HOULTON, Maine — Are our elected officials and police officers lacking when it comes to knowledge of the U.S. Constitution?
A group of political advocates think so and were in Aroostook County last week to educate local legislators, sheriffs, and any other individual who swears an oath to support the U.S. and Maine Constitutions by holding a symposium in Houlton last Friday and in Presque Isle Saturday morning.
“We set up six symposiums throughout the state of Maine and we are getting the feeling that people want more,” said Phil Merletti of Lee, a founding member of the Maine Constitution Coalition and Take America Back.
The Maine Constitution Coalition is committed to exposing the fact that most of the area’s past and some present legislators refuse to use the Maine Constitution, according to Merletti.
“As the years have passed we have slowly lost what our Founding Fathers had composed in the federal and state Constitutions,” Merletti said. “These scammers have used our emotions and beliefs of justice and fair play and they have misled our direction, they have deceived us and they have changed our focus to allow Socialistic and Fascistic ideology to replace logic and common sense.”
Merletti was joined by Wayne Leach of Winslow in conducting the two workshops in Aroostook County. The duo met with Deputy Chief Darrel Crandall Jr. of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department during their meeting in Houlton.
“We target discussions with sheriffs because they are the chief law enforcement officers for each county,” Leach said.
“The sheriff is the only recorded law enforcement agent in the Constitution,” added Merletti. “The rest all come under state statutes.”
By working closely with county sheriffs, the Maine Constitution Coalition hopes to increase awareness for their cause and improve the general knowledge of citizens’ rights, as spelled out in the Constitution. For more information on the group, call Merletti at 738-4861 or Leach at 872-8998.
