Office of Fmr. Governor Simfan34

[Bacon King]

attn governor simfan, your executive orders have been overturned:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=180687.msg4323319#msg4323319

[Bacon King]

If I may interfere as SoIA-appoint for a second; it has been stated that the Pacific troops in the Midwest are National Guard of the Pacific troops, which is IIRC the job of the Governor to order around....

Simfan explicitly stated he was assuming command of all Federal military units within the Pacific Region, and has never been any statute defines any sort of Pacific Militia or Pacific National Guard so legally Simfan doesn't even have his own forces to order around

[Bacon King]

Executive Order 10-12

Units of the Pacific National Guard and the Pacific Defence Force, amounting to 32,000 soldiers in total, are to be deployed in the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Tucson to restoring public order and contain and stop the violence in those regions.

You can only legally do this if the writ of habeas corpus has been lawfully suspended by the Senate... is this the case? If not then the military can't be used for "law enforcement or policing duties" which is transparently what you're using them for.

Let's meet halfway here- make a new executive order restricting/clarifying these units' conduct and I won't overturn this order. They can be positioned on any public property in the city but they can't make any effort to enforce any law or do any cop things unless the Senate gives the go-ahead. They can go on marches and even do some exercises if you want them to help deter violence based on their visibility alone. NO law enforcement though. I'll also allow National Guard and Defense Force units to accompany uniformed police officers at a 1 to 1 ratio to ensure their security. Hell, I'll even let you count the soldiers from activated reserves in these units that are police officers in civilian life to serve as police instead of solider here as long as they wear the right uniform.

[Bacon King]

There is a distinction to be made between the Armed Forces proper and a state regional militia, which the Pacific National Guard and Pacific Defence Force are acting as. I believe this is the legal workaround here. The National Guard can act both as an armed force and a militia, strange but true, it seems. This how "states" can maintain "state National Guards" and "state defense forces" as they "do in the US", without violating Art. I, § 10, Cl. 3 of the "US Constitution", which states that no "state shall, without the consent of Congress... keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace."

If not, this is an absurd restriction (which didn't appear in the US Constitution, it should be noted). Let me know what you make of it. As for habeas corpus, that deals with unlawful imprisonment, so I'm not sure how that pertains here. Your proposal sounds good but I'll address it if that becomes necessary.

Simfan did you even read my legal decision that I made against you...

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"Law" includes the Atlasian Constitution, which states:

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lawful suspension of Habeas Corpus is a prerogative of the Senate:

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i.e. according to the regional constitution, the only time you can use soldiers to enforce the law is when it's consistent with the federal constitution that says it can only be done when the Senate suspends habeas corpus


Furthermore the distinction between "armed forces" and "militia" is irrelevant because check out this other part of the Federal Constitution:

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So hey check that out, Senatorial consent is required for using militias to do things like enforce laws and suppress insurrections, isn't that neat.

Also stop talking about the US Constitution because it doesn't matter here. We're talking about the Atlasian Constitution. Maybe you can cite US jurisprudence for comparable clauses between the two documents but even then Atlasia-specific things supercede anything American. Consider for example that the only reason the Southeast is allowed to have a militia in spite of the Atlasian version of the "no keeping troops in time of peace without the consent of congress" law because I found a beautiful technicality where the Senate referenced the Southeast militia like a decade ago . Not to mention Simfan that your entire militia/armed forces dichotomy is bunk because State National Guards exist due to a series of Federal Laws starting with the Militia Act of 1792 which defined their structure and everything. You may note that you will not find any Atlasian law referencing Regional militias or any Pacific law regarding them

[Bacon King]

I agree it's kind of silly but check out this clause in the Pacific Constitution:

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It says I have the unilateral authority to declare laws unconstitutional, entirely distinct and separate from my authority to arbitrate legal disputes. This chicanery isn't necessarily a bad thing given that you and I are basically the only two people active in Pacific regional politics. And at any rate the Atlasian Supreme Court does have appellate jurisdiction over my court.


A few things though:

1. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the Rule of Law (Pacific) Act of 2005 was repealed by the Repeal of Laws We Don't Know About Act since it was not on the Wiki at any point between November 1 and December 6, 2013. In fact it looks like you only put it on there today

2. Habeas Corpus is relevant because the Federal Constitution literally says you can't use the military for policing or law enforcement unless the writ of habeas corpus has been lawfully suspended. Don't blame me if that's not logical- blame the participants of the last Constitutional Convention (only one of whom was me!); in Atlasian jurisprudence it doesn't really matter what "makes sense" because every law passed under the First Constitution was repealed by the Supreme Court only due to a stupid technicality within that Constitution. Written word of the law trumps common sense.

3. The Constitution says regions can't have armed forces in times of Peace without the consent of the Senate. Atlasian jurisprudence only allows the IDS to have a militia based on that clause because the Senate has specifically referenced their militia, which it has never done for the Pacific's.


sorry for the snark

[Bacon King]

Is Simfan OK?

Yes. I nominate Bacon King for Pacific Justice. Everything will be returning back to order shortly. I will give a speech shortly, in the comimg days.

Sorry simfan but I decline because I just got elected Senator

[Bacon King]

I hereby appoint Bacon King to the Legislative Council.

Thank you Mr Governor for this opportunity to serve our region. I accept your appointment and have sworn in.

[Bacon King]

I accept the appointment as acting speaker and as director of the office of the recovery

[Bacon King]

Given that the Pacific government is apparently now literally nonexistent, I must congratulate Mr. Simfan for successfully completing the work started by Operation Rimjob