Legislation Introduction Thread

[Colin]

Promotion of Democracy Act

1.) The Republic of Atlasia calls upon the Syrian government to set a definite time table for removing troops from Lebanon.

2.) The Republic of Atlasia demands that free and fair elections be allowed in Lebanon outside of the influence of Syria and be open to international election monitors.

3.) The Republic of Atlasia commends the actions of the Lebanese people in their attempts to push reform in their nation.

4.) The Republic of Atlasia condemns the Iranian government in their refusal to allow political reforms in their country.

5.) The Republic of Atlasia calls upon the government of Iran to allow reformist groups to run in the next election and to allow much needed reforms in the political system.

6.) The Senate will hereby allocate $10,000,000 for aid towards pro-democracy groups in Lebanon and Iran.

[Colin]

Jury Selection Bill

1. All juries empanelled for the purposes of trying crimes in the Republic of Atlasia shall be composed of six jurors, who shall all be registered voters in the Region of the Republic of Atlasia in which the defendant is resident and without previous convictions.

2. Jury selection shall be random and shall be administered by the presiding Justice, he may however discard jurors from his selection on grounds of inactivity.

3. If the Justice shall decide a juror has become either prejudicious or inactive, he may replace the juror. The Justice may do this twice during a trial, but if he considers it necessary for a third time, he shall order a mistrial and begin a new trial.

4. In order for a jury to convict at least four jurors must deliver a guilty verdict, however the Justice may raise this to five or six jurors at his own discretion. Jurors shall make their verdict known by public post.

5. To be empanelled on to a jury, the juror shall repeat the following oath: "I swear (or affirm) that I will well and truly try the matter in issue between the parties, and give a true verdict according to the law and evidence, so help me Dave."

[Colin]

Industrial Hemp Legalization Act

Section 1.

Industrial hemp shall be defined as any member of the plant species Cannabis sativa that has a THC content of 1% or less.

Section 2.

Industrial hemp shall be legal to grow and use in consumer and industrial goods in Atlasia.

Section 3.

The federal government of Atlasia will award $20 million to the first company or individual that develops an industrial hemp based fuel that can be used in unmodified petroleum gasoline engines, mix with petroleum gasoline, and can also be mass produced for under $1 per gallon.

[Colin]

Omnibus Election System, Procedure and Certification Bill (King is an Idiot Bill)


Section 1: The Ballot

   1. In their ballot in the Elections to the Senate and the Presidency, each voter shall list some, none or all of the candidates in the voter's order of preference for them.
   2. If no numbering of the preferences is stated then the candidate at the top of the list shall be presumed to be the first preference, the candidate on the second line of the list shall be presumed to be the second preference, and so on.
   3. All elections shall always have the option of write-in for voters, except in the case of run-off elections.
   4. In order to write-in a candidate, the voter shall not need to explicitly specify that their vote is for a write-in candidate.
   5. In order for write-in votes for a candidate for election to qualify as legal votes, the person written-in must formally accept the write-in candidacy before the end of voting in the given election.


Section 2: Determination of the Winner

   1. If any candidate shall gain a majority of the first preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election.
   2. If no such candidate shall exist then the candidate with the least preferences shall be eliminated and his votes redistributed according to lower preferences.
   3. If any candidate shall have a majority of the preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election. If no such candidate shall exist then Clause 2 of this Section shall be implemented again until such a candidate does exist or until all candidates have the same number of preference votes.
   4. If there shall be a situation where there shall be two or more candidates tied for the least number of preference votes, but none of these tied with the candidate with the most preference votes, then the following procedure shall be used to determine which candidate shall be eliminated and his preference votes redistributed:
         i. The candidate with the least total number of preferences expressed by voters shall be eliminated.
         ii. The Senate shall vote on which candidate to eliminate, with the Vice President being able to cast a tie-breaking vote if necessary.
   5. If the event that all candidates have the same number of preference votes shall occur then the following procedure shall be used to break the tie:
         i. A runoff shall be held beginning at midnight Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday after the election that shall last for 72 hours.
         ii. Those candidates who have tied shall be automatically entered onto the ballot and no other candidacies shall be allowed.
         iii. Voters shall only be able to cast a vote for one candidate and write-in candidates shall not be allowed.
         iv. If any candidate shall gain a majority of the vote, then he shall be declared winner.
   6. If Clause 5 of this Section does not yield a winner then the procedure outlined in Section 3, Clauses 3 through 8 of the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act shall be used to determine a winner.
   7. Any instance of the word in this Section candidate shall be read as ticket in the case of Presidential elections.


