Office of Northeast Governor Snowstalker

[Simfan34]

The special election shall be held on December 1st. I ask any candidates to file before then.

I have already filed.

[Simfan34]

When is the general election?

[Diabolical Minds Think Alike]

When is the general election?

The special election shall be held on December 1st.

[Simfan34]

When is the general election?

The special election shall be held on December 1st.

I know the special election, but the general election?

[Simfan34]

The special election shall be held on December 1st. I ask any candidates to file before then.

Mr. Governor, the election hour is upon is.

[Senator Snowstalker]

I urge all Northeasterners to vote ASAP in the special election, even if Simfan is running unopposed.

[Simfan34]

I urge all Northeasterners to vote ASAP in the special election, even if Simfan is running unopposed.

Thank you, governor.

[Governor Scott]

Governor, The Absolutely Silly Act has passed the Assembly and awaits your signature or veto.

The Absolutely Silly Act

1.  The amount of derps in the Northeast region may not exceed twelve herps.
2.  If the amount of derps does exceed twelve herps, the Northeast Assembly may herp the derps accordingly.
3.  The Game

[Senator Snowstalker]

The Absolutely Silly Act

Hereby signed into law

Governor Snowstalker

[Governor Scott]

Governor, an amendment to The Vacancy filling Act has passed the Assembly and awaits your signature or veto.

Amendment to The Vacancy filling Act

In accordance to Article II, section 8 of the Fourth Northeast Constitution, vacancies in the Legislative Assembly shall be filled in the following manner :

    In the case of a vacancy in the Northeast Legislative Assembly for any reason, a special election shall be held to elect a new Representative.
In the case that the Representative serving as Lieutenant Governor has vacated his or her seat, the winner of the special election shall assume the responsibilities of Lieutenant Governor.
    The special election must take place no less than 5 days following the vacancy and the booth shall open at 12:00 AM EST on the nearest Friday, provided that Friday is at least 5 days since the vacancy occurred and shall close on that Sunday at 11:59 PM EST, to be administered by the appropriate official.
    The appropriate official shall place the names of all candidates who declare their intention to run in the special election on the Candidate Declaration Thread before 12:00 midnight Eastern time on the Thursday before the poll opens.
    Any candidate who receives write-in votes must confirm that he or she is willing to assume the vacancy by publicly declaring a willingness to receive write-in votes before the polls close in the Candidate Declaration Thread or writing in his or her own name on the ballot to fill the vacancy. Otherwise, those write-in votes shall be deemed void.

[Cincinnatus]

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=144403.0

Governor, please take care of this.

[Senator Snowstalker]

Governor, an amendment to The Vacancy filling Act has passed the Assembly and awaits your signature or veto.


Amendment to The Vacancy filling Act

Hereby signed into law

Governor Snowstalker

[Senator Snowstalker]

Due to Mr. 20RP12's election to the Senate, a special election shall be scheduled three days after he officially resigns to assume office in the Senate. I congratulate him on his victory and remind all Northeasterners to vote in the upcoming election to replace him.

[Senator Snowstalker]

The special election is to be held Friday the 16th.

[Cincinnatus]

Governor, you have yet to open a voting booth on the Ratification Regionalization Amendment.  Further, we have an upcoming election;

4. Elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Northeast Region shall take place once every February, April, June, August, October, and December. The appropriate election administrator will open the voting booth on the third Friday at 12:00:00am EST of each election month and will close said both the following Sunday at 11:59:59pm EST.

[Senator Snowstalker]

Thank you. The special election will be held along with the regular elections.

[Governor Scott]

Technically, a 'special election' isn't really necessary since we're losing two seats after that same election, I think.  Just thought I should say.

[Cincinnatus]

Technically, a 'special election' isn't really necessary since we're losing two seats after that same election, I think.  Just thought I should say.

Yes, that is true.  No special election is required.  The top 5 shall be elected this time around.

[Governor Scott]

Governor, The Miscarriage of Justice Prevention Act has passed the Assembly and awaits your signature or veto.

The Miscarriage of Justice Prevention Act

1. Jury instructions

Jury instructions in criminal cases with not-guilty pleas from this point on must include the following phrasing:

"Your job, as jurors, is to decide whether the defendant is guilty beyond all reasonable doubt.  This does not mean that you should always convict if you believe the defendant is probably guilty; it means that you should convict only if there is no reasonable possibility that the subject is innocent.  The legal system in the Northeast Region presumes that all defendants are innocent.  You must presume that the defendant in this case is innocent, and ascertain whether the evidence in this case proves the defendant guilty, beyond all reasonable doubt."

2. Conviction percentage as grounds for reward

The Attorney General's office, and the District Attorney's offices, may not use percentage of cases resulting in convictions as a criterion for either promotion or reward.  Violation of this law shall be considered a felony punishable by not less than 5 years in prison and/or a fine of not less than $500,000.

3. Police and government official testimony

Judges must instruct jurors that testimony from police officers or other government officials cannot be considered any more credible than testimony from any other person, as needed.

4. Lineup procedures

a. An officer administering a photo or live lineup array must not know which individual in the lineup is the suspect.

b. All individuals in a lineup must resemble the eyewitness's initial description of the perpetrator, including race, hair color, eye color, facial hair, etc.  The suspect should not be the only individual in the lineup with a certain obvious feature unless unavoidable (for example, a distinctive tattoo or scar).

c. Eyewitnesses may not be shown multiple lineups with the same suspect.

d. The person viewing a lineup must be told that the perpetrator may not be in the lineup and that the investigation will continue regardless of the lineup result. They must also be told not to look to the administrator for guidance.

e. Immediately following the lineup procedure, the eyewitness must provide a statement, in his or her own words, articulating his or her level of confidence in the identification.

f. All lineup procedures must be videotaped.

g. Lineups must be performed sequentially (the eyewitness views each individual one by one) rather than simultaneously (the eyewitness views all individuals in the lineup at once).

h. Suspects who were convicted in substantial part due to lineup procedures which did not follow the rules of conduct listed above shall be entitled to appeal their case on those grounds, even if they already have prior to the passage of this law.

