The Imperial Dominion of the South's Legislature

[Associate Justice PiT]

Doesn't the Southeast have a recall? Recall this tb75 dude...

     In an underpopulated region dominated by the Atlasians of yesteryear, it's nice to have a newbie who is enthusiastic about holding office. Not to mention he messed up on a minor point of a pretty new law. It's not like he was talking about diplomatic relations with Franco or war with Canada.

It's pretty apparent he is just trolling...

     Then it should be easy for you to find someone to launch a recall petition.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I'm perfectly fine with getting started again. Where were we when we left off?

[Associate Justice PiT]

Ahem, I believe that this bill is dead.  Unless Governor JBrase has some other compelling argument, could we perhaps go ahead and take a vote?

     This was actually not an official debate period, since there was talk about putting it up to a referendum straightaway. Either way, I'd hope to see some action taken soon, so that the Legislature can get back on track. We don't want this to become the Southeast of early 2008 again.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Is there actually a bill for this?

     Yes, there is. However, there was talk about proposing it as an initiative instead, for reasons that I cannot immediately recall. I could look back through the thread to find out, but that's not something I'd get around to tonight.

[Associate Justice PiT]

We need to get back in track

     Strongly agreed. Since Governor Jbrase has not actually opened a voting booth on the Nueva Tejas bill despite the time that has passed since he pitched the idea of doing so, let's just go ahead & act on it.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Nay.

[Associate Justice PiT]

aww, well I had to try.

     You can always petition for a referendum.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I re-introduced SPC's bill that failed to attain a quorum earlier. Hopefully we can get it passed now.

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[Associate Justice PiT]

     I re-introduced SPC's bill that failed to attain a quorum earlier. Hopefully we can get it passed now.

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Just a question, is there any sort of similar law on the books already?

Also, let's say the would-be defender thinks that his neighbor's property is in danger. Is he allowed to shoot, if say the occupants aren't at home and he believes the police would be too slow? I only ask this because a similar case came up in Texas a few years back, and Texas being Texas, it was ruled legal.

     I don't know too much about the law in that area. I suppose it would depend on what legal distinctions exist between self-defense & defense of others, since it seems to me that the notion of the castle law extends one's self to encompass one's property.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     In that case, I would like to withdraw the bill. I don't think we actually have anything in the pipeline, however.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Did we ever finish looking at the abortion rights bill?

     No. We should talk about it again, since if we only managed to attach a mens rea requirement to being sentenced to prison time for inducing an illegal abortion, it would be a worthwhile change.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Did we ever do anything about that prison problem the GM wrote about?

That's the first i've heard of it.

     Same here. I guess that means we didn't do anything about it, then.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Did we ever do anything about that prison problem the GM wrote about?

That's the first i've heard of it.

     Same here. I guess that means we didn't do anything about it, then.

"A study of the region's prisons finds that 90% of non-free-range prisons are at or above capacity, with the remaining 10% nearly there. The packed prisons comes at a cost to both the taxpayers and the prisons, burdening the system with growing costs and making it difficult for prisons to account for all prison activities. The region should look into expanding capacity and staffing, lightening restrictions on free-range prisons or reducing penalties for some non-violent crimes."

This I believe is the prison problem.
Perhaps we could do a combination of the suggestions? I'd reduce penalties for drug user offenses for one and increase staff/maybe build a new prison or two. Early release program for the well behaved could also be good.
Also, not sure if anybody knew offhand, but what are the current rules on free-range prisons? Maybe we could revise some of the prison rules there.

     Is drug posession still a crime in the region? If so, I suggest that we abolish it, as well as any other non-violent drug charges.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I'd suggest the abortion bill, since the prison bill will probably be a much longer & more involved process. The abortion bill just adds a word to an existing law.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Could we get going with business again? It's rather embarrassing that this body has only managed to pass one bill & achieve a quorum on a vote on one other so far.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I think the edit to the abortion act is ok, though I still would like to get some of what was on the table for the proposed initiative awhile back passed as well.

     As would I, though that would take time that could be spent addressing the prison issues. I think we should address the major flaw in the abortion statute for now & look it over again later.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Sounds good, though I'd like to make the statement that this change adds the word "knowingly"as a requirement to be sent to prison for causing an illegal abortion. As such, it would establish the requirement of mens rea or "state of mind" in the commission of the crime.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Aye

[Associate Justice PiT]

     As I said earlier, I would like to add other provisions to this bill in order to deal with the prison overcrowding problem. Ideas, colleagues?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Shorter sentences for non-violent crime sounds good, perhaps a truncated 20% decrease on prison time?

     Prostitution is legal in all of Atlasia, per the Legalization of Prostitution Act. Terms for solicitation are short enough that I think everyone who was convicted of it before the passage of that law has been long since released.

     As for free-range prisons, I don't really know much about them. If you could write an amendment to that effect, I would be most grateful.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Shorter sentences for non-violent crime sounds good, perhaps a truncated 20% decrease on prison time?

      Prostitution is legal in all of Atlasia, per the Legalization of Prostitution Act. Terms for solicitation are short enough that I think everyone who was convicted of it before the passage of that law has been long since released.

     As for free-range prisons, I don't really know much about them. If you could write an amendment to that effect, I would be most grateful.

As long as Prostution stays legal, i don't have a problem with the act.

     Agreed, though outlawing prostitution would be quite counterproductive to the aims of this bill anyway. At any rate, Deldem was asking if it is currently legal or not. I was merely explaining that it is.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     In that case, I will filibuster this bill until he gets around to it.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     How about I accept that as sections 2 & 3 of this bill & change the title of this bill to the Prison Reform Bill of 2010?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Agreed. I suggested a truncated reduction of 20% earlier. How about truncate it to the next week if the sentence is less than one year & the next month if it is more than one year?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Okay, how does this look for the bill? Anything else to add to it?

Prison Reform Bill of 2010

1. All persons serving sentences for cultivation, possession, or possession with intent to sell of any drug legalized by the Comprehensive Drug Reform Initiative shall hereby be pardoned.

2. Article 3.1 of the Free Range Prison Initiative is amended to read:
"Only criminals convicted of a felony with a sentence of five years or greater may be sent to this facility."

3. Article 3.5 shall be added to the Free Range Prison Initiative:
"All criminals convicted of a felony with at least five years left in their sentence shall be considered for placement in a free range prison, should they meet all previous requirements stated."

4a. Prison sentences for all convictions of non-violent crimes in the Southeastern region passed down after the passage of this bill shall be reduced in time by 20%.

4b. This reduction in penalty shall be truncated to the next week for sentences of less than one year.

4c. This reduction in penalty shall be truncated to the next month for sentences of more than one year.