Section 3: Administration of Voting Booths

   1. The administrator of a voting booth shall be free to design the ballot as they see fit as long as the content of the ballot is clear and unambiguous.
   2. The administrator of a voting booth shall post links to all relevant statute regarding electoral law on the ballot.
   3. Whenever possible, the administrator of the voting booth shall be the Secretary of Forum Affairs; If he shall be absent for whatever reason, the administration of the voting booth shall be conducted by an executive officer of the federal government nominated by the President.


Section 4: Certification of Election Results

   1. When the period of voting has expired, the administrator of the voting booth shall post a declaration of the result in the voting booth, including all those votes which he has discounted, and the reasons for these votes being discounted. In so doing, the voting booth administrator shall discount those votes he is required to by law and shall only count those remaining votes for which he is able to make a reasonable determination as to the intent of the voter.
   2. At the time of the end of the voting period, the administrator of the voting booth shall lock the thread containing the voting booth. The thread shall not be unlocked except to enter the certification of the election result onto the thread.
   3. Certification of the election result shall be conducted as soon as humanly possible after the voting booth shall have closed. If the Administrator of the voting booth shall not be available to conduct such certification, then he shall nominate another executive officer of the federal government to carry out such certification in his stead.
   4. Once certification of an election result has occurred it may not be amended or rescinded except on the basis of a Court order.


Section 5: Concession of Victory

   1. If a candidate shall concede their victory of a Senate election after the certification of the election result then whoever shall have been the runner-up (defined as the candidate with the most preference votes other than the certified victor) in that election shall then be declared victor.
   2. If both members of a Presidential ticket shall concede their victory in the Presidential election after the certification of the election result then whoever shall have been the runner-up (defined as the ticket with the most preference votes other than the certified victors) in that election shall then be declared victor.
   3. If a victor who has conceded shall wish to retract their concession then they shall only be able to do so with the permission of the newly declared victor.


Section 5: Repealed Legislation

The following Laws, and Sections thereof, are hereby repealed:
   1. The Preferential Voting Act is repealed in full.
   2. Section 1 and Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act are repealed.

[Colin]

Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act[/i]

§ 1 The possession, sale and consumption of marijuana and the plants needed for its processing, shall not be criminalized by the federal government of Atlasia.

§ 2 All federal activities related with it shall be immediately shut down, and the money currently appropriated to them shall be used for:

     A. The construction of treatment centres for alcohol, marijuana,
         and other drug abuses
     B. The fight against illegal drugs

§3 All people convicted by federal courts of the crimes repealed in this bill, shall be given amnesty from the punishment awarded to them by the said courts.

§4. Taxes on marijuana shall be set in the annual budget. Individual regions may set their own taxes on marijuana as they see fit.

[Colin]

Co-Sponsor: Senator SamSpade (U-LA)

Judiciary Bill

Section 1: Divisions of the Supreme Court

There shall be three divisions of the Supreme Court:

   i. The Criminal Division
   ii. The Civil Division
   iii. The Electoral Division

Section 2: Criminal Division

1. The Criminal Division of the Supreme Court shall sit to try crimes against Atlasia.

2. Each trial shall be presided over by one Justice of the Court as mandated by the Constitution.

3. Trials shall be by jury unless the defendant shall enter a guilty plea or both the defendant and the prosecution shall agree to a Judge only trial.

4. Sentencing shall be by the presiding Justice, anything in previous statute to the contrary not withstanding.

Section 3: Civil Division

1. The Civil Division of the Supreme court shall sit to hear cases initiated by an individual citizen or group of citizens against the Republic of Atlasia or other citizens, excepting those cases under the jurisdiction of the Electoral Division.

2. Each case shall be presided over by one Justice of the Court, with a jury trying the evidence if the defendant shall wish it, otherwise with the Justice trying the evidence.

3. The presiding Justice shall award damages to the plantiff and order such writs as he shall feel the verdict of the jury and the weight of evidence justify.

Section 4: Electoral Division

1. The Electoral Division of the Supreme Court shall sit to hear cases concerning electoral disputes and cases concerning the Department of Forum Affairs.

2. Each case shall be presided over by one Justice of the Court.

3. The presiding Justice shall order such writs as he shall feel necessary to uphold the law.

Section 5: Full Court Consideration

1. Cases concerning the interpretation of the text of the Constitution or the constitutionality of a legislative or executive action shall be considered by the entire Supreme Court in the first instance, anything in the previous sections not withstanding.

2. The entire Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction to all cases of the Divisions of the Supreme Court as to both Law and Fact.

