Thanks for reading nominal9. My experience with the courts is limited to two non jury probate court hearings, at which I was dispensed law rather than justice. Questionably interpreted law to boot. Here is an update.
Just as an experiment, let's design a better government's constitution. I'll lead off with : 1) The right of the citizens to revise government structure, laws, regulations, rules, or decisions by referendum shall not be hindered. The passage of revisions by referendum requires a 3/4 majority vote. 2) The freedoms of the people and organizations within the nation as specified below shall not be hindered. 2a) Communication of information within the nation is guaranteed without government restraint. 2b) The right to association of individuals and organizations is guaranteed without government restraint. 2c) Gatherings of people are protected from government interference without restraint. 2d) Citizenship shall be granted automatically to persons born either of citizen parents or within the nation's borders. 2e) Citizenship may be acquired according to government laws by any individual or organization of citizens. 2f) Each citizen has the right to one vote, regardless of legal status, including criminals, minors, and the legally incompetent. 2g) No government entity shall ever revoke citizenship except for proven treason, or at the certified request of the citizen and the citizen's chosen associates. 2h) Citizens vote either directly in referendums, for themselves as citizen legislators, or by assigning a proxy to a chosen citizen legislator. 2i) The proxy of a citizen may be changed at any time by the citizen's choice, but not by the holder of a proxy. 2j) The right of citizens to defend themselves with the weapons of their choice shall not be limited except for violent criminals. 2k) A citizen shall not be classed as a violent criminal unless that citizen has been tried and convicted of a violent crime by a citizen jury of at least 12 citizens in good standing. 2l) A citizen under legal assault has a right to an experienced lawyer of the citizen's choice with access to all information pertinent to the legal issue. 2m) A citizen convicted of a crime has a right to appeal to a higher court and also to submit the evidence of the case to referendum voting deciding guilt or innocence. 2n) Citizens have the right to privacy and freedom from government interference in their personal affairs. Personal affairs are those which have not been proven as detrimental to society according to law and public referendum. 2o) Citizens have the right to withhold information whenever the information cannot be proven to be essential to national security. 2p) A citizen specifically has the right to withhold self incriminating information during the period from being charged with a crime until trial sentence is passed. 2q) The burden of proof that a crime has been committed rests upon society. A citizen does not have to prove innocence. 2r) A citizen shall not be repeatedly charged with the same offense, or with similar charges based upon the same body of evidence. 2s) A citizen shall not be incarcerated before or during trial unless a grand jury has determined that the citizen poses a clear threat to society. However, a citizen accused of a violent crime may be placed under armed guard at the accusing authority's discretion. 2t) A citizen has the right to a prompt trial and/or petition for referendum when criminal charges have been made. Delay in excess of three times the average waiting time for trial to begin shall result in charges being dropped. Trials shall not be protracted for legal delays by prosecutors. 2u) A citizen accused of a crime automatically has the right to sue the accuser for damages due to defamation of character at the accuser's expense. However, all awarded damages and expenses must be repaid if the citizen is found to be guilty as charged. 2v) Court or petition for referendum expenses shall be paid by the guilty party, or if the accused is found to be innocent by the government legal system. 3) Government shall consist of citizens, legislative, executive, and judicial branches. 3a) The citizens within a government's jurisdiction have ultimate authority through referendums. 3b) Citizens may overrule or revise any aspect of government through referendum. 3c) A referendum shall commence at government expense whenever one percent of the citizens within that government's jurisdiction have petitioned for it to be held. 3d) Petitions and referendum votes shall be verified by the most practical means available, according to common opinion. 3e) Referendums shall remain open until at least 3/4 of the citizens within the government's jurisdiction have voted. A referendum is decided if 3/4 of those voting are in agreement or disagreement with the referendum's proposal. 4) The legislature rules are : 4a) Legislators have voting power for the purpose of policy decisions according to how many citizen proxies they hold. 4b) Legislators apportion funds to government activities from the tax payments of those citizens whose proxies they hold. 4c) Funds may be transferred from the tax account of one legislator to another in exchange for an agreed upon policy vote. 4d) Under no circumstances shall more funds be allocated to a government function than specified in the enabling policy legislation. If an excess for a government policy is apportioned during voting, that excess shall be proportionately distributed according to number of proxies held into the tax accounts of legislators. 4e) Legislators need not be physically present at any particular location to vote provided they have a secure means of communicating with fellow legislators. 4f) All legislation shall be fully disclosed to the citizens, including all debate on the merits of policy or apportionment legislation. 5) The executive rules are : 5a) Any executive officeholder or employee may be removed from office at any time for any reason by a citizen referendum or a 3/4 majority of legislative policy voters in a quorum of 3/4 of all citizens according to proxy holders' authorizations. 5b) The executive branch is charged with the task of implementing legislative policy and fund apportionments. 5c) The executive branch is prohibited from issuing laws, rules, regulations, guidelines, policies, or any other government decision which is not justified by a specific policy of the Constitution, referendum of the citizens, or legislative policy decisions. 5d) The executive officeholders are organized and appointed as specified by the legislators. 5e) The executive employees are hired by officeholders under guidelines issued by the legislators and within apportioned budgetary constraints. 5f) Executive employees may be dismissed by officeholders or employee managers due to lack of funds, reorganizations, neglect of duties, incompetence, or criminal behavior as determined by a court. 5g) The activities of the executive shall be continuously and accurately presented on the internet for public inspection except on a case by case basis in the interest of national security. 