This is based on the
Constitution of Oceania. The Author has also read
Draft of a Virtual Canton Constitution.
WE, THE FOUNDERS of [country], do not believe in the initiation of force or fraud by the government or others. Like the peaceful dolphin, we believe such actions should only be used in defense. We disagree with governments that imitate the shark, using force and fraud to extract wealth and labor from their Citizens.
[country] is founded on the principle that the only true and proper function of government is to protect its Citizens from force and fraud. This government is to be strictly limited to providing that protection.
This constitution is the result of the collaboration of many who have seen the deterioration or destruction of societies based on other constitutions. The U.S. constitution in particular, while an inspired document, has shown itself to be vague enough to allow its government to pass laws clearly at odds with the spirit of liberty in which that once-free nation was founded. It is for this reason that the document here is painfully specific about exactly what powers belong to whom. All of the powers listed here are usurped by present governments somewhere on Earth.
Even at this level of detail, it is impossible for any document to fully account for all conditions that may arise in future. The natural progress of all governments is to gain more power as time progresses. It Must be made clear that under no circumstance is the government created under this constitution ever to assume any power or authority not explicitly granted here. We hope that whenever crises arrive in the future, the people of [country] will have as much imagination in finding peaceful solutions as historical governments have had in finding despotic ones.
There has been considerable debate over all issues here, in particular the perceived need for a tax-funded defense force. We believe that we have found solutions to these issues consistent with the spirit of freedom. [country] will set an example we hope the rest of the world will follow.
Definitions
Words capitalized throughout this constitution are to be interpreted exactly as defined here. The remaining text of this document should be interpreted strictly and exactly as written in common English language usage at the time of its adoption. Conflicts may be resolved by Webster's Third International Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language.
To make it clear that we include all persons who love liberty, regardless of sex, race, or beliefs, the pronouns in this document are gender-neutral ones formed by removing the initial th from the plural pronouns. That is, ey means he/she, eir means his/her, em means him/her, and similarly for eirs and emself. It is recommended that ey be pronounced to rhyme with he/she.
Shall, Must and Will indicate legal compulsion. Should indicates suggestion. May indicates permission. Including always means "including but not necessarily limited to". Recommendations do not have the force of law.
Commentary on certain parts of the constitution will appear in boxes like this. These notes help to clarify the intent of the authors or the reasoning behind some of the decisions made here. These commentaries bear the full force of law.
[country] is the name of our peaceful country.
A Person is any born human being of either sex, and of any race, origin, or beliefs who is currently on territory in [country] or was on such territory until abducted in violation of [country]n law. Other beings may be granted the status of Person by law as necessary. The point of birth is defined as that point at which the organism becomes detached from its mother's biological systems and can function independently of that system.
An Entity is any corporation, club, foundation, charity, or other type of organization, formed for any purpose, that is operating in [country]. Business is a synonym for Entity.
An individual is a Person or Entity other than the Government. Individuals who are not citizens have all of the rights listed in this constitution, except for the entitlement to vote, entitlement to work, or work in or for government.
A Right is a freedom guaranteed to every individual. These include Life, Liberty, Property, and Privacy. Rights extend not only to Persons, but also to Entities. All rights of Entities are derived from personal rights, therefore Entities can have no rights that Persons do not also have.
Rights are absolute and may not be restricted or regulated by taxes or licensing. A Right DOES NOT imply an obligation on anyone else's part to provide the means to exercise that Right.
An individual may voluntarily waive some of eir Rights by Contract. The Government of [country] waives all Rights except those explicitly granted to it in this Constitution.
An Entitlement is a positive obligation on one individual to provide something for another, or a Right that interferes with someone else's Rights.
Prisoners are prevented from exercising some of their Rights, such as the Right to Travel, while they are imprisoned or exiled. Because this restricts the prisoner's ability to provide for emself, ey is Entitled to food, shelter, and basic medical care. When a prisoner is released, ALL of eir Rights are restored intact and eir Entitlements are removed. This includes the Rights to travel, vote, speak, own Weaponry, assemble, etc.
Children have some limitations on their Rights such as the Right to Self-Defense, and have some additional Entitlements, such as food, shelter, medical care, and education.
A Privilege is an action that can only be done with a License from the Government.
A License is the granting of a Privilege by the Government to an individual. People do NOT need Licenses for anything that is a Right. A Permit is a synonym for this word.
Life is the biological state of animation. Persons who are unconscious, in cryonic suspension, or otherwise supported by technology are still considered alive and have all the Rights of conscious Persons.
As technology advances, it is expected that precise definitions of Life and Death will be set by law.
Liberty is a condition that exists when Persons have control over their individual lives and Property and where all Rights are protected. Liberty also applies to Entities.
Property is the material and intellectual belongings of an individual. Material belongings include Land, Contracts, and personal effects. Intellectual belongings include patents and copyrights.
Privacy is the expectation of a Person not to be subject to public scrutiny of eir personal affairs.
Weapons are technological devices used for defense. These include, but are not limited to, firearms, artillery, booby traps, mines, mace, tear gas, and any such devices that may be invented in the future.
A Child is a born human of age less than sixteen years old. Children are a special case in many laws that otherwise apply to all Persons. This age was chosen by studying the traditions of ancient cultures.
A Teen is a human at least sixteen years of age, and younger than eighteen.
An Adult is a human eighteen years of age or older. A Person may be declared a Child, Teen, or Adult by a Court.
A Parent is a Teen or Adult who has assumed responsibility for the care of a Child. This may or may not be the Child's biological Parents. A Child does not have the Right to be classified as a Parent.
A Spouse is one of two or more Citizens who have signed a Marriage Contract with each other.
The Nearest Relative of an Citizen may be defined by law.
A Contract is a binding agreement to which there is evidence of between two or more Citizens, written or oral.
An Implied Contract is a Contract inferred by a Person's words or actions. For example, claims in advertisements and labeling are considered an Implied Contract between the seller and the customer.
Force is a physical act by one or more Citizens that is destructive to the Rights of others. The threat to execute such an act also constitutes Force.
Fraud is the intentional deceit of another individual to induce em to part with Property or to surrender a Right. This includes the willful use of another's name or trademark to do business.
The Free Market is a voluntary exchange between two or more parties of goods and services.
A Voter is a Person allowed to vote in [country].
The Government (under this Constitution) is a restricted Entity that protects Citizens against external and internal Force and Fraud. Unlike other Entities, the Government has had most of its Rights restricted by laws and regulations.
Treason is defined as the act of an Citizen waging war upon the territory and people of [country] or giving military aid to its declared enemies. Giving food, medical care, or other humanitarian aid to anyone cannot be Treason (but could be physically hazardous during warfare). Election Fraud and defrauding of the people by Government agencies are also defined as Treason. Violating any of the restrictions of Article Four, National Security, is also declared to be Treason.
The Constitution is this document. It enumerates the Government's powers, and places limits upon those powers. It defines the structure of the Government, and defines the Rights of people it serves.
Land is an area composed of dirt, concrete, steel, or other substances that people are able to live on for extended periods of time.
Land Owner is a Person who owns at least one square meter of land.
A Housing Development is a voluntary private association of Land Owners and residents formed for the purpose of maintaining the infrastructure of a parcel of Land. A Housing Development may not contain more than 5,000 Persons, and can contain as few as one.
The reason the size of a Housing Development is limited by law is that they are allowed to take on many of the traditional functions of Government. Of course, a Housing Development is not bound by the restrictions that Government agencies normally must follow such as not discriminating against others. See Article Seven, Housing Developments, for more details.
A Locality is a Government level that does not encompass more than 100 square kilometers.
A County is a Government level that does not encompass more than 10,000 square kilometers.
A City is a grouping of population with a geographical border. A City MAY NOT possess a Governmental structure. It may have one mayor to act as its ambassador for ceremonial purposes.
A Court is a forum in which Citizens resolve conflicts, establish liability for wrongdoing, and assign penalties for such liability.
ARTICLE ONE A Partial Listing of Rights
This article requires a 95% vote to remove a Right or add an Entitlement, and a 66% vote to add a Right or remove an Entitlement.
Powers not specifically delegated to the Government are reserved to Citizens. The enumeration of certain Rights in this Constitution shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by Citizens. No other power is granted to the Government, and no powers unspecified, either herein, or later amended, are considered de facto powers of the Government. This article shall be binding on all subordinate organized Government agencies within territories in [country].
No Entitlements not listed here are implicitly granted to the people. In particular, no persons (except Children) have an entitlement to receive food, housing, health care, education, or clothing.
1. Life
A. The Right to Life: A Person has the Right not to be killed or harmed by others. While a Person is in a coma or is otherwise unconscious, all of eir money will be used to keep em alive unless ey has signed explicit instructions to the contrary. When the money runs out, the hospital in charge of the patient has the Right to turn off the life support. The patient's family or any other Person or Entity may provide additional money for life support.
The Court of [country] may not repress this Right except to stop someone from escaping arrest.
B. The Right to Self-Defense: An individual may injure or kill in defense of emself or eir Property. This includes the Right to defend other Persons or their Property. This includes the Right to defend yourself against the Government if it becomes corrupt and stops honoring this Constitutition.
An individual (except a Child) has the Right to keep and bear Weaponry, concealed and non-concealed. This Right extends to all Weaponry with the exception of Weapons of mass destruction as detailed in Article Four, National Security. Supplies for Weaponry, such as bullets, are included in this Right. Of course, minor weapons such as shiriken, water pistols (realistic and not), knives (long and short), brass knuckles, swords, and nunchaku are included in this right. A society that has banned such minor weapons is a society very close to banning all means of defense from innocent people living within it.
If a child uses a weapon in self-defense, it is recommended that the jury acquit em for the use of the weapon.
This includes the Right to set booby traps on eir Property. Of course such Property Must include warnings, if the booby trap can cause physical harm, that the Property is booby trapped and therefore trespassing could be dangerous. A Property that is hard to casually stroll onto, such as one surrounded with barbed wire or an electrified fence may not need such a warning at jury discretion.
The Right to Life implies the Right to protect and defend that Life with whatever means are necessary. The Government may not grant or take away Licenses for the Right to own or use Weaponry.
Owners of private Property may refuse to allow weapons on their Property. Renters Must follow the Weaponry rules set within the parameters given by the Owners. This includes renters, such as the Government renting a courtroom.
C. The Right to Self-Sovereignty: A Person has the Right to determine what ey wishes to put into eir body or wear on eir body; how to use, decorate or modify eir body; and when ey will die. This includes the Right to control the medical care ey receives. The Government may not under any circumstances require a Person to modify eir body by sterilization, tattooing, piercing, or any other method. The Government may not require a Person to take drugs against eir will or wear uniforms or other clothing.
Persons have the Right to ingest any food or drugs they wish. The Government may not grant or take away Licenses for the Right of Persons to ingest food or drugs. The Government may not require physicians to hold a License to dispense drugs, dietary supplements., or any substance or device deemed by the physician to be of potential benefit for the patient.
Persons have the Right to determine whether or not they wish to wear seat belts, helmets, or other safety devices. Owners of private roads may require that such devices be used on their roads. Medical insurance companies may make the use of such devices a requirement of coverage.
Property owners may develop their own clothing standards. Those who are offended by certain styles of dress (such as nudity) on public or neighboring Land Must use private means such as deed restrictions, covenants, or physical barriers to protect themselves from such freedoms.
Persons have the Right to end their own lives and to request help when they do so. Prisoners also have this Right. A Person who undergoes cryonic suspension while legally alive is not considered to have ended eir Life, and therefore continues to hold eir Right to Life.
