The Imperial Dominion of the South's Legislature

[Deldem]

     I re-introduced SPC's bill that failed to attain a quorum earlier. Hopefully we can get it passed now.

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Just a question, is there any sort of similar law on the books already?

Also, let's say the would-be defender thinks that his neighbor's property is in danger. Is he allowed to shoot, if say the occupants aren't at home and he believes the police would be too slow? I only ask this because a similar case came up in Texas a few years back, and Texas being Texas, it was ruled legal.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I re-introduced SPC's bill that failed to attain a quorum earlier. Hopefully we can get it passed now.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Just a question, is there any sort of similar law on the books already?

Also, let's say the would-be defender thinks that his neighbor's property is in danger. Is he allowed to shoot, if say the occupants aren't at home and he believes the police would be too slow? I only ask this because a similar case came up in Texas a few years back, and Texas being Texas, it was ruled legal.

     I don't know too much about the law in that area. I suppose it would depend on what legal distinctions exist between self-defense & defense of others, since it seems to me that the notion of the castle law extends one's self to encompass one's property.

[CatoMinor]

[Associate Justice PiT]

     In that case, I would like to withdraw the bill. I don't think we actually have anything in the pipeline, however.

[Deldem]

Did we ever finish looking at the abortion rights bill?

[Associate Justice PiT]

Did we ever finish looking at the abortion rights bill?

     No. We should talk about it again, since if we only managed to attach a mens rea requirement to being sentenced to prison time for inducing an illegal abortion, it would be a worthwhile change.

[Dancing with Myself]

We should introduce a new piece of Legislation.

[CatoMinor]

Did we ever do anything about that prison problem the GM wrote about?

[Dancing with Myself]

Did we ever do anything about that prison problem the GM wrote about?

That's the first i've heard of it.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Did we ever do anything about that prison problem the GM wrote about?

That's the first i've heard of it.

     Same here. I guess that means we didn't do anything about it, then.

[Purple State]

Did we ever do anything about that prison problem the GM wrote about?

That's the first i've heard of it.

     Same here. I guess that means we didn't do anything about it, then.

And to think I was just about to re-post it in my regional update. Well, I'll keep it there just so it stays on your minds.

I'll add another thing for you to address after this one, just to keep ya'll busy.

[CatoMinor]

As for the looming GM's fuel price problem, do we have any gas taxes? If so I propose we either cut them dramatically or abolish them all together.

[Deldem]

Did we ever do anything about that prison problem the GM wrote about?

That's the first i've heard of it.

     Same here. I guess that means we didn't do anything about it, then.

"A study of the region's prisons finds that 90% of non-free-range prisons are at or above capacity, with the remaining 10% nearly there. The packed prisons comes at a cost to both the taxpayers and the prisons, burdening the system with growing costs and making it difficult for prisons to account for all prison activities. The region should look into expanding capacity and staffing, lightening restrictions on free-range prisons or reducing penalties for some non-violent crimes."

This I believe is the prison problem.
Perhaps we could do a combination of the suggestions? I'd reduce penalties for drug user offenses for one and increase staff/maybe build a new prison or two. Early release program for the well behaved could also be good.
Also, not sure if anybody knew offhand, but what are the current rules on free-range prisons? Maybe we could revise some of the prison rules there.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Did we ever do anything about that prison problem the GM wrote about?

That's the first i've heard of it.

     Same here. I guess that means we didn't do anything about it, then.

"A study of the region's prisons finds that 90% of non-free-range prisons are at or above capacity, with the remaining 10% nearly there. The packed prisons comes at a cost to both the taxpayers and the prisons, burdening the system with growing costs and making it difficult for prisons to account for all prison activities. The region should look into expanding capacity and staffing, lightening restrictions on free-range prisons or reducing penalties for some non-violent crimes."

This I believe is the prison problem.
Perhaps we could do a combination of the suggestions? I'd reduce penalties for drug user offenses for one and increase staff/maybe build a new prison or two. Early release program for the well behaved could also be good.
Also, not sure if anybody knew offhand, but what are the current rules on free-range prisons? Maybe we could revise some of the prison rules there.

     Is drug posession still a crime in the region? If so, I suggest that we abolish it, as well as any other non-violent drug charges.

[Bacon King]

I strongly urge the regional government to amend regional narcotics laws to be in step with those at the federal level. You guys can use the bill PiT and I worked on in the Senate as a template, the Comprehensive Drug Reform Bill of 2007 or something to that effect. Just be sure to explicitely state that people get out of jail if their crime is no longer a crime, just to emphasize the point of the legislation in solving the current regional problems.

Also allowing more willing participants into our free range prisons wouldn't be a bad idea either, but I'd like Dibble's opinion on that since it was his initiative and I don't really know what's really a sustainable population for such a facility.

[Dancing with Myself]

Which would you guys prefer to debate first, the abortion amendment or the Prison Bill?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I'd suggest the abortion bill, since the prison bill will probably be a much longer & more involved process. The abortion bill just adds a word to an existing law.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Could we get going with business again? It's rather embarrassing that this body has only managed to pass one bill & achieve a quorum on a vote on one other so far.

[Dancing with Myself]

     Could we get going with business again? It's rather embarrassing that this body has only managed to pass one bill & achieve a quorum on a vote on one other so far.

The Abortion bill is up for debate

[Deldem]

I think the edit to the abortion act is ok, though I still would like to get some of what was on the table for the proposed initiative awhile back passed as well.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I think the edit to the abortion act is ok, though I still would like to get some of what was on the table for the proposed initiative awhile back passed as well.

     As would I, though that would take time that could be spent addressing the prison issues. I think we should address the major flaw in the abortion statute for now & look it over again later.

[Deldem]

I think the edit to the abortion act is ok, though I still would like to get some of what was on the table for the proposed initiative awhile back passed as well.

     As would I, though that would take time that could be spent addressing the prison issues. I think we should address the major flaw in the abortion statute for now & look it over again later.

Fair enough. I think that after those 2 things are addressed we should immediately return to the bill from earlier, unless something more pressing arises.

[Dancing with Myself]

Would you guys like to vote on the abortion bill

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Sounds good, though I'd like to make the statement that this change adds the word "knowingly"as a requirement to be sent to prison for causing an illegal abortion. As such, it would establish the requirement of mens rea or "state of mind" in the commission of the crime.

[Dancing with Myself]

Sorry for not being on

The Vote for the Abortion bill is open for 24 hours