3. The entire Supreme Court shall also have original jurisdiction over cases not otherwise assigned original jurisdiction by this statute.

Section 6: Assignment to Divisions

1. The Supreme Court shall assign Justices to Divisions of the Supreme Court as it shall wish for one month terms on the first day in each calender month.

2. No more than one Justice shall be assigned to each division of the Court in each month, excepting such circumstances as provided for in other clauses of this Section.

3. Each Justice may serve on a maximum of two Divisions of the Supreme Court, excepting such circumstances as provided for in other clauses of this Section.

4. In the event that Justices shall be absent from the Forum due to vacation or other reasons then Justice(s) may be temporarily appointed to preside over the relevant Division(s) during the absence.

5. In the event that a backlog of cases occurs on a Division of the Supreme Court, then additional Justices may be seconded to the relevant Division as the Court may see fit until such backlog is cleared.

6. Once a case is opened on a Division it shall remain under the same Justice for the duration of its consideration, even where a new Justice is assigned to the Division at the beginning of a new month, except where a Justice shall leave the Supreme Court in mid-trial, in which case a new Justice shall be selected to take over the trial.

7. A Justice may not be presiding over more than one case per Division at any one time.[/i]

[Colin]

We probably wont get to it in this Senate but here it is:

Federal Activity Requirements Statute

The Senate notes that:

1. The present activity requirement requires 25 posts between elections in order for a voter to be defined as active, without specifying whether such requirements apply for general elections only, or includes special elections.

2. That special elections can occur as soon as one week after a general election, thus potentially disenfranchising many legitimate voters.

Clauses:

1. All those persons who have posted at least 25 times in the 8 weeks (56 days) prior to the commencement of an election shall be defined as active for the purposes of that election.

2. Those persons considered inactive (defined as not active) shall not be qualified to vote in a particular election.

3. Section 5 of the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act is repealed

4. The Amendment to the Statute of Election Procedures, Certification, and Challenges Act is repealed.

[Colin]

Entered by StatesRights Before

Atlasian Wetlands Act

Section One - What is a Wetland?
•  Wetlands shall be considered any area of undeveloped land greater then five acres which is either partially submerged or submerged under water for greater then six months of the year.
•  Wetlands shall be considered any area in which development has not already occurred and/or development has not already begun.

Section Two - Protections
•  All undeveloped wetlands shall henceforth be protected under federal law and be enforced by the regional governors under their discretion.
•  Wetlands shall not be drained, rechanneled or otherwise damaged once declared as a declared protection zone.
•  ATVs and Airboats shall not be restricted from recreational usage of these waterways but their usage (ie speeds) shall be determined by the regional governors.
•  Wetlands will be protected from use as sewage dumps, drain off points or other such non-natural usages.

Section Three - Penalties
•  Violators shall face a ladder penalty of 500$ for the first offence, 1000$ for the second offence and 10,000$ for the third offence.
•  Habitual violators shall face the above mentioned fines plus up to 3 years imprisonment to be determined by the court.

Now we can finally protect the Stow, Ohio wetlands.

[Colin]

Iranian Resistance Support Act

Wheras the current government of Iran's violations of human rights and its support of terrorist movements runs contrary to the interests of both the United States and the Iranian people, the US Government is authorized to give $20 million in aid during FY2005 and FY2006 to resistance fighters attempting to overthrow the current government of Iran, at the discretion of the Departments of Defense and State.

I believe I did something like this in my Promotion of Democracy Act, which implecitely states Iran as one of the sources of aid for pro-democracy groups but I would support an increase in that aid.

[Colin]

Marijuana Criminalization Act

Section I
The Marijauana Legalization and Taxation act is hereby repealed.

Section II
Regions shall be given the right to decide the status of Marijuana legaliziation in their state.

Section II is already a part of the Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act. It implicitely states that the possession, sale, and consumption of marijuana, and the plants needed for its processing, shall not be considered illegal by the federal government of Atlasia. Commercially sold marijuana cigarettes shall be subject to the same regulations as tobacco cigarettes, unless a regional law shall nullify this provision and provide its own. (Important areas are bolded)

The Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act was a federal decriminalization of marijuana not a full regional and federal decriminalization. If you would like you have the full authority to put forth a proposition in the Southeast, under the Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act, to criminalize the possesion and use of marijuana. I personally see no reason for this law since it basically gives the states a power that they already have. Preston you need to stop getting all riled up about things like this.

