Treasonous Rebellion Bill

[MasterJedi]

Treasonous Rebellion Bill


1. The following acts are hereby declared Acts of Treason.
a.) Rebellion, defined as the use of military forces to overthrow the Federal or any Regional government of Atlasia.
b.) Aiding of a rebellion, defined as the fully knowing and intentional direction of funds, military aid, or strategic advice to a person or group seeking to engage in rebellion.
c.) Terrorism, defined as the unlawful or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating civilians and/or the federal and/or regional governments of Atlasia.

2. Sentencing of an above defined Act of Treason shall be by the presiding Justice; he may use any combination of the following as punishment, depending upon the severity of the offense:
a.) Up to a lifetime ban from voting in any Atlasian elections.
b.) Up to lifetime incarceration in an Atlasian Fantasy Prison.
c.) A fine of up to $1,000,000,000 in fantasy currency.

3. Rights of the defendant.
a.) The defendant shall not be denied the access to adequate legal counsel in the form of an upstanding, active citizen of Atlasia. The defendant also has the right to waive their right to legal counsel.
If the defendant requests legal counsel, but is unable to secure his own adequate legal counsel according to the stipulations above, the presiding Justice shall request the chief judicial officer of the Region which said Defendant resides in, to serve as legal counsel to represent the defense. The chief judicial officer of the Region shall have the right to refuse such a request.
b.) If there is no chief judicial officer of said Region or if the chief judicial officer refuses this request, the Senior Senator of the Region shall be appointed as chief legal counsel, or if there is no Regional senator, the Senior Senator of the District in which Defendant resides in shall be appointed as chief legal counsel.
If the Senior Senator of the Region or District, as stated above, and the Defendant are the same person, then the Junior Senator of the Region shall be appointed as chief legal counselor, or if there is no Regional senator, the Junior Senator of the District in which Defendant resides in shall be appointed as chief legal counsel.
c.) For this clause, active citizen is defined as someone who voted in the last federal election and upstanding citizen is defined as someone who is presently, or who has previously, held elected office in Atlasia.
d.) The defendant shall have the right to a speedy trial as defined in Amendment 3 to the Constitution. In addition to this Amendment, the following section will be used as definition of a speedy trial:
(I) If a brief by the Plaintiff is not filed within one week (7 days) of the presiding Justice opening the trial against the defendant, the case will be dismissed and all charges will be dropped.
(II) A one week (7 days) leniency period may be granted by the presiding Justice by request of the Plaintiff, but any further delays may not be granted by the presiding Justice, except in the case of grave illness or publicly announced absence from the forum.
___________________________________________________________

Sponsor: Sen. MasterJedi

[Speed of Sound]

This bill is important in stopping the annoying post-election rebellions, making them always think twice. Im also happy that no rights are infringed upon, unless I read incorrectly. This bill will bring alot of stability to Atlasia.

[jerusalemcar5]

I just realized the bill title is sort of funny.  It seems to imply that some rebellions might not be treasonous.  This bill only covers those rebellions that are treasonous .

[Brandon H]

I am not sure if a lifetime ban is a good idea, especially for a first time defender.

I am assuming the AG would act as the prosecutor and the Supreme Court shall try the case? If so, I think this should be specified in the bill.

I would probably be against this, but here is something the Senate may wish to consider: instead of being up the the Three Justice of the Surpeme Court, the case could be tried before a jury of ones peers, such as 6 randomly picked Atlasians.

1a states Federal or Regional Government. While this definitely is in a unique category, I believe an attempt to overthrow a Regional Government should be tried in the jurisdiction of that Region.

[Ebowed]

I am not sure if a lifetime ban is a good idea, especially for a first time defender.

That's just the maximum.  The court is free to ban the offender from voting for, say, one or two elections instead of forever.

[Peter]

I would probably be against this, but here is something the Senate may wish to consider: instead of being up the the Three Justice of the Surpeme Court, the case could be tried before a jury of ones peers, such as 6 randomly picked Atlasians.

Trial by jury is a constitutional right:

Article III, Section 2, Clause 1
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the region wherein the crime shall have been committed, which region shall have been previously ascertained by law.

Also, the Article specifies that a Supreme Court Justice presides.

