opposed illegal immigration and sought stricter controls on legal immigration. It demanded that the federal government implement an immigration policy disqualifying potential immigrants on grounds of ill health, criminality, low morals, or financial dependence, claiming that they would impose an improper burden on the United States. The party favored a moratorium on future immigration, with exceptions only for extreme cases of necessity, until federal welfare programs have been phased out and a better vetting program is in place.[83]

The party opposes welfare subsidies and other benefits to undocumented immigrants. It rejects the practice of bestowing U.S. citizenship on children born to illegal immigrant parents while in this country (jus soli), and flatly rejects any extension of amnesty to undocumented immigrants. The Constitution Party calls for the use of the United States military to enforce the strict immigration policy.

The party opposes euthanasia, suicide, and abortion, including in cases of rape and incest.[84]

The party supports the right of states to administer the death penalty:[85]

Our support of a State's option to impose the death penalty is limited to those who have been convicted of capital crimes. This is consistent with protecting innocent life because the death penalty would only be applied to those who have proven to be a threat to innocent life.

The party opposes any government legislation to authorize or define marriage and states that "The law of our Creator defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman".[86] The party also opposes pornography, believing that it is "a destructive element of society resulting in significant and real emotional, physical, spiritual and financial costs to individuals, families and communities," and distinguishable from the US citizen's "cherished First Amendment right to free speech." While expressing its belief in the individual responsibility of citizens and corporations, the party maintains that government plays a "vital role" in establishing and maintaining the highest level of decency in America's community standards.[87] The party opposes all government sponsorship, involvement in, or promotion of gambling.[88] Citing Article 1 Section 8 and Amendment 10, the party opposes federal anti-drug laws, while conceding that the federal government may have a role in limiting the import of drugs.[89]

The party supports the right to bear arms in accordance with the Second Amendment. The party believes that any attempt to make laws barring the second amendment is unconstitutional. It has taken a stand against the Patriot Act.

The Constitution Party believes that charitable giving is most effective when conducted by private parties. Because the authority to administer charity has not been granted to the government in the Constitution, the party maintains that the government has no business being involved in such endeavors.[90] The party opposes federal restrictions on, or subsidization of, medical treatments.[91]

The party supports English as the official language for all governmental business, opposes bilingual ballots, and insists that those who wish to take part in the electoral process and governance of the U.S. be required to read and comprehend basic English as a precondition for citizenship.[83] The party also opposes the federal Voting Rights Act.

In 2009, the Southern Poverty Law Center described the party as a "Patriot Group" a category of parties that "advocate or adhere to extreme anti-government doctrines".[92]

The party believes that "it is our responsibility to be prudent, productive, and efficient stewards of God’s natural resources".[93]

The party rejects the scientific consensus on climate change, saying that "globalists are using the global warming threat to gain more control via worldwide sustainable development". According to the party, eminent domain is unlawful because "under no circumstances may the federal government take private property, by means of rules and regulations which preclude or substantially reduce the productive use of the property, even with just compensation".[93]

In regards to energy, the party calls attention to "the continuing need of the United States for a sufficient supply of energy for national security and for the immediate adoption of a policy of free market solutions to achieve energy independence for the United States," and calls for the abolition of the Department of Energy.[94]

The party supports the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, which allows Congress to tax income derived from interest, dividends, and capital gains, and the Seventeenth Amendment, which requires the direct (popular) election of Senators.[95] The party holds that each state's membership in the Union is voluntary,[96] a stance known as the compact theory.

Former Republican Representative Virgil Goode (VA-5) was nominated at the convention in Nashville, Tennessee on April 22, 2012.[112] Goode received 203 votes; 202 were required for a majority. Darrell Castle of Tennessee, national vice chairman of the Constitution Party, came in second with 120 votes. Other candidates who received votes were Robby Wells from North Carolina, former football coach at Savannah State University; Dr. Laurie Roth of Washington state, a radio talk-show host; and Susan Ducey of Kansas, a Registered Nurse.[113]

On April 16, 2016, Darrell Castle secured the presidential nomination for the Constitution Party at a convention attended by delegates from 28 states.[114][115] He has vowed, if elected, to get the United States out of the United Nations and NATO.[115] "Our borders are worth defending. If we can secure the borders of Korea and Germany, then we can secure the borders of the United States," said Castle.[114] In his nomination acceptance speech, Castle made no reference to the unspecified health reasons that had earlier led him to withdraw his name from consideration.[114][116][117] Since accepting the nomination, Castle has given several interviews to media, but his campaign website lists no public campaign appearances.[118]