[Colin]

Supreme Court Adjustments of 2005

Section 1:  Article III, Section I, Clause II of the constitution will now read as follows:

The Supreme Court shall consist of five Justices who shall all be registered voters, one of whom shall be the Chief Justice. Justices shall hold their office during good behavior.

Section II:
This will take effect upon ratification by the regions, as specified in the constitution.

What is the rationale for having five justices?

Yes I cannot see any reason for this amendment. It is already hard enough to try to find three active people who are willing to be justices finding two more would just add more hassles.

[Colin]

.

Supreme Court Adjustments of 2005

Section 1:  Article III, Section I, Clause II of the constitution will now read as follows:

The Supreme Court shall consist of five Justices who shall all be registered voters, one of whom shall be the Chief Justice. Justices shall hold their office during good behavior.

Section II:
This will take effect upon ratification by the regions, as specified in the constitution.

What is the rationale for having five justices?

Yes I cannot see any reason for this amendment. It is already hard enough to try to find three active people who are willing to be justices finding two more would just add more hassles.

I think he wants 2 more people who aren't in the FEC.

Geez, our Senate has no sense of humor.

I'm not paid to be funny, I'm paid to be a Senator.

[Colin]

I'm not paid to be funny, I'm paid to be a Senator.

You get paid?

Yep. What you didn't recieve your paycheck?

[Colin]

Supreme Court Adjustments of 2005

Section 1:  Article III, Section I, Clause II of the constitution will now read as follows:

The Supreme Court shall consist of five Justices who shall all be registered voters, one of whom shall be the Chief Justice. Justices shall hold their office during good behavior.

Section II:
This will take effect upon ratification by the regions, as specified in the constitution.

What is the rationale for having five justices?

Packing it with people who will overturn Bono vs. Atlasia and render Supersoulty's unwed mothers protection bill constitutional.

Uh...Preston, one of the first people I would suggest to Siege for any expanded court would be Dibble and then probably Peter Bell since both have a great knowledge of the constitution. I'm doubting that either of these people will swing it in your favour. Actually I believe that all three of the current justices would come to the same conclusion as the majority opinion in that earlier ruling.

[Colin]

Supreme Court Adjustments of 2005

Section 1:  Article III, Section I, Clause II of the constitution will now read as follows:

The Supreme Court shall consist of five Justices who shall all be registered voters, one of whom shall be the Chief Justice. Justices shall hold their office during good behavior.

Section II:
This will take effect upon ratification by the regions, as specified in the constitution.

What is the rationale for having five justices?

Packing it with people who will overturn Bono vs. Atlasia and render Supersoulty's unwed mothers protection bill constitutional.

Well, I suppose at least you're very open about your extremely
Machiavellian motives.

OMG ITS THE FEC!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG PRESTON WAS THE HEAD OF THE FEC ALL THIS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!

[Colin]

I know I'm alittle late in saying this but I support the formation of a committee to look into the pros and cons of any reform to our current voting system.

[Colin]

Why would we want Greenland?  At least there turned out to be oil in Alaska, but there's nothing in Greenland but eskimos and polar bears.  We could rename it 'MasterJedi's Folly'!

The Polar Bear is a very endangered species, we must protect it!

Actually to be serious their have been large oil deposits found in Greenland. The problem is they are rather hard to get to at this time and some of the less remote oil fields are just entering exploratory drilling at this time.

[Colin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Greenland was an independent country, what right does Denmark have to fork it over? They'd have to abandon their ties, that's true, but I don't know if they have the right just to sell it.

Siege

Well according to the Danish government Greenland is a county of Denmark and is thus part of the Kingdom of Denmark in full. It has representatives in the Danish parliament but has a large amount of autonomy in almost all matters, the only matters it doesn't control are mostly military and foreign affairs although Greenland has not joined the EU in defiance of Denmark and it trade and tourism agreements with several other Nordic countries and is also one of several countries in some Inuit worldwide organizations. So for such a bill to actually work we would probably have to talk to both governments and give both governments some sort of payment for this to work.

[Colin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Greenland was an independent country, what right does Denmark have to fork it over? They'd have to abandon their ties, that's true, but I don't know if they have the right just to sell it.

Siege

Well according to the Danish government Greenland is a county of Denmark and is thus part of the Kingdom of Denmark in full. It has representatives in the Danish parliament but has a large amount of autonomy in almost all matters, the only matters it doesn't control are mostly military and foreign affairs although Greenland has not joined the EU in defiance of Denmark and it trade and tourism agreements with several other Nordic countries and is also one of several countries in some Inuit worldwide organizations. So for such a bill to actually work we would probably have to talk to both governments and give both governments some sort of payment for this to work.