Lastly, the Bill references "Amendment 3 of the Constitution" - presumably this section has been lifted from a first Constitution era statute, since that Amendment III used to deal with trials and the like. All of that material now resides in Article III, Section 2.

[afleitch]

Rebellion against an opressive or totalitarian style government may be justified. While I know this is very very unlikely to be the cause of a rebellion this bill would make such actions illegal even if 2/3rds of the nation went up in arms.

[MasterJedi]

Rebellion against an opressive or totalitarian style government may be justified. While I know this is very very unlikely to be the cause of a rebellion this bill would make such actions illegal even if 2/3rds of the nation went up in arms.

If 2/3rds plus of the nation went up in arms nobody would be able to stop it.

[Peter]

And if a rebellion succeeded, nobody would dare call it treason.

[MasterJedi]

I hereby open up the final vote on this bill. Please vote Aye, Nay or Abstain.

1. The following acts are hereby declared Acts of Treason.
a.) Rebellion, defined as the use of military forces to overthrow the Federal or any Regional government of Atlasia.
b.) Aiding of a rebellion, defined as the fully knowing and intentional direction of funds, military aid, or strategic advice to a person or group seeking to engage in rebellion.
c.) Terrorism, defined as the unlawful or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating civilians and/or the federal and/or regional governments of Atlasia.

2. Sentencing of an above defined Act of Treason shall be by the presiding Justice; he may use any combination of the following as punishment, depending upon the severity of the offense:
a.) Up to a lifetime ban from voting in any Atlasian elections.
b.) Up to lifetime incarceration in an Atlasian Fantasy Prison.
c.) A fine of up to $1,000,000,000 in fantasy currency.

3. Rights of the defendant.
a.) The defendant shall not be denied the access to adequate legal counsel in the form of an upstanding, active citizen of Atlasia. The defendant also has the right to waive their right to legal counsel.
If the defendant requests legal counsel, but is unable to secure his own adequate legal counsel according to the stipulations above, the presiding Justice shall request the chief judicial officer of the Region which said Defendant resides in, to serve as legal counsel to represent the defense. The chief judicial officer of the Region shall have the right to refuse such a request.
b.) If there is no chief judicial officer of said Region or if the chief judicial officer refuses this request, the Senior Senator of the Region shall be appointed as chief legal counsel, or if there is no Regional senator, the Senior Senator of the District in which Defendant resides in shall be appointed as chief legal counsel.
If the Senior Senator of the Region or District, as stated above, and the Defendant are the same person, then the Junior Senator of the Region shall be appointed as chief legal counselor, or if there is no Regional senator, the Junior Senator of the District in which Defendant resides in shall be appointed as chief legal counsel.
c.) For this clause, active citizen is defined as someone who voted in the last federal election and upstanding citizen is defined as someone who is presently, or who has previously, held elected office in Atlasia.
d.) The defendant shall have the right to a speedy trial as defined in Amendment 3 to the Constitution. In addition to this Amendment, the following section will be used as definition of a speedy trial:
(I) If a brief by the Plaintiff is not filed within one week (7 days) of the presiding Justice opening the trial against the defendant, the case will be dismissed and all charges will be dropped.
(II) A one week (7 days) leniency period may be granted by the presiding Justice by request of the Plaintiff, but any further delays may not be granted by the presiding Justice, except in the case of grave illness or publicly announced absence from the forum.

[MasterJedi]

Aye

[Democratic Hawk]

Aye

'Hawk'

[WMS]

Aye.

[Hatman 🍁]

aye

[Bacon King]

Aye.

[Virginian87]

Aye.

[MasterJedi]

This bill has enough votes to pass. Senators now have 24 hours to change their votes.

[ilikeverin]

Abstain FTR (well, I agree with the terrorism bit, but rebellions are half the fun of Atlasia!)

[Sam Spade]

I guess this bill should remind me to start a rebellion sometime soon.

[Speed of Sound]

Aye FTR

[Q]

This bill has passed and is presented to the President.

[MasterJedi]

This bill has passed and is presented to the President.

Dang, the first one I've missed! I thought this one was later this afternoon as well, oh well. Anyways the vote was 7 Ayes, 0 Nays and 1 Abstention for the record.

[Ebowed]

Ebowed

[Sam Spade]

The rebellion will start tomorrow.