Adults have the Right to engage in any form of sexual activity with any Adult who consents with the exception of incest if there is a chance of pregnancy. Payment may be made by one or more of the parties engaging in sex. All Persons have the Right to seek personal use of all birth control methods. Of course, the Government may not fund any birth control methods, including abortion.
Citizens have the Right to engage in dangerous activities including, but not limited to, boxing, bungee jumping, dueling, skydiving, and using fireworks. They do not have the Right to injure others when doing these activities unless the Person injured has signed an explicit Contract allowing it, as in boxing or dueling. Anyone who entices another into performing a dangerous act by misrepresenting it as safe has committed Fraud and is responsible for any damages caused. Children may be forbidden by their Parents from these activities, as well as activities considered harmful to Children such as using drugs, playing video games or using spray paint,, but not by any Government agency or law.
D. The Right to Free Speech: An individual has the Right to speak or publish without interference from the Government. This Right is granted to all media including television, radio, cable, paper and electronic media and is extended to all advertisements and entertainment as well as editorial speech. There are no exceptions for obscenity, sedition, or other controversial speech. A speaker who directly incites illegal activity or causes damage to Property or persons may be held responsible as an accessory to such activity.
An example of this would be yelling fire in a theater and inciting a riot. Consequently, you could be prosecuted for causing injury to people who try to hurriedly escape because of your false statement or any property they damage in their attempt to escape.
The Government may not grant or take away Licenses for the Right to broadcast or otherwise distribute information. Nor may the Government compel a broadcaster or other medium to distribute particular information including issues of "public importance" or require that the broadcaster offer a reasonable opportunity for the presentation of contrasting viewpoints.
The Right to Free Speech includes the Right not to speak. The Government may not require the press to reveal its sources under any conditions, even in times of war or Treason, nor may anyone be compelled to testify in Court or reveal any information ey wishes to keep secret.
Citizens may voluntarily waive their Right to Free Speech by Contract. For example, the Court of [country] requires its subscribers to allow themselves to be subpoenaed as witnesses. Employers may require non-disclosure agreements as a condition of employment.
Actions of Fraud in the media such as libel may be prosecuted in Court by Citizens. Slander and libel consist only of knowingly publishing falsehoods as fact with intent to harm. True statements and statements presented as opinion or satire are immune from prosecution. And if Citizens don't want to watch pornography or the KKK channel, they can just turn the dial.
E. The Right to Work: A Person and a Business have the Right to agree to a Contract of employment. A Business may not be Forced to agree to a union Contract, unless stipulated by former Contract. A Person may not be Forced to join a union, unless that Person has a prior Contract voluntarily waiving this Right.
The Right to Life implies the Right to the ordinary means of sustaining Life, i.e., work. The Government cannot require Licenses to work. This means that even doctors, lawyers, and computer programmers do not need Licenses. Of course, private Entities can License doctors, lawyers, and other professionals. We believe that private Entities would do a better job than Government agencies. Citizens have the Right to use unlicensed professionals as they see fit.
F. The Right to Religion: An individual has the Right to practice or not practice any religion that ey chooses.
Particularly abhorred is the war on religion practiced by most countries on Earth. The Government of [country] will never storm a church with tanks and grenades because it is unpopular. The Government of [country] may not fund art, media, education, or any other means of promoting any particular religion; nor may it interfere with the Right of any broadcaster to provide religious programming or the Right of Parents and schools to provide religious education. Of course, the Government may not mint money that says "In God we trust" or require oaths to God.
No additional Rights, Entitlements, or Privileges are to be granted based upon freedom of religion. If a religion requires that you rob banks, robbing banks will still be a prosecutable offense for members of that religion. Freedom of religion does not confer the freedom to violate the Rights of others.
2. Liberty
A. The Right to Liberty: An individual has the Right to determine for emself how and where ey will live, work, and play. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, not even as punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist in [country] or in any territory subject to its jurisdiction.
Slavery includes the military draft, national service, forcing people to help others in emergency situations such as a heart attack, forced jury duty, and witness subpoenas, except where a Person has voluntarily agreed to make emself subject to them. The defense of a peaceful nation should not require the enslavement of young people to be sacrificed at the Government's whim.
One exception to the Right to Liberty is a crime victim's Entitlement to Justice. An individual accused of a crime can be subpoenaed by a grand jury to appear at the Court of [country]. Because this is such a dangerous power, many protections are given to the accused as detailed in Article Two.
Mental illness is not a crime. No Adult may be imprisoned for mental illness if ey has committed no crime.
The reason that someone in jail may not be forced to work is that a significant percentage of People imprisoned are innocent of the crime that were convicted of. Therefore making them work and then profiting off of their imprisonment will just encourage others to frame and convict even more innocents.
B. The Right to Travel: An individual may travel from point A to point B provided the traveler has the property owner's permission to enter eir property.
In addition to this Right, Land in [country] Must contain eight-meter wide and eight meter high easements in a grid format of squares with eight kilometer sides on which there is an Entitlement to travel. This Entitlement means that no permission is needed from anyone to use the easement for traveling. The grid is determined by the initial owners of Land incorporated into [country]. Land Owners bordering easements may pay for or authorize maintenance of easements.
No charge may be made for traveling in these easements. Since no profit can be made from the easements, it is expected that they will not be used as main roads. Instead they will be used to help people who have been denied access to private roads. Easements are not required on islands less than eight kilometers across. These easements are not for camping, sleeping, or loitering - only for traveling.
On floating structures, it will be the duty of neighboring Land Owners to make sure that these easements are not allowed to fall into such disrepair that the floating structure is endangered in any way. The Land Owners will be responsible according to the percentage of the easement touching their Land, i.e., total cost of maintenance will be divided according to the percentage of the easement touching the Land in question.
The Government may not grant or take away Licenses for the Right to Travel, whether on foot, by car, by plane, or by any other means. Owners of private roads may require Licenses to use their roads. Owners of airspace may require Licenses for pilots flying over their airspace.
The Right to Life overrules the Right to Travel. Therefore Persons with highly infectious diseases may not Travel. For a disease to be considered highly infectious takes an 80% vote in a referendum. It takes a majority vote to remove a disease from the infectious list. Quarantines may be placed on people who have highly infectious diseases. Citizens under quarantine do have the Right to travel to countries who will accept them. To be quarantined requires that a jury declare a Person infected and order them to be quarantined.
Of course, even without a public quarantine declared by referendum, any person may enforce their own private quarantine. For example, they could prohibit someone with a disease from entering their Business or home.
C. The Right to Assemble: Citizens have the Right to freely assemble together either physically on Land or by means of a communication medium. Note that the Government is not allowed to own Land or control media.
D. The Right to Associate and Discriminate: An individual has the Right to choose with whom ey will associate or do Business, and whom ey will not.
The Government does not have this Right. The Government may not ask Persons about their race, creed, gender, sexual preference, handicap, age, or anything else not related to job qualifications. Of course, this also prevents the Government from practicing reverse discrimination.
This Right includes the Right to associate with those of unpopular views, and to discriminate against anyone for any reason, including race, creed, gender, sexual preference, attractiveness, weight, height, handicap, age, hair style, dress, jewelry, veteran status, pet ownership, language(s) spoken, national origin, marital status, medical condition, Parenthood, whether they are pregnant or not or any other reason. This also includes the Right to discriminate against someone because they have discriminated against another individual.
E. The Right to Knowledge: An individual has the Right to make use of whatever knowledge ey has.
The one exception to the Right to Knowledge is the Entitlement to Intellectual Property. Because this is a powerful Entitlement, many restrictions are placed on it as detailed in Section Three of this article.
This Right includes engaging in insider stock trading. Of course, a company's bylaws are allowed to prohibit such an action. A buyer can find out if the bylaws allow or do not allow insider trading. Stock exchanges can decide whether or not they wish to allow trading of such stocks.
This Right includes using illegally obtained evidence in Court. Of course, the one who obtained the evidence is still responsible for eir illegal act.
Blackmail, i.e., extorting money or other valuables from someone by threatening to make true statements about em, is a legal exercise of the Right to Knowledge. Of course, encouraging em to commit crimes makes one an accessory to such crimes, and threatening physical harm constitutes assault.
F. The Right to Listen: An individual has the Right to listen, view, or otherwise receive broadcasts from television, radio, and the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum, including cellular phone conversations, police and military radio traffic, and any other signal broadcast through eir body or Property.
This does not include the power to violate another's Right to Property by spying on em with bugging devices, such as shining a laser on a window and listening to conversations by decoding the modulated reflected beam. Such spying may be prosecuted as a trespass, because it involves physically entering the other person's Property or putting something on eir Property.
Of course, a communication provider can build encryption device, algorithms or techniques into the units it manufacturers or buys, or sells, and the communication services it provides. Most importantly, the Government is not permitted to require that any encryption devices, algorithms or techniques be made non-secure in any way.
3. Property
A. The Right to Property: An individual has the Right to own Property and to not have eir Property taken from em by Force or Fraud.
A Person's body and the fruits of eir labor are eir Property. No one may claim another's work as eir own by taxation, civil forfeiture, eminent domain, or other forms of theft. An individual may sell or rent parts of eir body. This includes becoming a surrogate mother, prostitute, or subject of medical experiments.
In the absence of an explicit will, it will be assumed that the deceased does not wish to sell or give away eir body parts.
Water is considered Property. As is the case with all property, it may not be taken by any persons, entities, or Government, without the owner's consent. The practice of taking away water rights for "lack of use" or for "improper" use is forbidden.
Not only is it against our Constitution for a thief or looting mob to take money from an individual but the same holds true for our Government. Therefore all forms of taxation are against our Constitution. The only way the Government may extract money from Citizens is by accepting voluntary donations. The Government may not use Force or Fraud in collecting donations. Claiming that any such donations are mandatory is, of course, Fraud.
The Government may not charge a rental fee to people who "own" Property. By charging a rental fee, Governments turn Land Owners into Land leasers. In these corrupt countries, once the Land "owner" stops eir lease payments eir Land is taken from em.
The Government may not enact zoning laws since they take away the Right of a individual to do with eir Property as ey pleases. Likewise, the Government may not enact building codes. Of course, if an unsafe structure damages others' Property or injures or kills someone, then the owner of the structure would be liable for the damages and deaths caused. Citizens who believe that such Property may injure them may sue the owner of the Property before they are actually injured. Rent control by the Government is illegal as it is a form of Property theft
As explained in Article Seven, Housing Developments may enact zoning laws, building codes, and rent control.
The Property owner has the Right to control access to and use of eir Property, and set any conditions on access or use. This includes excluding people based on their clothing or appearance. Of course, warnings Must be placed around unusually dangerous Property such as mined Property.
No soldier, Government official, or other Person shall, in time of peace or war, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner.
Property shall not be taken for public use without consent of the owner. The Government may not choose a "fair" price for the Property and then just "buy" it from the owner without eir consent.
Property found more than two years after it is lost is considered the Property of the finder.
B.The Right to Own and Operate a Business: An Citizen has the Right to run a Business, for profit or not for profit, and for any purpose.
The Government may not grant or take away Licenses for the Right to Own and Operate A Business. A Business may hire and fire employees without explanation. It may permanently fire an entire union. It may refuse to rehire former union employees. Of course, any voluntary Contracts made between the union or individual employees and the Business Must be honored.
Sexual harassment between employee and employer may be defined in a Contract between the two parties.
It is legal to own a "monopoly". Most governments' definition of a monopoly is a successful Business. It is legal to "dump" goods at below "fair" market value and to engage in "predatory" pricing. Cartels are also legal as long as they don't use Force and Fraud to keep members in the cartel.