6) The judicial rules are : 6a) The Supreme court shall consist of 12 or more judges selected by the legislature. 6b) The Supreme court only has the authority to decide constitutional issues. 6c) All judges hold office at the discretion of the citizens and legislature and may be removed from office in the same manner as the executive clause 5a). 6d) Judgement authority rises with court level as determined by the legislature, but in all cases the citizens may overrule a court through referendum. 6e) Trial shall be by citizen jury in all criminal cases. 6f) At the discretion of the accused, trial for civil cases may be either by citizen jury or a single judge. 6g) A panel of at least three highly experienced judges shall convene to hear appeals. 6h) All court proceedings shall either be broadcast live through the internet, open to the general public, or both. 6i) All evidence introduced in any court shall be placed in open record on the internet except when certified as detrimental to national security by the legislature. 6j) False testimony or evidence shall be punishable as specified by law policy of the legislature. 6k) The burden of proof that evidence is true rests upon the court. 6l) The schedule of court hearings shall be publicized well in advance of trial, the amount of notice before proceedings are held to be in accordance with standard directives of the legislature. 6m) Courts may issue legal documents to initiate proceedings as soon as evidence of the need for a hearing is obtained. 6n) Judges are appointed by the executive branch to fill vacancies, but all judges are subject to dismissal by a simple majority of the legislature until initially approved by the legislature. 7 Government taxation : 7a) Government shall be funded by a voluntary tax upon wealth, denoted as a "value". 7b) Value exists in civil law only to the extent that the wealth tax has been paid prior to the event at legal issue. 7c) Value exists in criminal law according to applicable laws and statutes. 7d) Victims may be compensated for damages during criminal hearings according to a standard schedule of restitutions regardless of wealth tax status. 7e) No government shall tax economic activity, including but not limited to sales, income, capital gains, estate, excises, tariffs, or value added taxes. 7f) When a wealth tax is paid, it goes into the account of the citizen or the citizen's proxy holder legislator at the national treasury. 7g) Wealth taxes are due continuously, but the annual percentage rate is determined by the legislature. 7h) Each citizen is responsible for determining what to declare as wealth and the value to place upon declared items. 7i) The statements pertaining to a citizen's wealth may be sealed for an additional fee paid by the citizen as determined by the legislature, but otherwise they are a matter of public record. 7j) Any court shall be permitted to open a citizen's sealed declaration of wealth and make specific items a matter of public record when the values declared are relevant to a case. 8) The purposes of the national government are to provide for national defense, to improve the common welfare of the citizens, and to improve world relations. Any government activity detrimental to those three purposes must be abolished. 9) States of the nation : 9a) Since the government's legislature is no longer elected by district for fixed terms, the states shall be reformed from standard metropolitan statistical areas. 9b) Each state shall be formed from a territory containing not less than 100,000 nor more than 10 million citizens at apportionment. 9c) States which grow to exceed 12 million citizens according to their official residences status shall be divided as determined by the legislature. 9d) There shall be not less than 500 nor more than 5000 states. 9e) The citizens of an area may petition the legislature for formation of a new state if 90% of the citizens located within that geographic area are dissatisfied with their current state. 9f) States shall be formed from all territory currently controlled by the federal government. 9g) At the government's discretion and with the consent of resident citizens according to a referendum, a state may be evicted from the nation provided a mutually satisfactory compensatory settlement has been reached. 9h) By mutual consent between other nations and the government, and with the consent of residents of a territory, a territory may join the nation, becoming a new state or states. 9i) Each state shall have its own legislative, executive, and judicial bodies of government. 9j) The constitution and national laws have primacy over any state law. 9k) Every state must allow state petitions and referendums at state expense under national supervision. 9l) A state has jurisdiction over disputes confined to its territory. 9m) State laws are unconstitutional if they are detrimental to the welfare of the nation. 9n) Referendums within states take precedence over state laws and court rulings. 10) Legislative legitimacy : 10a) The executive branch shall maintain an accurate and continuous accounting of all citizen's identities, place of residence, and proxy holder as well as contact information for verification of proxies. 10b) At the option of the legislature, a short recess (of at most two weeks) may be called during which authorities appointed by the legislature shall verify from records of the legislators (compared to the executive branch's data) that the accounts of proxies are valid. 10c) At all other times the legislature shall be in session, conducting its business by remote communications as well as physical meetings. 10d) The legislature shall maintain continuous monitoring of proxy status of the legislators. 10e) Only validated proxies may be voted by legislators. 10f) The legislature is solely responsible for deciding how it shall be run, but in no circumstance shall a ruling of the legislature : 10f1) prohibit repeal in a new session after a recess for proxy validation has occurred, of a resolution formerly passed by the legislature. 10f2) prohibit voting from a remote location provided that a secure communications channel is used. 10f3) be terminated without getting a vote (of either approval or disapproval) from a simple majority of the citizen proxies of the nation. 10f4) be passed with less than a simple majority of the citizen proxies of the nation. 10g) Voting on all legislative matters shall take place in parallel, with the priority of attention paid to specific proposals at the discretion of each legislator. 10h) A legislator votes all validated proxies held as a block on any specific legislation. 10i) The computer record of proceedings and votes shall be heavily secured against tampering, defended against loss, and a matter of open public record. More is on the way after I take a break. Feel free to comment. Lonnie Courtney Clay -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Epistemology" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to epistemology+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to epistemology@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/epistemology?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
