Southeast April Initiatives

[Bono]

Unless the School Choice initiative has been repealed while I wasn't looking, this initiative affects a total of 0 schools.

[Bono]

"1 The Southeast Regional shall give the parents or legal guardians of a child a voucher, worth the values stated on § 3. Each child child will warrant a voucher. The voucher may only be spent to pay for tuition in ancredited schools. "

Any school that receives at least 10% of its funding from these vouchers is included in this initiative.

Nice to see you back btw.

I strongly oppose this. This is nothing but a perversion of the voucher system.

[Bono]

"1 The Southeast Regional shall give the parents or legal guardians of a child a voucher, worth the values stated on § 3. Each child child will warrant a voucher. The voucher may only be spent to pay for tuition in ancredited schools. "

Any school that receives at least 10% of its funding from these vouchers is included in this initiative.

Nice to see you back btw.

I strongly oppose this. This is nothing but a perversion of the voucher system.

What do you mean by this? What I quoted is part of your initiative.

You were the one that took away the rights of states and school systems to fund themselves as they see fit and put everything under one huge bureaucratic department. Saying kids can't eat pizza for lunch is hardly a perversion of a funding system. If you think a healthy meal guideline should be decided school by school- why did you put the SE Dept of Education under one roof:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Put your hyperboles away and make a cogent argument.

Where did I do that? Each district can still impose property taxes or other alternative means of funding. There just isn't any regional funding. As for why "I" did it--never mind that this was a voted on initiative--it is just because officially there isn't a state tier of government. Anyways, this was done for all governments when Preston Caldwell's Unified Law Code Initiative passed.

[Bono]

Initiative # ____

Stand Your Ground Initiative

AN INITIATIVE

To amend Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 16 of the Official Code of the Southeastern Region Annotated, relating to justification and excuse as a defense to certain crimes, so as to provide that a person who is attacked has no duty to retreat; to provide that such person has a right to meet force with force, including deadly force; to provide for civil immunity; to amend Article 1 of Chapter 11 of Title 51 of the Official Code of the Southeastern Region Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to defense to tort actions, so as to provide for civil immunity; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTHEAST:

SECTION 1.
Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 16 of the Official Code of the Southeastern Region Annotated, relating to justification and excuse as a defense to certain crimes, is amended by inserting immediately following Code Section 16-3-23 a new Code section to read as follows:
"16-3-23.1.
A person who uses threats or force in accordance with Code Section 16-3-21, relating to the use of force in defense of self or others, Code Section 16-3-23, relating to the use of force in defense of a habitation, or Code Section 16-3-24, relating to the use of force in defense of property other than a habitation, has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and use force as provided in said Code sections, including deadly force."

SECTION 2.
Said article is further amended by striking in its entirety Code Section 16-3-24.2, relating to immunity from prosecution and exception, and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
"16-3-24.2.
A person who uses threats or force in accordance with Code Section 16-3-21, 16-3-23, 16-3-23.1, or 16-3-24 shall be immune from criminal prosecution therefor unless in the use of deadly force, such person utilizes a weapon the carrying or possession of which is unlawful by such person under Part 2 or 3 of Article 4 of Chapter 11 of this title."

SECTION 3.
Article 1 of Chapter 11 of Title 51 of the Official Code of the Southeastern Region Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to defense to tort actions, is amended by striking in its entirety Code Section 51-11-9, relating to immunity from civil liability for threat or use of force in defense of a habitation, and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
"51-11-9.
A person who is justified in threatening or using force against another under the provisions of Code Section 16-3-21, relating to the use of force in defense of self or others, Code Section 16-3-23, relating to the use of force in defense of a habitation, or Code Section 16-3-24, relating to the use of force in defense of property other than a habitation, has no duty to retreat from the use of such force and shall not be held liable to the person against whom the use of force was justified or to any person acting as an accomplice or assistant to such person in any civil action brought as a result of the threat or use of such force."

SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Initiative are repealed.

X Bono

[Bono]

Initiative #__

The Off-Shore Religious Organizations Initiative

Be it enacted by the People of the Southeast

Section One
1. The Southeastern region shall allow for the incorporation of off-shore religious organizations.