It is legal for a Business to sign a Contract with an employee that takes away eir Rights with respect to such Business for the duration of the Contract. The same applies to a Contract that takes away the Rights of the employer. No Contract can take away the Rights of Citizens who are not party to the contract, including Children of signatories to the Contract
A Business may not be Forced by the Government to offer a minimum wage, family leave benefits, medical insurance, disability benefits, unemployment insurance, or workers' compensation, or any other benefit that robs the employer of eir Right to control eir own Property. Mandatory disability benefits for transvestites, pedophiles, pyromaniacs, kleptomaniacs, drug addicts, and compulsive gamblers are obviously forbidden.
C. The Right to Negotiate Contracts: Two or more Citizens may negotiate a Contract for goods or services without Government interference. Government agencies do not have this right and may only negotiate contracts that do not violate restrictions given to them by the laws of [country].
Marriage is a private Contract between consenting Persons, and as such, the Government may take no part in it other than enforcing the terms agreed upon by the participants. All Contracts for sexual behavior, cohabitation, reproduction, survivorship benefits, or other aspects of marriage, for money or otherwise, are legal and enforceable.
D. The Right to Free Enterprise: An Citizen has the Right to buy and sell anything without Government interference. The only exceptions to this Right are listed in Article Two (restricted private Entities for patents, etc.) and Article Four (Weapons, drugs, etc.).
The Government may not grant or take away Licenses for the Right to Free Enterprise. For example, it could not grant or take away Licenses for the Right to buy and sell alcohol.
There can be no "blue sky" laws, no usury laws, and no laws setting margin requirements on the purchase and sale of securities. There can be no restrictions on branch banking and no restrictions on the interest paid on deposits. Bearer bonds and certificates are legal. Pyramid plans are legal as long as fraud is not used to promote them.
Laws cannot restrict the advertising of prices, products, or services. This includes the services of doctors, dentists and lawyers, and products such as alcohol and tobacco.
Scalping of tickets or of any other products, selling drugs within the bounds of [country], prostitution, and all forms of gambling are legal.
In order to solve the problem of deaths that occur each year due to the lack of available body parts, it is legal to buy and sell body parts.
In order to solve the problem of Children being abused by Parents who do not want them, it is legal for such Parents to charge monies to Persons who do want them for the Right to become their new Parents. Of course, such Children retain all Rights and Entitlements normally possessed by Children, notably the Parental responsibility to be cared for, and are not to be sold as laborers.
E. The Right to Free Trade: An Citizen has the Right to import and export without Government interference. This means that it is illegal for the Government to put tariffs, quotas, or taxes on imported goods. If another country puts such tariffs, quotas, taxes, or other restrictions on [country]'s exports, the Government of [country] may not retaliate in any way.
[country] will set an example for the rest of the world by showing what "free trade" really means.
F.The Entitlement to Intellectual Property: An Citizen is Entitled to receive patents and copyrights on eir creative works. If two or more Citizens make the same discovery independently, both shall be granted patents even when the discoveries are not made simultaneously. Burden of proof of independence of development shall rest upon the party making the later application.
Intellectual Property is an Entitlement because it interferes with the Right to Knowledge. Because of this, many restrictions are placed on this Entitlement, and it is expected that juries will favor the Right to Knowledge in close decisions.
No patent or copyright may last for more than ten years from the date of first application. In the case of simultaneous patents or copyrights, all expire when the earliest one does. Foreign patents and copyrights will be recognized for ten years from the date they were first introduced into [country]. After that date, such patents and copyrights may not be ignored when products based on them are exported out of [country]. Trademarks are recognized as long as they are being actively used. A creation that is shown to have existed before the date of invention claimed in the first application is in the public domain, and may not be patented or copyrighted. Any work explicitly placed in the public domain may not subsequently be patented or copyrighted by others.
Reverse Engineering is making a copy of something by looking at what it does, not at its blueprints. Reverse engineering is legal in [country]. In particular, computer chips and software may be reverse engineered. "Look and feel" of computer programs cannot be copyrighted. Computer code, algorithms, processes, and other intangible creations cannot be patented. Created animals can be patented with the exception of Persons.
"Fair use" of copyrighted works for the sake of education, comment, criticism, parody, comparison, etc., is allowed.
The copyrights on this Constitution and Laws will automatically expire on the day the first person moves to [country].
G. The Right to Set Contract Length: There will be no laws against setting Contracts in perpetuity. The Government of [country] does not have this Right. The Government of [country] may not participate in a Contract lasting longer than ten years.
H. The Entitlement to Bankruptcy: The people may provide by law the protection of Bankruptcy upon those who cannot meet their debts. Whatever bankruptcy laws exist at the time a debt is incurred remain in effect for that debt until it is paid, regardless of future laws to the contrary.
4. Privacy
A. The Right to Privacy: An individual has the Right to be secure in eir person, house, papers, and effects, against all search and seizure, without a warrant issued by a grand jury of the Court of [country].
Like the Right to Liberty, this Right is also subordinate to a crime victim's Entitlement to Justice, and similar protections are granted to the accused.
Warrants shall be issued upon probable cause, supported by open affirmation, describing in detail the place to be searched and the Persons or things to be seized. Probable cause in the absence of a warrant is insufficient for a search. Anonymous tips are insufficient for a search. Warrants are required to intercept private communications that are not transmitted by air, such as wiretaps or even recording address information from written or electronic mail, or telephone numbers.
A Person who is caught in the act of committing a crime may be detained if the detaining officer identifies emself, and takes immediate steps to obtain an arrest warrant.
Refusal to consent to a search without a warrant cannot be considered probable cause. All searches, seizures or arrests done without a warrant are illegal. Citizens may not be detained by Government officials. They may be arrested as described above, but they may not be detained without an arrest warrant or immediate steps to obtain such a warrant. Questioning Citizens while using physical harm, emotional distress, intimidation, or threat of harm when they have not been accused of a crime is a particularly heinous violation of their Privacy.
Transmissions over the air are handled in the following manner: 1) If a broadcast is meant for the general public, then it would be legal to intercept it and to repeat information learned from it in a Court of law. 2) If a communication has a specific audience, then any overheard conversations may not be used against either party in court although the communication may be listened to without a warrant. 3) If the communication is encrypted, this is enough evidence to show the communication was intended to be kept personal and confidential. Therefore, a warrant would be needed to intercept and decrypt such a communication.
B. The Right to Self-Identity: An individual may identify emself by any name ey wishes, so long as ey is not doing so to defraud. The Government may not issue numbers or any other form of "official" identification to Citizens, nor may it require anyone to carry or present identification at any time. An individual's use of different names or refusal to give eir name cannot be used as probable cause for a search or seizure (though it may, of course, be used as evidence if the Person does appear in Court).
C. The Right to Financial Privacy: An individual has the Right to expect all Business transactions to be completely private when there is a Contractual agreement to that effect. An individual may not be required by the Government to reveal eir income or any other financial information ey wishes to keep private.
For example, all banks have the Right to guarantee complete confidentiality to their customers. Except for subpoena by the Court of [country], such banking records could never be revealed to anyone but the owner of the account. Such a Court order may never be generated unless there is evidence that [country]'s laws have been broken and said laws are relevant to the individual's banking account.
D. The Right to Encryption: An individual has the Right to encrypt eir conversations and data. Such encryption cannot be used as evidence that the individual is doing something wrong or illegal. This Right extends to all forms of information an individual deems should be secure regardless of format, whether paper, electronic, holographic or other, and regardless of content.
An individual has the Right to use any encryption algorithms or computer software available. The Government may not restrict free trade in encryption software by calling it "munitions" or any other name.
E. The Right to Secure Conversations: Citizens have the Right to not have their conversations tapped, recorded, or be otherwise compromised, by persons not party to the conversation, unless permission has been granted by at least one person who is party to the conversation. One party to a conversation or eir agent may record a conversation without the permission of the other party, as this is an exercise of eir Right to Knowledge.
A communication provider may record conversations if its subscribers have voluntarily waived their Right to Secure Conversations by their Contract with the provider.
The conflict between the Right to Privacy and the Right to Knowledge is resolved by declaring that any Entity securing said recording under this right is restricted from public presentation in any form unless express, provable permission has been obtained. Of course, this recording may be used in Court as admissible evidence having been properly secured by subpoena.
G. The Right to Privacy in the Workplace: Citizens have the Right to Privacy in the workplace with the exception of anything in their work Contract that specifies otherwise.
5. Children
Unlike Adults, Children have many Entitlements. Every Child Must have at least one Adult Parent to provide these Entitlements. Initial Parental responsibility falls upon the biological Parents jointly as an implied Contract, unless an explicit Contract exists assigning it elsewhere. This responsibility will restart if an offspring is declared to be a Child by a court. All marriage Contracts, sperm donor agreements, and other Contracts assigning Parental responsibility are valid and enforceable as long as no Child is deprived of Parental care thereby. Parental responsibility assigned by Contract (as in adoptions) may not be arbitrarily dissolved by a Court or other Entity. The Courts will not recognize biological Parenthood as having any legal priority over Contractual Parenthood.
Children's Entitlements are based upon the assumption that a Child is incapable of sustaining eir own Life without them. Any Child who feels ey is capable of bearing full responsibility for eir own Life has the Right to petition a Court to declare em a Teen or Adult.
Children do not have any Entitlements not listed here, or have any other restrictions of eir Rights not listed here. In particular, Parents do not own their Children's Property and are not responsible for their debts, nor are Children exempt from criminal prosecution.
The people may, by referendum, remove or confer other Rights and Entitlements upon Children. Unless otherwise noted in this Constitution, a referendum takes a two thirds vote to pass.
A. Additional Entitlements: A Child is entitled to food, housing, clothing, basic health care, and basic education. A Parent may provide any of these directly, or hire others to provide them. The precise manner in which they are provided is up to the discretion of the Parent. In particular, the Government may not impose standards for education, and juries are not required to judge the quality of education given a Child. Of course, providing food or other things that actually injure a Child may result in liability.
B. Restricted Rights. Children have most of the Rights of Adults, including not being subject to warrant-less searches. The following Rights of Adults are not granted to Children:
Travel: A Parent may restrict the movements of eir Child. It is expected that a Parent will only do so to the degree necessary to ensure the Child's safety.
Self-Sovereignty: A Child does not have the Right to end eir own Life, or to consent to sexual activity. Any Adult who has sexual relations with a Child has done so without the Child's consent, and is liable for damages. Children do not have the Right to use mind altering drugs. If their Parents give them permission to use such drugs, these Parents may be prosecuted for Child abuse when a jury deems this proper.
Weapons: A Child may not use Weapons, except for non-injuring uses (sport, training, etc.) under direct Adult supervision.
Contracts: A Child may not consent to a binding Contract. Any Contracts entered into by a Child may be dissolved by a Court at the request of the Child or eir Parent. This includes, for example, a Parent Contracting for the labor of eir Child.
Right to Work: Child labor laws may not be passed but a jury may determine that Child abuse has occurred if a Child is forced to work too many hours or under poor conditions.
C. Jury Review: A Child has the Right to sue eir Parent for failure to provide these entitlements or for other injuries. If a Child is incapable or unwilling to bring such a suit, any Citizen may sue on eir behalf. Under no circumstances shall a Child be removed from eir Parent until that Parent is convicted in Court and ordered to relinquish custody by a jury.
If a jury decides that a Parent has failed in these areas they can vote to give eir Child to some Entity who will not fail. If no Citizen is willing to take the Child, then the Child will not be taken. The Government will not take the Child as the Government is not allowed to steal money for any purpose, including the purpose of Child care.
