People of the Republic of Atlasia v. hifly15

[Bacon King]

The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic of Atlasia hereby charges citizen hifly15, under the terms of the Re-Consolidated Criminal Justice Act, with the "impersonation, or attempted impersonation, of another Atlas Forum member on the Atlas Forum".

In order to prove that Mr. hifly15 was attempting to impersonate Midwest Representative RR1997 in the thread "MW: Amendment to the Midwest Abortion Act" on the Regional Governments subforum, the prosecution will be submitting this post and those following it as evidence, in addition to this screenshot of the forum (originally posted by Cris). We also plan for at least one witness to testify before the court.

I'm not absolutely certain, but this statute appears to be the current Midwestern law concerning jury selection. Edit: nevermind it looks like it failed to pass so unless I missed something, it looks like this case will be under Federal jury laws

[Hifly]

May I testify as witness against myself?

[Bacon King]

May I testify as witness against myself?

I must stress you are under no obligation to; the Atlasian Constitution states:

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and while you might legally be able to do so of your own volition I seriously recommend seeking counsel and/or request the court assign counsel to you - especially before you do something like that.

If you do wish to admit your crimes in court, I would personally recommend just to plead guilty - I'm sure we can work out a plea deal.

[Hifly]

I will plead guilty.

[Oakvale]

The case and the guilty plea are noted.

Does either party wish to be heard on sentencing?

[Bacon King]

I leave it up to the discretion of the judge

[Hifly]

The intent of the events was merely a joke; nothing malicious or treasonous was intended.

I genuinely did not know that I had committed a felony by changing my avatar. I ask that the court take into account that I am an active and committed elected legislator, and thus please consider pardoning me.

[Bacon King]

The intent of the events was merely a joke; nothing malicious or treasonous was intended.

I genuinely did not know that I had committed a felony by changing my avatar. I ask that the court take into account that I am an active and committed elected legislator, and thus please consider pardoning me.

I'd be cool with not banning hifly from office holding, and just giving him a short-term voting ban insteadas a slap on the wrist

[Oakvale]

The Court has noted the defendant and prosecution's opinions on sentencing. A sentence will be handed down shortly.

[Oakvale]

Supreme Court of Atlasia
Nyman, DC

People of the Republic of Atlasia v. hifly15

Spooky Sentencing.

(The presiding judge, Justice Oakvale, sentenced the defendant after he plead guilty to the charge against him.)

The Court has heard both the defendant and the prosecution regarding sentencing in this matter, and thanks both sides for their willingness to actively participate in this case, and the defendant for confessing to his guilt, which I have taken into consideration as regards the sentence.

The Court hears the Attorney General's recommendation of a mere ban on voting and none on holding office, but is my opinion that bans on holding office should generally speaking be more severe than those on voting - the right to hold office is in my view a greater responsibility and one that must not be tarnished by allowing convicted felons serving their sentence to serve in positions of authority. It would also in my view be absurd for an officeholder to hold a position while being barred from voting for themselves in an election to said position.

The defendant claims that the events in question - impersonating a fellow citizen when casting a vote on legislation - constitute little more than a practical joke gone awry. This may be so, but the implications if the deception had gone unnoticed are significant. The Court thus must reject the defendant's plea for leniency. I do no doubt his assertion that he is a committed and active legislator in his region, but those facts only serve to make his crime more egregious - he has degraded the office he holds, diminished his own standing, and deliberately and intentionally caused disruption to the legislative process. I must again stress the dire implications if Mr. hifly's deception had not been noticed - the bill in question may have passed thanks to a fraudulent vote and the democratic process and the will of the people, who elected Mr. RR1997, would have been thoroughly subverted.

hifly15, having plead guilty to the charge of impersonating a citizen laid against him, is hereby sentenced  to a ban of six months on voting in elections in Atlasia, and to a ban on holding office in Atlasia for one year, both to be served simultaneously beginning immediately as of this sentencing.

*bangs gavel*

[Hifly]

What? Handing down those sorts of sentences really defeats the purpose of the game. Do reconsider.

[Oakvale]

I'll direct your attention to §3, c.1 of the Re-Consolidated Criminal Justice Act (2013), which states -

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Impersonating another citizen is covered in clause 1 of §2 and you'll thus note that the sentence imposed by the Court is decidedly moderate given that you attempted to cast a vote while posing as a fellow legislator - it is in fact exactly half of the maximum sentence allowed for such a felony.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

I urge the court to reconsider its sentence. I must agree with the Attorney General's plea for leniency. Given the recent political upheaval, a six month ban on both voting and holding office would be a fairer sentence.

[Hifly]

I would like to appeal the sentence before the full Supreme Court.

[Oakvale]

I would like to appeal the sentence before the full Supreme Court.

Right. On what grounds?

[Hifly]

I would like to appeal the sentence before the full Supreme Court.

Right. On what grounds?

That is was excessive and unwarranted. The prosecution also agrees with this.

[Oakvale]

I would like to appeal the sentence before the full Supreme Court.

Right. On what grounds?

That is was excessive and unwarranted. The prosecution also agrees with this.

It's great that the prosecution agrees but entirely irrelevant to the Court's judgement. Under the terms of the Re-Consolidated Criminal Justice Act you may appeal your sentence (provided the sentence was within the terms laid out by the Act, as this was) if -

1. There were errors in procedure during the trial that caused a mistrial. This would be a tenuous argument to make given that you plead guilty to the charges against you and the 'trial' consisted largely of sentencing.

2. New evidence has come to light since the trial that casts doubt on the conviction.