That relationship is kind of like Scotland and Britian in a small way.

Yeah in a way. It's basically Puerto Rico with voting Congressional Representation.

[Colin]

Emsworth Statement: It doesn't say the Senate can't admit states though.

The Senate is a body of enumerated powers. It does not, in my view, have the authority to admit states unless the power is specifically granted. Furthermore, the inclusion of the clause I pointed out above seems to rule out the possibility of the Senate admitting states on its own. Instead, that clause appears to indicate that new states join Atlasia only if they do so in real life as well.

I'm sorry to say this but Emsworth is right. Since it is not a power delegated to the Senate as enumerated in the Powers of the Senate section of the Constitution. Since this is not delegated to the federal government it would be up to the provinces themselves to apply for statehood. If you are in support of this you could talk with Sec State WMS about an official resolution encouraging the Provinces of Canada to hold referenda on statehood and with John Ford to get things moving on the GM side of things.

Also as the Dominion of Canada is a sovereign nation it is thus not entitled to follow the acts, laws, or resolutions of other sovereign nations. Section 3 seems to state that the Canadian government must do when it has no obligation to do it.

[Colin]

Emsworth, I am sorry to say this, but it is not your job to decide the Constitutionality of laws. IIRC that is only the job of the Supreme Court of Atlasia. Both statehood acts should be able to come up as legislation and be voted upon by the Senate. If their constitutionality is challenged by an Atlasia then the court will decide it's Constitutionality but this is not your power. It is only the courts power. Thus I official protest your striking of the Pacifican Statehood Act and the Unification of Canada and Atlasia Act from the list of items to be debated and voted upon in the Senate. Unless their is a specific clause that allows you not unilaterally decide the Constitutionality of acts of the Senate then I would suggest that you do not strike these bills.

[Colin]

Emsworth, I am sorry to say this, but it is not your job to decide the Constitutionality of laws. IIRC that is only the job of the Supreme Court of Atlasia. Both statehood acts should be able to come up as legislation and be voted upon by the Senate. If their constitutionality is challenged by an Atlasia then the court will decide it's Constitutionality but this is not your power. It is only the courts power. Thus I official protest your striking of the Pacifican Statehood Act and the Unification of Canada and Atlasia Act from the list of items to be debated and voted upon in the Senate. Unless their is a specific clause that allows you not unilaterally decide the Constitutionality of acts of the Senate then I would suggest that you do not strike these bills.

Protest noted.

As Sam Spade points out, there is indeed a clause of the OSPR that permits me to remove the bill from the Senate floor. I would never have presumed to take such an action if such a clause did not exist. I actually gave my argument on the constitutionality of the bill first, before making a ruling, to see if there would be any counter-argument. If there was any opposition, then I would not have used the power, and would have left it up to the Senate. However, my argument was not refuted or challenged (except for one post, which I addressed); thus, I felt justified.

I am not aware if the power to declare a bill unconstitutional has been used before. However, Senator Gabu has indeed used the power to declare motions and amendments frivolous, and has struck them from the agenda of the Senate.

I'm sorry if this seems heavy-handed, though.

It's alright I seem to have forgotten that clause of the Senate Procedural Resolution, that's easy to do when the bill is near the size of War and Peace , so I am sorry if I seemed rather harsh. The protest will still remain official since I do not believe that it is frivolously unconstitutional, we aren't talking about giving tax cuts to just the Mideast here, and I believe that it should be given a vote even if it is, in my opinion unconsitutional. 

[Colin]

The protest will still remain official since I do not believe that it is frivolously unconstitutional...

I don't think that it needs to be frivolous in order for the power to be exercisable.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

If there is any doubt about whether the bill is constitutional or not, then I would agree with you. If a bill is directly, plainly, and evidently unconstitutional, however, I would have to demur.

Well it's up to MasterJedi. I don't care how you use your power I just like objecting to things.

[Colin]

On behalf of Vice President Emsworth:

Second Miscellany Act

Section 1
Whenever an Act which repealed a former Act is repealed, said
former Act shall not thereby be revived, unless expressly so provided.

Section 2
The following Acts or sections are hereby repealed:

Anti-Drug Testing Act
Stickies, Posts, and Polls Reduction Act
PPT Election Act
Boss Abortion Act
Federal Activity Act
Section 3 of the Miscellany Act
Constitutional Amendment Act
Unwed and Teenage Mothers Protection Act

[Colin]

Thank you, Sen. Wixted.

No problem Mr. Vice President.