6. Teens
Teens have all the Rights of Adults plus the Right to Terminate Contracts. A Teen may bring a Contract to a jury, and if the jury votes unanimously that the Contract is unreasonable, the Contract may be broken. When the Contract is broken, no fines or penalties may be inflicted on the other party who signed the Contract as long as no fraud or misrepresentation was used by that party. A Teen may not terminate eir implied Contractual responsibility for the care of eir Children.
A Teen who has sexual intercourse with a Child may be held responsible for damages as if ey was an Adult, or may be acquitted at the jury's discretion. Teens do not have the Entitlements of Children.
Any Teen who feels ey is capable of bearing full responsibility for eir own Life has the Right to petition a Court to declare em an Adult.
7. Animals and Other Beings
Animals may not be given cruel and unusual mistreatment. If it is suspected that an animal has been mistreated by a Person, then any individual may bring suit on the animal's behalf and a jury may decide the issue. A unanimous decision is required to convict the Person.
Of course, scientific research is legal in [country] with the provision that the animals are not unnecessarily tortured, maimed, or killed.
Any being whose species or type (for example, cybernetic beings) is not recognized as a Person may individually petition a jury for individual recognition as a Person. The jury Must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the being is not a Person to refuse recognition. Upon recognition of a member of a new class of Person, a referendum will be held to refuse recognition of the being's class as a class of Persons; the referendum requires a 80% majority to refuse recognition. In the event of a referendum's class refusal, individual members of the class may still apply for individual recognition.
The ages for Child, Teen, and Adult would vary for different species as determined by law.
ARTICLE TWO: Government Agencies and Power Structure
This article requires a 95% vote to add an agency or office and a 66% vote to remove an agency or office.
Under no circumstances may a Person hold a particular office for more than four years consecutively. Any Adult not currently in jail may run for any office. No Government official will have to make any religious oath. The only oath ey will have to make is to uphold the Constitution of the peaceful country of [country].
1.The Judicial Branch
The Justice system exists to resolve conflicts among Citizens, both Persons and Entities. Justice is accomplished by one individual, called the Plaintiff, filing suit against another, called the Defendant, in a Court. The Court Must decide if either party has been wronged and to what degree. The Court may then impose penalties upon the losing party, including the costs of the trial. Because there can be no "victimless crimes", there is no distinction between criminal and civil law.
When both parties to a suit agree, any Entity in [country] may serve as a Court to resolve their conflict, and all judgments and findings by that Court, including jail sentences, will be legal and enforceable. It is recommended that all Contracts specify a private Court in which to resolve disputes. Appeal is allowed from private Court only if the Court Contract allows it. Where the Defendant does not agree to appear in a Court acceptable to the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff may bring suit in the Court of [country], which has the power to seize the Defendant, if the Plaintiff is a Member of the Court of [country].
A 95% vote of Citizens within a respective jurisdiction is necessary to grant subpoena power of Defendant to another Court. A 75% vote is sufficient to remove this power.
This is to ensure that the Court of [country] does not take advantage of its monopoly status. The people may vote to grant its unique power to another Court, or they may vote to remove that power altogether.
The Court of [country] consists of the Supreme Court, one or more County Courts, and one or more Local Courts. Every case brought before the Court of [country] Must be tried first in a Local Court. It may then be appealed to a County Court, and finally may be appealed to the Supreme Court. All Judges of these Courts are elected with Supreme Court and County Court Judges serving four years and Local Court Judges serving two years. Judges are not required to have lawyer Licenses.
Because the Court of [country] is a department of the Government, the people may, by referendum, regulate how it is operated. Initially, the Voters will elect a Chief Director of the Court of [country] with the responsibility to administrate the Supreme Court and lower Courts, including appointing judges and setting procedures for the courts consistent with [country]n law.
The Judicial Branch also includes Local Grand Juries who are elected every year.
Military Courts are private Courts to which military personnel have voluntarily granted power by Contract. The Department of War may not interfere with, control, or fund these Courts in any way. It is strongly recommended that these Courts allow appeal to the Court of [country], as military Courts have a history of overzealous prosecution.
Definitions
In this article, the following terms have the specific meanings below:
The Plaintiff is the individual who initiates a Court suit. Ey is also what other legal systems calls a "prosecutor", in that ey controls the prosecution of the case at all times.
The Defendant is the party accused of a criminal act or liability.
Court Costs are costs incurred by the Court administering a suit, e.g., the room rental, fees of the judge and jurors, etc.
Legal Costs are costs incurred by the litigants on their own behalf, e.g., lawyer's fees, witness fees, police fees for subpoenaing witnesses, investigation fees, etc.
The Entitlement to Justice
Justice in the Court of [country] is an Entitlement to the Plaintiff because the Defendant may be physically seized and brought to trial, in conflict with eir Right to Liberty. Because this is such a dangerous power, many restrictions are placed on the Court's power. Also, the Entitlement to bring suit in the Court of [country] is granted only to those who have obtained a Court Membership. An individual who acquires a Court Membership may not bring suit for any acts committed before ey attained Membership.
If an Citizen has been harmed by a diplomat or other foreign national, Government official, or Government agency, ey has the same Entitlement to Justice as if the Defendant were an ordinary Citizen. There will be no "sovereign immunity" or "diplomatic immunity" in [country]. In the interest of better international relations, any diplomat may accept exile for one century instead of a prison sentence. However, violation of this exile could result in a prison sentence. Fines not paid by the diplomat are the responsibility of the diplomat's Government.
The Government of [country] may not grant immunity from prosecution to any individual or other Person. A Defendant may sign a Contract with a Plaintiff stipulating that the Plaintiff declines to prosecute for a particular offense, but that power rests solely with the Plaintiff. Such Contracts are valid and enforceable.
Children, the mentally ill or retarded, and others with "diminished capacity" are granted no special exemption from responsibility for their actions although they should not be placed in prisons with Adults. Placing a Child in a detention center does not end eir Parent's responsibility to provide food, health care, and other Entitlements granted to Children. Charities would be responsible for those that are unable to provide for themselves.
A. Definition and properties of Court Membership. Members of the Court of [country] Must consent to allow themselves to be subpoenaed as witnesses and compelled to testify. The Court of [country] SHALL NOT require Members to surrender any Rights other than the Right to Liberty for the purpose of subpoenaing witnesses and the Right of Free Speech for compelling their testimony. In particular, the Court may not require its Members to surrender their Right to Property by charging a fee or tax for Membership in the Court, though it may charge for an actual printed evidence of such Membership in the form of a card or certificate. Those who chose not to buy the card or certificate have the same Entitlements as those who do. A Child is assumed to be a Member if eir primary guardian is. An Entity is assumed to be a Member if the majority of the Persons controlling it are.
It is expected that every Person in [country] will have a Court Membership, as ey will be very vulnerable to exploitation since non Members will not be able to sue in the Court of [country].
B.Selection of Juries. Juries will be selected at random from a pool of peers so designated by the Defendant as outlined by the laws of [country]. Jurors may be volunteers or may ask for pay but may not be forced into duty.
The Rights and Entitlements of the Accused in the Court of [country]
A. The Right to Fair Prosecution: When the injured party is available and capable of bringing suit or of appointing an agent on eir behalf, or has previously appointed an agent by power of attorney or will, only ey or eir agent has standing to sue. If the injured party is a Child, the Child's Parent has standing, except when a conflict of interest exists with the Defendant (as in a Parental abuse case). When the injured party is unavailable (for example, due to murder), or incapable of naming an agent, the injured party's Nearest Relative Must bring suit. In a Parental abuse case, any individual may sue on behalf of the injured Child. Any individual may bring suit on behalf of non-Persons such as animals or other things. At all times during the trial, the Plaintiff has complete control of the prosecution of the case. A jury may determine if there are conflicts of interest among the Plaintiff, judge, or Defendant.
To avoid conflicts of interest, it is recommended that officials and employees of the Court of [country] use private Courts to settle their disputes. They are still Entitled to use the Court of [country] if they Must, in which case they Must bring suit in a Court other than the one that actually employs them. Of course, employees of the Supreme Court have no option but to use it. The Government of [country] may bring suit only in the case of Treason.
This law is to prevent the practice of having kangaroo Courts where the judge, jury, Plaintiff, and witnesses are all Government employees.
B. The Right to a Jury: In all cases, the Right to trial by jury shall be preserved. Final judgment in all suits is entirely within the power of the jury. Judges preside the Court and may instruct the jury, but have no power to render or set aside jury judgments, to decide sentences, or cite participants for contempt. All these functions belong to the jury. This statement applies to the Supreme Court as well as the other court levels.
Of course, if the defendant loses the case, ey Must pay for the cost of the jury trial, so it is expected that some Defendants will choose less expensive alternatives. But if ey insists, ey may request a jury trial no matter how small the penalty of the crime..
C. The Right to a Level Playing Field: In all suits, each side will declare the maximum amount of Legal Costs ey will spend in the case. We will define the party declaring the larger amount Rich and the other party Poor. The maximum amount of recoverable Legal Costs spent by each side is the lesser of these amounts. If the Rich party wishes, ey may subsidize the Poor party. If such subsidy is offered as part of the recoverable Legal Costs, the Poor party may refuse the subsidy. If the subsidy is offered out-of-pocket, the Poor party Must accept it, or at least allow the Rich party to spend that amount as if the Poor party had accepted the subsidy. In this latter case, the Poor party has no obligation to spend the out-of-pocket subsidy on Legal Costs, but may spend it as ey pleases. Private Entities may also provide money for Poor parties to pursue cases.
The costs of the Court itself are determined by the Court and are always part of the judgment against the loser, even if ey chose to spend no money in the case. Spending money under-the-table on legal costs without claiming them is prosecutable as contempt of Court.
It is a fact that whether a party wins or loses a Court case is all too often determined by the amount the party pays its lawyers. The Court has the power to take away Property and even freedom from the losing party, so it is vital that some means be used to equalize the power of wealth. The Court of [country] is dedicated to justice regardless of wealth.
D. The Right to Fair Bail and Fines: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed. Bail and fines may not be imposed without informing the accused of the nature and cause of the accusation. A bail hearing can be requested with one hour notice. Bails and all other requests for money by the Government will be accepted in all convertible currencies. Any monies that a Person has on em when ey is arrested may be used for bail including any electronic forms of money such as credit cards and credit lines. Likewise, anyone who wishes to bail out someone need not appear at the Court in person, instead they may use any electronic forms of money such as credit cards and credit lines.
An individual is Entitled to immediately ask for a standing grand jury to decide whether this or any other Right in this article has been violated. Ey Must be put in front of this grand jury within two hours of eir request. This will prevent Citizens from being held in jail cells for days or weeks without cause. As usual, they will have to pay for the cost of the jury if their complaint is deemed invalid by the jury.
An individual will receive all of eir bail money back in exactly the same form in which it was posted when ey appears at eir Court date as promised. If the Person who posted bail for an individual fails to pick up eir bail money after the accused has attended eir Court date, then bail money Must be mailed to the Person who posted bail within 24 hours.
Bail holding facilities Must be very comfortable, including full communication services, televisions, good food service, private showers, well mannered hosts, etc. In addition, any Person who voluntarily walks into a Court Must be told if there are any warrants for eir arrest and be allowed to pay bail instead of being put in a holding facility. If ey does not have bail money on em, ey will still not be arrested until ey has walked off the Court's Property. There Must be communication facilities on the Court's Property so ey can call someone to provide bail.
Taking or denying use or control of any Property of an individual not specifically convicted and fined is a violation of this Right. Preventing the accused from using eir money to hire attorneys is a violation of this Right.