5. Discredited forms of evidence

a. Discredited and pseudoscientific forms of evidence collection, including hair and fiber analysis, bite mark analysis, firearm mark analysis, shoe print comparison, polygraph examinations, and testimony obtained under hypnosis shall be considered inadmissable as evidence in a court of law.

b. Suspects who were convicted in substantial part due to the discredited forms of evidence listed above shall be entitled to appeal their case on those grounds, even if they already have prior to the passage of this law.

6. Serology

a. Before expert testimony regarding serology (blood type analysis), the presiding Judge must instruct the jurors that the victim's and perpetrator's blood may have mixed, possibly yielding a false result as to the perpetrator's blood type, and that millions of different people in the Northeast Region share any given blood type.

b. Experts presenting serology may not provide the jury with statistics about percentages of the population which have certain blood types, given that this testimony has been frequently shown to be inaccurate and there are wide fluctuations in the prevalence of certain blood types between different races, ethnicities, and regions of the country.

c. Suspects who were convicted in substantial part due to expert testimony involving serology which did not follow the rules of conduct listed above shall be entitled to appeal their case on those grounds, even if they already have prior to the passage of this law.

7. Interrogations

a. All interrogations of suspects must be videotaped.

b. Judges must instruct the jury in cases of juveniles or mentally retarded individuals that juveniles and mentally retarded individuals often do not understand their situation and are particularly likely to give false confessions.

c. Suspects who were convicted or pled guilty in substantial part due to interrogations which did not follow the rules of conduct listed above shall be entitled to appeal their case on those grounds, even if they already have prior to the passage of this law.

8. Informant testimony

a. Whenever testimony from a prison informant is used, the presiding Judge must instruct the jury that most informant testimony is unreliable as it may be offered in return for deals, special treatment, or the dropping of charges.

b. Prosecutors must reveal any incentive the informant receives, and all communication between prosecutors and informants must be videotaped.

c. Suspects who were convicted in substantial part due to informant testimony which did not follow the rules of conduct listed above shall be entitled to appeal their case on those grounds, even if they already have prior to the passage of this law.

9. New use of DNA evidence

a. All persons convicted in cases where DNA evidence remains but was not presented in the original trial or an appeal are entitled to have DNA testing performed on said evidence.

b. Suspects who were convicted in substantial part in a case where possible DNA evidence existed shall be entitled to appeal their case on those grounds, even if they already have prior to the passage of this law.

c. Possible DNA evidence may not be destroyed.  Violation of this law shall be a misdemeanor punishable by not more than 1 year in prison and/or a fine of not more than $25,000.

10. Double jeopardy

a. A suspect must be charged with all charges relating to a specific offense at his or her original trial.  Suspects may not be brought up on new charges relating to the same defense unless prosecutors can reasonably show that they have found new evidence relating to these new charges since the initial trial.

b. Suspects may not be named in both a criminal and a civil suit relating to the same offense.

c. Suspects may not be charged with regional charges relating to a specific offense after having already been charged relating to that offense at the Federal level.

d. Suspects may not be remanded into Federal custody to be charged related to a specific offense after having already been charged relating to that offense at the regional level.  Regional authorities may not assist Federal authorities in investigating or apprehending suspects already charged at the regional level.  Suspects must be placed into anonymous protective custody provided by the region at their request, if they reasonably believe they will be Federally charged related to a specific offense after having already been charged relating to that offense at the regional level.

11. Entrapment

a. Public officials may not coerce a person to commit a crime that they would have otherwise been unlikely to admit.

b. Depending on the law in the jurisdiction, the prosecution will be required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not entrapped or the defendant may be required to prove that he was entrapped as an affirmative defense.

12. Bribery

a. Gifts may not be bestowed to police officers or government officials to influence their charge in the act of a public or legal duty.  Gifts include money, goods, property, objects of value, advantages, or privileges.

b. Public officials may not request or solicit for bribes in legal cases.

[Senator Snowstalker]

The Miscarriage of Justice Prevention Act

Hereby signed into law

Governor Snowstalker

I also remind all residents to vote in the election for Northeast Assembly.

[Dallasfan65]

Governor, I seem to have been erroneously placed on the ballot.

[Governor Scott]

That is true.  For the future, just be sure to only put candidates on the ballot that have declared their candidacies.

[Senator Snowstalker]

Governor, I seem to have been erroneously placed on the ballot.

Ah, I thought I saw your name in the Declaration thread. I apologize.

[Dallasfan65]

Governor, I seem to have been erroneously placed on the ballot.

Ah, I thought I saw your name in the Declaration thread. I apologize.

Perfectly all right my friend! Mistakes happen.

Thanks to those that preferenced me though, I am appreciative.

EDIT: Only forty-eight hours? Usually our elections are seventy-two hours. Did I miss something?

[Senator Snowstalker]

Governor, I seem to have been erroneously placed on the ballot.

Ah, I thought I saw your name in the Declaration thread. I apologize.

Perfectly all right my friend! Mistakes happen.

Thanks to those that preferenced me though, I am appreciative.

EDIT: Only forty-eight hours? Usually our elections are seventy-two hours. Did I miss something?

I looked back as a guide; the last NE Assembly election was 48 hours.