South: Southern Law Commission Act

[Associate Justice PiT]

     This bill is now before the Legislature. I would have brought it up sooner, but I did not realize the Governor was dealing with these in a thread on the regular AFE board.

Southern Law Commission Act
1. The Commission on Southern Law and Code (hereafter CSLC) will be established upon passage of this bill. It shall be chaired by a member of the Legislature and staffed by two other citizens of the region.

2. The members of the CSLC shall be selected by a quorum in a joint meeting of the Judicial Overlord and the Legislature. Any member of the CSLC may be removed by the same process.

3. The goal of the CSLC shall be to sort the region's statute into a continuous document reflecting structure in the form of code sections and clearly defined section headers.
     a. The deadline for a completed product will be set to six months from the passage of this bill, with possibility for extension based on progress towards the goal.
     b. The completed product shall be posted on the Wiki, linked to at the top of the regional statute page.
     As its sponsor, I will advocate for it shortly.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     One of the issues with the laws as they are now is that it can be difficult to tell what laws are in a given area. The fact that many acts do not have descriptive names serves to compound this problem.

     My hope here is to be able to create a proper statute that organizes and edits together laws by subject. With this, one could go to a certain section, whether it be "tax" or "militia" or something else and do a Ctrl+F search to determine if there exists law addressing whatever issues one would like to address.

     The work required to do this would be substantial. At the same time, this would make the statute much more useable for those who are not familiar with the laws of our region and make it much more accomodating to new members of our region.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     That is a concern for me, and part of the reason for me suggesting three members is to help keep it going with the ebb and flow of activity.

     While my other proposal on regional history would benefit heavily from a panel of three to protect against bias in its writing, this really could get by with one very industrious member. I would be willing to volunteer myself for this in such case, considering my significant knowledge of Southern law.

     The problem is that if I leave the Legislature before the six month mark, there might not be anyone interested or able to carry the project on. We could amend it to allow the Legislator leading the project to continue with this in case of departure.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I understand your apprehension. I remember that the budget committee was a success, but Yelnoc and I were both really good about driving it. If there is interest in going that route, I might amend this to be a project of one to be led by myself.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     With all these new additions to the region, I could probably take on a couple of apprentices to help with this. I don't know how much they would add to the project itself, but it would be a great way to get them involved with Southern politics.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I agree with X that, barring inactivity, dumping the chair is probably an inherently bad idea. How about this as an amendment:

Southern Law Commission Act
1. The Commission on Southern Law and Code (hereafter CSLC) will be established upon passage of this bill. It shall be chaired by a member of the Legislature and staffed by two other citizens of the region. The chair of the CSLC may continue to hold that post upon leaving the Legislature for any reason.

2. The members of the CSLC shall be selected by a quorum in a joint meeting of the Judicial Overlord and the Legislature. Any member of the CSLC may be removed by the same process.

3. The goal of the CSLC shall be to sort the region's statute into a continuous document reflecting structure in the form of code sections and clearly defined section headers.
     a. The deadline for a completed product will be set to six months from the passage of this bill, with possibility for extension based on progress towards the goal.
     b. The completed product shall be posted on the Wiki, linked to at the top of the regional statute page.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Strictly speaking, it is not necessary. Passing this would create a greater impetus to see this through and make it easier for the regional government to "own" it. That is about what I can say on that matter.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Strictly speaking, it is not necessary. Passing this would create a greater impetus to see this through and make it easier for the regional government to "own" it. That is about what I can say on that matter.

If we need the government to own it, I guess it's fine to pass. I just see it as more needless bureaucracy that will just be repealed once you, PiT, leave since no one else will really be interested in it.

     The problem is that, realistically, this project will never end. With my amendment, I can leave the Legislature and keep it up. Eventually we will all leave Atlasia, and who knows what will happen then.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I would beg to differ. Your presence and input is valued, Duke. Things may have been a little slow for my taste around here before, but it happens and we've improved on it. We've had excellent discussion in this very thread.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Since the debate has gotten quite far, let's move it along. I suppose that my colleagues accept my amendment to the bill. Is there anything else for us to do or should we move to a final vote?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Alright, I think it is time that we proceed to a final vote.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I'll go ahead and vote aye.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Thanks for signing it Governor. I'll be getting the next bill up shortly.