We particularly abhor the practice of "civil forfeiture" or "reversion back" as practiced by more primitive legal systems. Detaining a traveling individual without an arrest warrant is a violation of this Right. Removing a Child from eir Parent before the Parent has been convicted in Court of Child Abuse is a violation of this Right, and is prosecutable as kidnapping.
F. The Right to a Speedy Trial: The time between accusation and trial may not be more than 30 days unless both the Plaintiff and Defendant agree otherwise. The same applies to time between appeals. There may not be more than one hour between the time of appearance set by the Court and the time that the trial or hearing begins. This is not an Entitlement, because it is a limitation on the Plaintiff's Entitlement to Justice.
G. The Right to a Public Trial: All trials Must be open to the public unless both the Plaintiff and Defendant agree otherwise. To prevent the creation of star chambers, the document whereby the Plaintiff and Defendant agree to a closed trial Must itself be made public. Trial proceedings Must be recorded.
Television cameras and other mass media may be allowed in Court if the Plaintiff and Defendant agree. The media are allowed to pay the litigants for this privilege. If the Plaintiff is the Government, then the Government is declared by this Constitution to agree to television cameras and other mass media in the Court.
The order of cases to be tried on a particular day Must be random, or assigned by a published procedure and not at the discretion of the Court. This is to prevent a Court from trying controversial cases last or at odd hours of the day to avoid public scrutiny.
H. The Right to Trial in [country]: If a Person is accused of crimes that occurred outside [country], ey will not be extradited to the country accusing em of the crimes. Instead, the Person will be tried in [country] under the laws of [country]. The foreign prosecution, public or private, will pay for the costs of prosecuting the accused individual if it is the loser in such case. Failure for the foreign prosecution to pay will result in it be banned from being a prosecutor in further trials.
This Right exists in place of "political asylum". The accused individual will be placed in a prison in [country] if ey is convicted of the crime and subsequently sentenced to serve time in prison. The country that was the plaintiff will pay for this imprisonment. No treaty may ever override this right.
I. The Right to Protection from Double Jeopardy: If a Person is found innocent of a crime, ey may not be tried again for the same crime. The penalty for violating this Right is the same penalty as for false arrest.
If a local Government accused someone of a crime that ey was declared innocent of, a County or national Government could not then try that Person for the same crime. Nor can an individual be tried for "different" crimes committed by the same action.
J. The Right to Judicial Review: All three levels of Courts, the Supreme Court, the County Courts, and the Local Courts, have the responsibility to decide if a law is constitutional. Also, precedents from earlier trials may be presented to a jury, but the jury is free to decide each case on its own merit.
All proceedings in Court are to be recorded, even in trials closed to the public. If the Defendant or Plaintiff believes that either side is not following the Constitution in the proceedings, ey may stop the proceedings and ask for a local grand jury to decide if the Constitution may have been violated. A tape of the proceedings would be provided to the grand jury. If the grand jury determines that the Constitution may have been violated, a new trial shall be held in a different Court at the same level to determine if the Constitution was violated. If there are no other Courts at the same level, then the grand jury will try the case. Once this trial is over, the original case may be resumed.
The maximum time between request for a grand jury and being seated in front of one is two hours. This applies to all requests for a grand jury that this Constitution or the laws of [country] allow.
It is expected that there will be a sitting grand jury available 24 hours a day within two hours of travel at all times in [country].
K. The Right to Fair Jurisdiction: If both Plaintiff and Defendant agree, they may select a private Court. The Plaintiff, Defendant, and private Court Must agree to a Court Contract; the Government will recognize all terms in the Court Contract, including prison sentencing, but under no circumstances will the Government pay for any actions resulting from the private Court Contract.
For suits brought in the Court of [country], the Defendant has the Right to be tried in the Court most local to where ey resides. If Plaintiff and Defendant agree, the case may be moved to any other Court.
L. The Right to Attorney-Client Relationship: An individual has the Right to have private conversations with eir attorney. Therefore wiretaps to interfere with this relationship Must never be granted. An Attorney may not be jailed for refusing to testify to the content of private conversations with a client. Of course, Privacy Must be explicitly made part of the Attorney-Client Contract so it does not violate the Attorney's Right to Knowledge.
M. The Right to Protection from Self-Incrimination: An individual cannot be Forced to testify against emself. For example, ey can not be forced to produce business records, desk calendars, or private diaries. Ey may be forced to produce fingerprints or other identifying information from eir body for identification purposes only. For example, a hair sample could be forced for identification use but not for testing for drugs. This Right DOES include Entities. This Right should not be construed to apply to friends, relatives, or other associates of the accused.
The use of torture to Force confessions is particularly abhorred.
N. The Right to a Fully Informed Jury: Before a trial begins, the judge Must notify the jury of its common law Right and duty to decide if a law is fair and just as it applies to the specific case they are judging. The jury Must also be informed that laws in violation of the Constitution are invalid.
The jury may not at any time be removed from the courtroom during a trial to prevent them from hearing evidence. A trial may not be declared a mistrial because of "prejudicial" evidence. The judge has no power to strike any testimony from the record, and no power to suppress any evidence presented during the trial. It is expected that juries are reasoning Adults who are as competent as the judge to decide who is lying and who is not.
Evidence uncovered by an illegal search WILL be allowed in Court. Unlike corrupt countries that allow both the criminal and the arresting officer to go free when an illegal search is made, Citizens will be allowed to prosecute both.
The use of expert witnesses is allowed, but the jury Must be informed that no witness is completely unbiased.
O. The Right to Forgiveness: The statute of limitations on prosecuting a crime may not exceed ten years. This Right is given to foreign corporations and foreign Persons as well as to all Citizens. Anyone who has not been tried for a crime until ten years after its commission will be forgiven, unless ey has spent that time in cryonic suspension or otherwise unconscious.
The statchute of limitations freezes the instant one exits the appropriate jurisdiction, and restarts the instant one reetners appropriate jurisdiction.
The reason for this is that the primary goals of jailing a Person are not retribution or rehabilitation, but to stop the prisoner from committing crimes for a period of time, and as a deterrent. If someone hasn't committed crimes during the past ten years then these goals have already been accomplished.
It is legal for prisons and juvenile detention centers to try rehabilitation.
P. The Right to Witness Decision: Ex parte decisions, made when either the Defendant or Plaintiff are not in Court, are illegal. The Defendant or Plaintiff may wave this right by giving others power of attorney to represent them.
Q. The Right to Unbiased Judges and Juries: Judges and Juries may be paid on an hourly basis only. No bonuses may be given for convictions or acquittals. Conviction of a Judge or Juror on charges of such bribery is grounds for appeal to all Persons convicted by that Judge or Juror.
The only questions the Court may ask of the jurors before the trial are "Is there any reason in this case that you cannot give a fair and unbiased judgment?" and "Are you capable of understanding the evidence?". If, during a trial, a juror decides that ey is biased or not capable of understanding the evidence, ey may excuse emself without consequence. It is expected that juries will be seated with extra jurors for such contingencies.
R. The Entitlement to Subpoena: The Defendant shall be Entitled to subpoena witnesses who are Members of the Court of [country] and physical evidence owned by Members on eir behalf. In the same manner, the Plaintiff shall be Entitled to subpoena witnesses and physical evidence on behalf of the prosecution. Persons subpoenaed may sue for false arrest if the jury finds the subpoena frivolous.
Subpoenaed witnesses who refuse to testify may be jailed for up to one year, time to be set by jury. No further compulsions may be used, and no more than one detention may be levied upon a witness for the duration of a trial, even if the witness is called to testify more than once for different reasons.
The Right to Attorney-Client Relationship overrides the Entitlement to Subpoena. An attorney may not be jailed for refusing to break the confidence of eir client. A journalist may not be jailed for refusing to identify eir source.
S. The Right to Writ of Habeas Corpus: An individual may demand to be brought in front of a Court within two hours of eir imprisonment and told why ey has been imprisoned.
T. The Right to Immediate Countersuit: A Defendant acquitted of a crime may immediately countersue the Plaintiff for false arrest and have eir case tried in the same Court by the same jury. A Defendant either acquitted or convicted may immediately countersue for the use of unnecessary Force in eir arrest. Witnesses subpoenaed to testify in the case may sue for false arrest at this time as well.
If a jury finds a suit to be frivolous and unjustified, it may return a harassment judgment against the Plaintiff.
The judge and the Court itself are also subject to immediate countersuit to be heard by the same jury and different judge if either litigant wishes to sue for bias or illegal procedure. Only the litigants have this standing to sue, but others in the courtroom, including public audience members, may serve as witnesses. Jurors who fail in their responsibilities may be sued in a different Court.
It is desired that the same Court that has heard all of the evidence of a case should decide whether the arrests were justified, whether unnecessary Force was used, and whether the Court itself was biased. The use of unnecessary Force in an arrest may be prosecuted as assault and battery or murder, as appropriate. The use of Force without a warrant is particularly abhorred.
U. The Right to Quick Service: If a Court of [country] or other Government office keeps an individual waiting an unreasonable amount of time, especially when arrested, that office may be sued for false arrest.
Because the Government is a monopoly, being kept waiting in line is no different from being shackled. The main purpose of this Right is to make sure that the justice system doesn't commit injustice by detaining the defendant in long and slow lines. To enforce this Right, Citizens may bring in video recorders, stopwatches, or other devices to document their wait.
V. The Right to Reach Counsel: Any Person placed in a bail holding facility Must be allowed to reach counsel for eir defense, with the communication charges added to the eventual Court Costs. The Right to Quick Service applies here as well.
The practice of surrounding a Defendant's house with tanks and armed agents to prevent em from reaching eir attorney is a particularly heinous violation of this Right.
This Right includes the obligation of the arrestor to initially act as counsel for the person under arrest by repeating a list of Rights that includes the Right not to speak until ey has consulted with eir counsel.
W. The Right to Investigation: If an individual finds evidence that a Government official is committing Fraud, ey has the Right to bring this to a grand jury which may then order further investigation or bring charges against the Government.
X. The Entitlement to Know the Law: Copies of all laws Must be available at all Courts of [country]. It is legal to have the copies available only in an electronic format that can be processed by personal computers. The one exception to this is that the laws must be made available in a human readable format to persons in bail holding facilities. It is also recommended that important Court decisions be made available as well, even though Court precedents do not bear the full Force of law.
It is illegal to change laws retroactively. The Government of [country] may not prosecute someone for an action that was not a crime when ey did the action. But the reverse, changing a law to retroactively allow an action, may be allowed. If the punishment for a crime is increased by a new law, the increased punishment does not apply to past crimes. If the punishment for a crime is decreased by a new law, this change does apply to past crimes.
Y. The Right to Humane Treatment: Prisoners may not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. A prisoner may request a grand jury hearing to decide if ey is being treated inhumanely. Of course, if ey loses, ey will have to pay the cost of the hearing.
Z. The Right to Not Be Punished for Others' Actions. An individual will not be held responsible for the crimes of others, unless ey incited another to commit the crime.
For example, if a Person causes injuries or property damage as a result of being drunk, that Person, not the Person who provided the drinks, nor the manufacturer of the drinks nor any other person not immediately at fault, will be held liable. Similarly, if a person uses a weapon to unjustifiably kill or injure someone, ey, not the weapon, weapon manufacturer, nor the retailer, nor anyone who is not an immediate party to the crime, will be held liable. Or, if a Person forgets to ask the dangers of an operation, they will take responsibility for this, not eir Doctor. It is assumed that Adults who live in [country] do not wish to be treated as Children.
