Texas state legislators have voted to add a provision to the state’s Bill of Rights recognizing the right of individuals to possess, retain, and use digital currencies. The decision was reached on May 10, 2003.
State Representative Giovani Capriglione introduced House Joint Resolution 146, which declares that individuals have the right to use a mutually agreed-upon medium of exchange, such as digital currencies, cash, coin, bullion, or scrip, for trading and contracting goods and services and that this right cannot be violated.
The document received 139 votes in favor and only two votes against it, and it includes the clause “no government shall prohibit or hinder the ownership or holding of any form or quantity of money or other currency.”
The Texas Bill of Rights, like the U.S. Bill of Rights, protects fundamental liberties such as freedom of expression, religion, and the press.
However, it also contains Texas-specific clauses, such as the right to a speedy trial and the right to possess and carry firearms for self-defense.
Should it pass and become law, the recent amendment will further permit Texans to use digital currencies such as Bitcoin.
Tom Glass, the founder of the Texas Constitutional Enforcement Group, stated on Thursday, May 11, that there is one more vote in the House on HJR 146 before it goes to the Senate and the people vote.
Glass explained that the purpose of the measure is to use the inclusion of the right to possess, hold, and use digital currencies in the Texas Measure of Rights to make a legal argument before the federal judiciary.
This argument would invoke the U.S. Constitution’s ninth amendment, which recognizes the existence of natural rights beyond those explicitly enumerated in the first eight amendments.
According to the Texas Constitutional Enforcement Group, it is essential to include digital currencies in the Texas Bill of Rights to protect the financial privacy of Texans.
They stated that the use of alternative currencies is necessary to prevent the erosion of the wealth that Texans have laboriously accumulated due to the instability of the U.S. dollar.
Additionally, the group emphasized that Texans should not be required to rely solely on the services of global financial elites, as doing so would place their entire financial assets at risk of devaluation and confiscation.
