What oath of office did Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman Matt Amorello take?
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman Matt Amorello says he can’t quit his job because he has “taken an oath of office to serve as chairman of the Turnpike Authority until 2007,” which makes John Daley wonder if perhaps Mr. Amorello is confusing his oath with his contract.
Daley hasn’t been able to find the oath that Mr. Amorello took, and neither have I, but here’s what Massachusetts constitution has to say about the Oath of Office:
Article VI. Instead of the oath of allegiance prescribed by the constitution, the following oath shall be taken and subscribed by every person chosen or appointed to any office, civil or military under the government of this commonwealth, before he shall enter on the duties of his office, to wit:
“I, A. B., do solemnly swear, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and will support the constitution thereof. So help me God.”
That, however, doesn’t at all like the oath the chairman remembers.