The Rights of Prisoners
Prisoners are able to obtain food, shelter, basic health care, and clothing by working for such within the prison they are in. In addition, charities and other interested parties may provide such services to them as well. Prisoners have the Right to speak with an attorney as do other detainees. Prisoners retain their Right to Self-Sovereignty and may not be sterilized or tattooed. Prisoners retain their Right to Property that was not seized as part of their judgment, and may not be forced to labor for another. Prisoners may be allowed to work in exchange for reduction in their sentences.
2. The Executive Branch
A Major Law is a law that affects every individual and therefore Must be decided by referendum.
A Minor Law is a law that only affects specific Entities in [country] and therefore may be decided by a two thirds vote of a jury according to section three, The Legislative Branch. A Minor Law becomes a Major Law if a petition with the signatures of 1% of the Voters is presented to the Government.
A. The Executive Branch includes a President and a Vice President whose sole duty is to replace the President if ey is killed or incapacitated. They are elected every four years on the tenth of June. The President has the powers to:
put a referendum on the ballot for the next election,
sign minor Contracts and legislation.
In all three cases, if a grand jury determines that there is a conflict of interest then the next Person in the chain of succession will have the obligation to take the President's duties for that particular case.
In all cases where the President signs Contracts or enacts legislation, ey Must go before a grand jury selected at random and get the consent of two-thirds of them for such actions. The President may bring many different Contracts and legislation in front of the jury at the same time if the Contracts and legislation are simple matters. All major Contracts and legislation Must be brought in front of the people in the form of referendums, which require a two-thirds vote to pass. Of course, an unconstitutional referendum or grand jury vote is not valid and should be ignored. No Government Contract may extend for more than ten years.
To ensure that all major Contracts and legislation are brought in front of the people, there is a 60 day waiting period after all minor Contracts and legislation are approved. During this waiting period, an individual may gather the signatures of 1% of the Voters to call for a referendum on whether these measures should be approved. Not until this waiting period is over are the minor Contracts or legislation considered approved.
The President does not have the power to sign treaties until they have been adopted by a 75% individual vote. Of course, Citizens are forbidden to vote for an unconstitutional treaty. The President does not have the power to declare a national emergency giving em special powers.
If the President and Vice President are killed or incapacitated, the chain of succession is Commander in Chief, Air and Space Force Commander, Army Commander, Navy Commander, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, then the remaining members of the Supreme Court selected at random. The President appoints replacements to any elected vacancies if the Person is incapacitated by death, injury, illness, resignation, insanity, or imprisonment. If a Person has vacated eir office for more than 30 consecutive days, ey is considered to have resigned.
The process for impeachment of the President or another elected official is to convict them of a crime that sentences them to prison. Once they have been sentenced to prison, they may not hold that elected title for the remainder of their term.
B. The Department of War consists of a Commander in Chief, Air and Space Force Commander, Army Commander, and Navy Commander. These four positions are elected every four years, each position being elected on a different year. Initially, the Commander in Chief will only serve one year, the Air and Space Force Commander two years and the Army Commander three years. The Air and Space Force Commander is in charge of all appointed positions in the Air and Space Force, and likewise for the Army and Navy Commanders. These Commanders control the respective budgets of their departments, and have discretion to spend these budgets. Of course, the public has final control in that it elects the Commanders and directly chooses to fund or not fund their budgets.
The three agencies of Air and Space Force, Army, and Navy will Contract with private militias, using no fewer than three different militias per agency for active duty status. Militias who are not chosen for active duty status may be selected for national reserve status where they will normally only be asked to practice less than one month per year. Militias not selected for national reserve status may be selected for mothballed status where they will normally never be asked to practice. Militias may only receive access to Weapons of mass destruction via Privilege Licenses provided by the Department of War.
Active militias will be on 24-hour call but they may engage in other activities while they are not engaged in military activities.
C. The Anti-Law Department repeals laws by referendum for major laws, by jury trial for minor laws. This branch can request referendums and jury trials. Citizens may make requests to this department or call for referendums by petitions signed by 1% or more of the Voters.
The Chief Director of the Anti-Law Department is elected by the people and is responsible for running the department and its budget as ey chooses, consistent with [country]n law.
A. Passing Major Laws: Major laws Must be passed by referendum, as described below.
B. Passing Minor Laws: The President of [country] may bring minor laws and Contracts to a grand jury and pass them with two-thirds consent. A waiting period of 60 days Must then elapse before the law becomes valid. If, in that 60-day period, a petition with the signatures of 1% of the Voters is presented to the President, the law becomes a major one and Must be brought before the people as a referendum.
C. Repealing Major Laws: Laws passed by referendum may be repealed by referendum. The Anti-Law Department may request that the repeal of a law be placed on a referendum.
D. Repealing Minor Laws: Laws that were instated by a jury vote may be removed by a jury vote at the request of the President or the Anti-Law Department. They may also be repealed in the same way that major laws are.
E. Conflicting Laws should both be repealed by grand jury vote.
F. The Right to Vote: All Adults and Teens in [country] not currently in jail are Voters, and may vote in elections. Children, including older Citizens who have been declared Children by a Court, may not vote. A Person under the age of sixteen who has been declared a Teen or Adult by a Court may vote. The Right of Adults and Teens to vote shall not be denied or abridged because of race, creed, sex, sexual preference, handicap, or any reason other than being in jail for a crime. The reason for this restriction is that grand juries and other officers of the Court are elected, and could be too influenced by organized crime if prisoners could vote.
G. Referendums: For a referendum to gain ballot access, a petition containing signatures of 1% of the Voters in the jurisdiction affected by the referendum Must be presented to the election administrators. The President of [country] and the Anti-Law Department may also put referendums on the ballot. A referendum may not be denied ballot access because it has been found to be unconstitutional. Constitutionality may only be decided after the referendum passes. Voters may vote either "yes" or "no" to a referendum. If 66% of those voting on the referendum vote "yes", the referendum passes and becomes law (assuming it is constitutional), unless a different percentage is specified in this Constitution. The vote for a referendum Must be held no later than 60 days after it gains ballot access.
A referendum may be held to recall a public office holder, or to eliminate the office entirely.
H. Elective Offices: Any Adult or Teen not currently in jail may run for any elective office. At the discretion of the Entity administering elections, candidates may be required to present a petition with the signatures of 100 Voters eligible to vote for that office before that candidate is granted ballot access. This should only be done to prevent ballots from containing hundreds of names of frivolous candidates. It is normally recommended that all candidates desiring access be granted it. No fee may be levied for access to a ballot.
For each elective office, the ballot will list all candidates running, as well as "None of the Above" and "Remove This Office". Each Voter will indicate on eir ballot which, if any, of the candidates listed ey approves of for each office. The Voter may approve of none, one, or any number of candidates for an office. The candidate receiving the greatest number of approvals will be given the office. If "None of the Above" receives the greatest number of approvals, then the office will remain vacant and unfunded for its normal term. If "Remove This Office" wins, the elective office itself will be retired. Of course, no candidate may run under the names "None of the Above" or "Remove This Office".
No individual may hold an office for more than four years in a row. Once these four years are up, ey may not run for that office again until four more years have passed.
I. Political Parties: Citizens have the Right to form political parties. Political parties cannot be given any Rights or Privileges not given to individuals running for elective office. A petition for candidacy may be written to indicate that in the event of the death or incapacity of the named candidate, the ballot access granted to that candidate may be given to another Person designated by the party. Of course, one Person may form a political party and have the same Right.
The purpose of a political party is to give the Voters some idea of what philosophies and opinions are shared by members of a party, to aid them in their decision. Political parties have the Right to run any candidate they choose, and to refuse to run anyone they choose. Under no circumstances should political parties be used as a means to deny ballot access to those who want it, or to grant special Privileges to members of major parties that are denied to minor parties.
J. Election Results: There will be no central Government agency collecting or reporting vote results. Election administrators will report directly to the press or other Entities with whom they have contracted to do so. Candidates for office Must discover for themselves who has won the office they seek, and in case of disputes, Must resolve their conflict in Court. Election administrators and their information may be subpoenaed for such cases.
4. The Power Structure of [country]
Many of the traditional powers of the Government have been taken away from it. To make it clear that we are not omitting powers because we haven't thought of them, we will list here where the powers traditionally assumed by the Government have gone. The Government may not create new agencies or assume any new powers not explicitly granted herein.
A. The following powers are given to Restricted Businesses. All such Businesses Must release copies of relevant records at cost, but may otherwise operate as they choose, including setting their own hours of Business_even election Entities. Any Citizen may create such an Entity. These Entities may involve themselves in more than one such Business.
Issuance and recording of copyrights, patents, and trademarks.
Contract recording including Business initiation/incorporation and dissolution documents. It is also recommended that such Entities have notaries.
Passports. Private Entities will provide passports to Permanent Citizens and to Children of Permanent Citizens who are under twelve months of age. While passports will not be needed for entry into [country], there may be some use for [country]n passports for people who wish to enter other countries. Citizens may hold passports to more than one country. See Article Four, National Security, for details.
Birth certificates and death certificates.
Ship and airplane registration. Ships and airplanes registered by Private registration services may fly the flag of [country] as long as such Private registration services are not convicted of fraud in the Court of [country]. See Article Four, National Security, for details.
Elections. These private Entities have some additional restrictions upon them to discourage Fraud:
Physical ballots, petitions, or other evidence of vote results, may not be destroyed for ten years after an election.
Election administrators Must allow ballots or other evidence to be subpoenaed by Courts.
Employees of the Entity administering elections may not hold or run for elective office.
They may not refuse ballot access to a candidate or referendum that has met the constitutional requirements.
Additional restrictions may be added by referendum.
B. The following powers are given to Unrestricted Businesses. In other words, the Government is prohibited from partaking in these activities other than enforcing Contracts created in the Free Market.
Money: The Government of [country] may not issue or control currency. Private banks may issue money, the use and acceptance of which is entirely voluntary. It is expected that all Contracts specify which currencies are acceptable forms of payment.
Stocks and securities: Private Entities will be in charge of endorsing or panning securities. Private Entities will run security exchange markets and set the rules that these markets will follow including rules regulating the percentage of a stock that an Entity may own.
Census taking: the Right to Free Speech includes the right of Entities to ask for any information from all of the beings in an area although it may not compel them to answer, even though it may pay them to do so. The Government does not have this Right and may only ask number of beings in any census.
Loans, including student loans.
Professional licensing: Private Entities may license Citizens for various professions. Of course, it is voluntary for a professional to have such a license, and consumers are free to hire unlicensed professionals if they choose.
Product labeling: Private Entities may endorse types of labeling for products. This includes marketing claims of drugs for efficacy and safety. Of course, it is voluntary for a company to use such labeling.
Postal services and issuance of stamps.
Standards of weights and measures.
Surveying.
Power generation.
Water: Water for residential, industrial, agricultural or any other use will be bought and sold as is any other commodity.
Schools: The practice of Governments running schools, setting curriculum standards, and compelling attendance is anathema to a free society. Parents have the sole Right to determine how and where their Children are educated, including home education.
Housing: Private Entities will control all housing.
Children's behavioral and protective services.
Children's camps, theaters, and other activity programs.
Adoption: Care of Children should never be allowed to fall into the hands of Government. Adoption is a private Contract among biological Parents, adoptive Parents, and a private adoption Entity, if any.
Libraries and museums: Private Entities will fund, build, and control libraries and museums. The Government may not regulate what people can read, what art they can see, or which version of history they believe.
Art: The Free Market will support the art that the marketplace desires. This includes the areas of paintings, sculptures, ballets, symphonies, theaters, cultural centers, art galleries, art centers, movies, fiction books, and orchestras. In particular, it is forbidden for the Government to censor art, before, during or after its production.
Historic preservation and archaeology: Private Property does not become public simply because it is interesting. Historic preservation and archeological activities will be done by private Entities.
Airplanes, trains, and other public transportation and their respective facilities such as airports.
Traffic control: The private Entities that own roads will be responsible for making and enforcing their traffic laws. Only penalties for trespassing and endangering lives already established in the laws of [country] will be used for their enforcement.
Insurance: Private Entities will run all insurance. This includes bank insurance, pension fund insurance, Property insurance, import and export insurance, liability insurance, disaster insurance, auto insurance, professional insurance, life insurance, travel insurance, medical insurance, disability insurance and unemployment insurance.
Food inspection: It is expected that restaurants and food retailers will have liability insurance, and that insurance companies will set rules for food safety and and perform the needed inspections..
Automobile and equipment safety inspections: As with food, liability insurance vendors will be expected to set safety rules.
Consumer regulation: All safety regulations, consumer protection regulations, and other Business regulations will be accomplished by the Free Market. For example, 900-number phone services will be regulated by private phone companies, not by government agencies.
Consumer protection services. Consumer affairs should be settled in private or public Courts.
Building plans and Inspections will be done by agreements between banks, lenders, property owners, and insurers.
Car washes.
Towing and car repair.
Emissions testing.
Hospitals: Citizens may create and use any hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, and outpatient centers they desire.
Drugs and other health care.
Veterinary services.
Mental health services: Mental illness is just that - illness. Private hospitals may treat mental patients just as they treat other patients. In particular, no hospital has the power to imprison a Person against eir will unless that Person has been previously declared to be a Child by a Court.
Cemeteries.
Coroners and other crime investigators.
Parks and recreational facilities.
Public service classes such as aerobics, martial arts, wrestling, dance, billiards, pottery classes and yoga.
Rehabilitation centers.
Job training and placement services.
Escorts: Escorts for visiting dignitaries, public officials, funerals, parades and other special events shall be done by private Entities.
Weather forecasting.
Amateur and Professional sports, including boxing.
Agriculture and forestry: The Government of [country] will not pay farmers to refrain from growing food, will not subsidize foresters by building roads and giving away Land to be destroyed, and will not control irrigation. Nor may the Government subsidize any group of farmers including honey bee farmers.
Rationing: The Free Market will replace this traditional Government function by allowing prices on goods to be set based on supply and demand.
Cartels and monopolies such as utilities will not be created by the Government, nor will it interfere with their private creation.
Economic planning including subsidies. While it is legal for a Business to subsidize a product, the Government may never do so - even for "strategic" items such as wool and mohair.
Scientific research.
Energy exploration and production. Access to energy will not be controlled or prohibited by the Government.
Taxicabs.
Gaming: Government regulation of, running, or profiteering upon, gaming is a violation of the Right to Property.
Charity: Government charities are compassion at gunpoint. Only private charities, directly accountable to their voluntary contributors, will exist in [country].
Tourism.
Employers may freely negotiate the following with their employees, customers, or insurers.
Levels of stress in the work environment.
Definition and prosecution of sexual harassment.
Medical, dental, disability, unemployment, life, workers' compensation, social security or pensions, and other insurance.
Medical testing, drug testing, and other employer qualification tests.
Smoking regulations.
Labor relations and Contract negotiations including negotiation of severance payments.
Anti-discrimination or pro-discrimination rules.
Price and wage controls.
Facilities (including parking) for the handicapped.
Building facilities, such as doors, toilet facilities, and security systems.
Occupational safety regulations.
Fire codes, electrical codes, and occupancy codes.
C. The following powers are given to Housing Developments. Of course, individuals may also hire these services on the Free Market if their Housing Development does not provide them or if they are not members of one.
Hiring of election administrators.
Police and Fire protection. Fire and home insurance companies can set safety rules and protection standards.
Disaster insurance.
Maintenance of infrastructure (power, water (including fluoridation), roads, graffiti, animal control, etc.)
Community facilities such as swimming pools, golf courses, hockey rinks, gymnasiums, baseball fields, football fields, and basketball courts.
Zoning, rent control, and building codes.
D. The following powers are given to The People, to control by referendum:
Crimes: The people may establish by referendum the definitions and punishments for crimes.
Common Law: The people may establish by referendum standard definitions of terms used in private Contracts, implied obligations in certain Contracts, implied liabilities and limitations of corporations, and other standards not explicitly overridden in the Contracts involved. Any Contract may override any of these standards by supplying its own explicit definitions.
Resolutions: The people may make any recommendations they choose that do not bear the force of law.
Pollution: Pollution Must be prosecuted by the Citizen whose Land, water, or air is damaged or whose Life and health are threatened by it. Because of the often random nature of environmental hazards, the people may vote by referendum on what levels of a particular toxin are considered "harmful" for the purpose of Court decisions, and what the damage amounts are. Such referendums do not restrict the ability of actual harmed parties to sue for specific damages.
Endangered species: Limits on hunting, destroying the habitat of, or otherwise harming designated species may be set by referendum. The referendum will have to designate a voluntary fund to compensate Citizens hurt by this referendum and the referendum will not be enforced in cases where there are insufficient funds in the designated fund to pay the Citizens hurt by the referendum. Juries will determine the amount of compensation.
Abortion: The people may, by referendum, place restrictions on abortions after three months gestation where the mother's life is not endangered.
Symbols: The people determine by referendum the appearance of the flag, passports, and other symbols of [country]. These symbols and observances are, of course, matters of personal expression. Citizens are free to celebrate as they choose, to display, burn, refuse to display, or otherwise treat flags as they choose, and otherwise express themselves freely. The name of [country], its flag, and its passports will serve to identify it to the other nations of the world, but Citizens may use them or not as they choose. Using symbols of [country] fraudulently is prosecutable under Article Four, National Security.
War: The people may, by referendum as specified in Article Four, National Security, declare war. Referendums can be used to add or remove countries from the Government's enemy list.
Recognition of new classes of Persons, and eligibility requirements for passports and voting.
Modification of or dissolution of the Government.
Quarantine of Persons with infectious diseases.
Establish election precincts.
Regulation of Government agencies.
E. The following powers are reserved for Each Individual:
Article One, A Partial Listing of Rights, details the Rights of each individual. We list here specific powers often usurped by Governments:
Life: Each Person can decide when and how to end eir Life.
Reproduction and birth control.
Drugs, vitamins and other health care.
Marriage: Each individual can decide the terms of eir marriage Contract, or whether ey wishes to create such a Contract.
Inheritance: Each individual may decide who gets eir Property (including eir body) when ey dies. In the event a Person dies without any explicit instructions as to the disposition of eir Property, the Person's Nearest Relative will be awarded inheritance. If there is no living relative, anyone making a claim on such Property (such as friends or favorite charities of the deceased) may petition a jury to award inheritance. Neither the Government nor the jury, may ever be awarded inheritance or any portion thereof unless explicitly granted in a will.
F. The following powers are denied to the Government and given to No One:
Taxation: No one has the power to tax.
Embassies and the special powers they receive.
Evacuation: No one may Force a Citizen to leave eir Property for eir own "protection". If an Citizen wants to live on unsafe Property, that is eir choice.
Eminent domain: Each Citizen's Property is completely eir own.
Torture.
Financial Controls: No one may be forbidden from taking money or other valuables into or out of [country]. No one may forcibly suspend trading in stocks and bonds. No one may forbid ownership or control the value of gold or other commodities. No one may forcibly freeze checking and savings accounts of others.
It is hoped that foreign readers of this Constitution will realize what a long list of powers that they have entrusted to their Government. They should remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
ARTICLE THREE: Powers Specifically Forbidden to the Government
If a power is forbidden this means that not only is it illegal for the Government to tax to fund this power, it is also illegal for the Government to accept voluntary contributions to fund this power. A 95% vote is necessary to remove an item from this list. A 66% vote is sufficient to add an item.
Many of these restrictions are mentioned elsewhere in this Constitution. They are repeated here for clarity and emphasis, because Governments traditionally usurp these powers.
To reduce the restrictions on the power of taxation in any way requires a dissolution of the Government along with a change of the country's name. This dissolution and renaming requires a 95% referendum vote.
We hope it is obvious that tariffs are considered a tax and therefore illegal.
The reason that user fees may be requested by the Justice System is to discourage frivolous cases. Justice is an Entitlement. If it were free, people would use it more than services they had to pay for, and the people's Liberty, as well as the efficient administration of justice itself, would suffer.
B. Business: It is illegal for the Government to own, operate, subsidize, donate money to, insure, or loan money to Businesses. This includes the practice of a Government breaking a "monopoly" by launching a competing Business.
This includes the selling of alcoholic beverages, running lotteries, utility companies, delivering mail, running air traffic control centers, educational companies, libraries, notary publics, coroners, surveyors, orphans' homes, universities, and charitable organizations.
D.
Government employees must finance their own transportation and housing. Sworn military, law enforcement, and diplomatic personnel are exempt from this requirement,
G. Schools: It is forbidden for the Government to run, fund, subsidize, or regulate schools or universities.
To allow this would be in direct conflict with the Right to Religion. Government-run schools and universities always discriminate against one or more religions.
It is also forbidden to create any laws standardizing education or defining what is or isn't an educational program. No laws may be created stating the amount of time a student Must spend in any educational program.
H. Welfare and Humanitarian Activities: It is forbidden for the Government to have welfare programs including Social Security programs or any redistribution or transfer schemes, or to give charity of any kind. It is forbidden for the Government to give aid to other countries or to help Citizens or others after disasters. Likewise, it is forbidden for the Government to run, fund, or subsidize hospitals or any other health related programs. This includes institutions for the benefit of the insane, blind, and deaf and dumb, and such other benevolent institutions as the public may ask for. This includes helping Persons who, by reason of age and infirmity, or misfortunes, may have claim upon the sympathy and aid of society.
Exceptions to this are psychiatric hospitals and orphanages.
Finally, it is forbidden for the Government to receive aid from other countries.
In particular, the Department of War Must never be used for humanitarian activities. Private companies may Contract with national reserve militias and mothballed militias to engage in humanitarian activities as needed.
Charity at gunpoint is not charity. Only charity accomplished by truly voluntary donations is good and moral.
Citizens may not donate money to Government-run charities because of the threat that such charities will eventually become mandatory charities that Citizens will be Forced to contribute to.
I. Scientific Research: It is forbidden for the Government to run, fund, or subsidize scientific research that is not of military or law enforcement nature.
K. Fire Protection: It is forbidden for the Government to fund or subsidize fire departments with the exception of those servicing Government facilities.
It is expected that Police and Fire protection agencies will be mostly employed by insurance companies to protect their clients and property with the goal of minimizing insurance claims. Usually these insurance companies will be hired by Housing Developments.
L. Garbage Disposal: It is forbidden for the Government to fund or subsidize garbage disposal Entities with the exception of those servicing Government facilities.
M. Public Transportation: It is forbidden for the Government to fund or subsidize public transportation.
N. Emigration and Immigration: It is forbidden for the Government to refuse entry into the country based on someone's place of birth or to otherwise discriminate against Citizens based on where they were born. Also, people who wish to emigrate from [country] will not be fined or penalized in any way when they leave the country.
O. Insurance: It is forbidden for the Government to insure industries. Examples would be insuring banks, pension funds, health of Citizens, and loans between individuals.
Q. Emergency Powers: The Right to a Writ of Habeas Corpus cannot be suspended under any circumstances. The Government cannot pass a bill of attainder, ex post facto law, pre facto law (law declaring all future actions of a Person or Entity to be legal) or law impairing the obligation of Contracts.
This was already covered in Article Two where it was shown that the President has no Right to declare a state of emergency, but considering the poor track record of Governments, it is detailed again here.
The practice of passing laws declaring a Government office or official to be guilty of no crimes retrospectively as well as prospectively is particularly abhorred.
Violation of anything in this section is considered Treason and is punished with the maximum penalties available by law.
R. Religion: It is forbidden for the Government to establish a national religion or support any religion in any way or to deny the Right to worship freely.
S. Records: It is forbidden for the Government to hold records on when someone was born, or when ey died. This will be a job for the private sector. Considering the importance of these records, it is suggested that an individual store eir records with more than one private Entity. It is illegal for the Government to conduct a census that asks anything besides number of beings existing in a location, and it may not compel even that information.
T. Art: It is forbidden for the Government to fund or subsidize art.
V. Multinational Organizations: The Government is forbidden to enter treaties placing it under organizations which conflict with any of the terms of this Constitution or [country]'s laws. Any treaty placing [country] within any multinational organization will become null and void upon any action or agreement of said organization violating any terms of [country]'s Constitution or laws.
See Article Four, National Security, for one exception to this restriction.
W. Kidnapping: The Government is forbidden to kidnap Persons in other countries not on its declared enemies list.
X. Rationing: The Government is prohibited from taking control of items away from Citizens and then rationing the use of such items. Having agencies such as water police is particularly abhorred.
ARTICLE FOUR: National Security
This article requires an 80% vote to reduce restrictions and an 80% vote to add restrictions. Once [country] has been in existence for 20 years or has reached a population of 500,000 voters this article will require only a 66% vote to reduce restrictions.
A. A Declaration of War may be effected in one of three ways:
The President, Commander in chief, Air and Space Force Commander, Army Commander, and Navy Commander declare war by majority vote immediately after an attack on [country]. If one or more of them is killed by the attack or is otherwise unavailable within fifteen minutes, (th)eir vote(s) will not be needed.
A declaration of war referendum is passed by a majority of the Voters and signed by the President.
A declaration of war referendum is passed by more than two-thirds of the Voters.
In situation one, any of the four executives named may initiate defensive attacks until there is time for the vote. In situations two and three, the people who collect the signatures necessary for the referendum or the President emself, if ey initiates the referendum, can demand the referendum be held within seven days of this request. If it is possible to hold the referendum even sooner, this Constitution allows it to be held at an even earlier time.
B. Multinational Organizations: [country] may, by a vote of its people, become a member of the United Nations no matter what policies the United Nations engages in. A voluntary fund may be created to pay for membership fees of the United Nations. This will enable [country] to gain recognition as a country and therefore reduce the chance of invasion by opposing forces. Of course, [country] may not engage in actions as a member that violate this Constitution.
The following restrictions on Rights have been made in the interest of National Security:
C. The Right to Self-Defense is restricted by not allowing Citizens to own, produce, import, or export Weapons of mass destruction. At the time of the adoption of this Constitution, this includes nuclear Weapons, large-scale chemical Weapons, and biological Weapons. It is felt that since such Weapons could be used to destroy the entire country with just one application, they are too dangerous to the Rights of other Property owners in [country]. All other Weapons that are available at this time are not considered Weapons of mass destruction, including personal chemical Weapons such as mace and tear gas.
The Government may grant Licenses for the Privilege of working with Weapons of mass destruction. It may obtain these Weapons for its own use.
D. The Right to Free Trade is restricted by not allowing Citizens to import or export mind-altering drugs to or from nations where they are illegal. Importing is restricted because it can be difficult to determine if a ship is importing or exporting a product. A Privilege License would be allowed to import a mind-altering drug that is currently not being grown or otherwise produced in [country]. This License would be granted by the Commander in chief of [country].
Of course, this does not apply to vitamins, medicinal drugs, or other healthful substances. Marijuana would be considered a mind altering drug.
The manufacture of such drugs for use in our country will never be interfered with by the Government. The only reason for the restriction on trade is that other nations often use the drug trade as an excuse for military action.
E. The Right to Free Trade is further restricted by not allowing Citizens to export Weapons to nations or Entities that are on [country]'s forbidden list.
The Government may create different categories on this list for different types of Weapons banned to different countries or Entities. It is the duty of the Commander in Chief to make such a list, which may be modified by referendum.
F. The Right to Travel into the country may be restricted during time of war. Travel through easements may also be restricted during time of war. The Right to leave [country] may never be violated.
G. The Right to Own and Operate a Business is restricted for owners of airplane or ship registering companies whose clients fly the flag of [country]. Such companies may be prosecuted by the Government for fraudulent actions because by flying the flag of [country] they can be considered to represent the Government of [country]. Of course, an airplane or ship registering company which does not authorize its clients to fly the flag of [country] may not be prosecuted in such manner. And, finally, an airplane or ship that flies the flag of [country] without authorization by a ship registering company can be prosecuted in like manner.
The same restrictions apply to passport providers since their passports will be considered to represent the country of [country].
ARTICLE FIVE: Abortion
This Constitution recognizes that abortion is a conflict of Rights between the mother and potential Child. It hereby declares that all abortions during the first three months of pregnancy are unrestricted. Even a pregnant Child may ask for an immediate abortion with no restrictions.
After three months, the Government may place restrictions on abortion with the exception of endangerment of the mother's Life. These restrictions may only be enacted through referendum.
In the case of frozen eggs, sperm, embryos, and fetuses, the frozen beings have the same Rights as if they were not frozen, i.e., they may not be destroyed if their unfrozen counterpart may not be destroyed. If funding for these items ceases, then either private parties may continue funding or these tissues may be destroyed. Public notice about the termination of funding Must be made two weeks in advance of the funding cutoff.
A doctor who knowingly performs an illegal abortion will get one quarter the penalty that the mother gets because ey will be an accomplice to the crime. Therefore if the mother was sentenced to one year in jail and fined 100 grams of gold, the doctor would be sentenced to three months and fined 25 grams of gold. None of this would be deducted from the mother's punishment.
ARTICLE SIX: Government Budgets
To encourage donations, all agencies will publish a list of all donors and the amount of their donations at least once a year. Of course, donors may request that the amount of the donations and/or their names be kept confidential. Agencies may also issue receipts that can be displayed by the donor.
The following budgets will exist and Citizens may pick the specific ones that they would like to fund. Transferring money among these budgets except as specified below is a fraud against the people, i.e., Treason.
The Executive Budget (a general fund for payment of President, Vice President, and staff).
The Department of War Budget (a general fund for this agency that funds three agencies below it besides itself).
The Air and Space Force Budget.
The Army Budget.
The Navy Budget.
The Anti-Law Department Budget.
The Supreme Court Budget is a specific fund for this agency on the Supreme Court level. Costs of maintaining juries, judges, secretaries, etc., are included in this budget.
The County Court Budget has a specific fund for each County Court. Costs of maintaining juries, judges, secretaries, etc., are included in this budget.
The Local Court Budget has a specific fund for each local Court. Costs of maintaining juries, judges, secretaries, etc., are included in this budget.
The Local Grand Jury Budget has a specific fund for each local jury.
All these agencies may create subsidiary budgets for specific projects. Any money left in the budget of a canceled project Must be refunded. Leftover anonymous donations may be kept by the agency creating the defunct project.
ARTICLE SEVEN: Housing Developments
Throughout history, Governments have imposed harmful monopolies on their Citizens by deciding which "natural" monopoly will be used by the residents of a particular community. This article is meant to end the Government's ability to do this.
A Housing Development is the most powerful government-like structure in [country] although it is not part of the Government of [country]. Decisions made by the Housing Development can be by any method decided by the original founders of the Housing Development, i.e., the people who originally owned the land.
It is recommended that Land developers create a Housing Development, with its rules enforced by deed restrictions, private covenants with neighbors, or other private means, to manage the infrastructure of an area. Housing Developments may enact zoning laws, building codes, clothing standards, and other regulations. It may charge fees for police, fire, election, sanitation, and other services. It may provide infrastructure such as water (including treatment and fluoridation), drainage, sewers, gas lines, communications, power, television, graffiti control, animal control, disaster insurance, roads, and railroad lines. It may provide community facilities such as swimming pools, golf courses, hockey rinks, gymnasiums, baseball fields, football fields, and basketball courts.
Any services not provided by the Housing Development nor prohibited by it will be the responsibility of any individuals who want the service.
Residents moving into Land that is part of a Housing Development, and Land buyers buying pieces of such Land, Must be shown the deed restrictions and regulations of the Housing Development before they make their buying decision. Failure of the seller to disclose such regulations is Fraud.
While all of the above is a matter of Contract and mutual consent, the reason that a Housing Development is considered part of the Government is that Children born into the Housing Development are subject to its regulations without their consent. When such Children become Adults, they are still subject to the regulations of their Housing Development (but are, of course, free to move).
If a Housing Development grows beyond 5,000 Persons, it Must be divided into smaller ones within one year. We are concerned that a Person in a larger Housing Development would have too little influence on eir Government. Nothing prevents two or more Housing Developments from sharing their laws, their resources, and otherwise behaving as one. The restriction simply ensures that it would not take so many Persons to secede from such an arrangement that it would be a virtual impossibility. It is also strongly recommended that Contracts for the services above not last for more than ten years so that the residents will have more control over their infrastructure.
In a situation that effects more than one Housing Development, such as moving the created land that more than one Housing Development is on, all the Housing Developments must agree with the decision or no action may be taken. There is no eminent domain in [country].
ARTICLE EIGHT: Secession, Addition, Reorganization
A County or local Government may secede from [country] upon a 75% or greater vote in favor of secession.
Secession means either breaking away from a County Government, or a local Government, or the national Government, or any combination of these three levels of Government. Parts of [country] that secede from the national Government would have to physically break away from [country] and move outside of its twelve mile territorial limit. The secessionists would have to pay for the cost of doing this.
A majority vote would be needed to add Land to [country]. This is the necessary vote percentage needed by both the population joining [country] and by a general vote conducted in [country]. Creating Land within the twelve- mile territorial limit given by current international law does not require a vote.
A County or local Government may be reorganized into two or more territories upon a 75% or greater vote. If more than one County or local Government is involved in the reorganization because the new territory would span the borders of more than one County or local area, then a vote would have to be taken in all the relevant counties and/or local areas. Each County and/or local area would need a 75% or greater vote.
ARTICLE NINE: Ratification and Amendment
This Constitution may only be ratified by unanimous consent of the original Land Owners of [country].
It may be changed by a 80% vote of all Voters except where otherwise noted in the Constitution.
Such amendments shall be added to the end of the Constitution although footnotes may be added to printed copies of the Constitution for easier reference of these amendments.
ARTICLE TEN Suggestions
The following suggestions have no Force of law:
A. Adding Land to [country]: It is suggested that when Land is added to [country], a 10% donation of its appraised value be made to the Department of War. This will help the Government defend that Land.
B. Drug Testing: It is suggested that instead of testing someone for drugs, a Person should be tested via a physical or mental task to see if ey is capable of performing eir job.
C. Endangered Species: The best way to protect endangered species is to have private groups buy the Land where the endangered species live.
D. Animal Plaintiff: Since the state is unable to be the Plaintiff except in cases of Treason, it is suggested that animal Right's groups be the Plaintiffs in animal Rights' cases.
E. Armed Forces: It is suggested that the armed forces challenge each other in games of skill. There should be armed forces football teams, boxing teams, and chess teams. They should be given a chance to prove themselves on areas besides the battlefield and to become financially self-sufficient.
G. National Language: It is suggested that all Government documents be in one language and that this language be English. This will reduce the cost of running the Government. Private groups could, of course, reproduce Government documents in other languages as the market demands.