2. Incorporation of off-shore religious organizations shall be to organizations that meet all the following criteria:
a) Are organized exclusively for religious purposes, or for religious purposes in addition to charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes;
b) Do not establish any places of cult within the Southeastern Region;
c) Do not establish any organizational direction, branch or dependency of any sort within the Southeastern Region.

3. Change in status regarding the compliance with the criteria set forth in the previous paragraph shall result in disqualification from the status of Off-Shore Religious Organization.

Section Two
1. Incorporation as an Off-Shore religious institution shall cost a registration fee of $2,000 and a maintenance fee of $750 per year.

2. All fees mentioned in this initiative shall be annually adjusted for the CPI.

Section Three
1. Off-shore religious organizations as defined in this initiative shall be exempt from taxation.

2. The Southeast reserves for itself the right to exert tax jurisdiction over these organizations, their organizational direction, branch or dependencies of any sort, wherever they may be located, except where expressly delegated by the people of the region to the Atlasian Senate.

X Bono

[Bono]

Initiative #__

Emergency Powers Initiative

Section One

1. No officer of the federal, state or local government shall, under the guise of emergency powers, have the power to confiscate firearms from citizens who are not engaging in illegal behavior.

Section Two
1. Any officer of the federal, state or local government who violates paragraph one, section one of this initiative shall be punished by at least seven years of incarceration, with no possibility of parole, a fine of at least $2,000 and immediate, irrevocable removal from their post.

1.1 Officers of the federal, state or local government who violates paragraph one, section one of this initiative, but prove to have done so in obedience to orders given by their superiors shall be exempted from the mandatory sentencing prescribed on paragraph one, section two of this initiative. Their situation is left to the magistrate and the jury's discretion.

2. Any officer of the federal, state or local government who order a violation of paragraph one, section one of this initiative, shall be punished by at least twelve years of incarceration with no possibility of parole, a fine of at least $5,000, and immediate removal from their post.

3. Any persons found to have been conspiring to violate paragraph one, section one of this initiative shall be punished by at least seven years of incarceration with no possibility of parole, a fine of at least $2,000, and immediate removal from any post they may occupy in the government.

4. All fines provided for in this initiative shall be annually adjusted to the CPI.

Section Three
1. Nothing in this initiative shall be constructed to deny the victims of the crimes here established to seek tort compensation.

[Bono]

x TCash on Emergency Powers.

Could you give a little explication of this in plain English. Specifically, how can we allow these organizations off-shore but disallow "establish[ing] any organizational direction, branch or dependency of any sort within the Southeastern Region." ? Second, do we really have the right to disallow "cults"? Third, why do you exempt the organizations from taxation and then reserve the right to tax them? Why use the word "exempt" and then reserve the right? Seems like there would be a better way to word this that would be less contradictory but with the same effect. Fourth, why are you proposing this? What problem do you seek to solve or what benefit will result? I'm asking to understand not to criticize. Will these incorporations result in municipalities where SE citizens will reside or is it a place where residents of the on-shore SE can go to practice their "faith"? What is the advantage to doing this offshore? Can anybody apply for this or do they have to have some prior connection to the Southeast? How far off shore? Is there any sort of real life example of this that we could look at. I'm not trying to be argumentative, just want to understand the implications better.

Initiative #__

The Off-Shore Religious Organizations Initiative

Be it enacted by the People of the Southeast

Section One
1. The Southeastern region shall allow for the incorporation of off-shore religious organizations.

2. Incorporation of off-shore religious organizations shall be to organizations that meet all the following criteria:
a) Are organized exclusively for religious purposes, or for religious purposes in addition to charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes;
b) Do not establish any places of cult within the Southeastern Region;
c) Do not establish any organizational direction, branch or dependency of any sort within the Southeastern Region.

3. Change in status regarding the compliance with the criteria set forth in the previous paragraph shall result in disqualification from the status of Off-Shore Religious Organization.

Section Two
1. Incorporation as an Off-Shore religious institution shall cost a registration fee of $2,000 and a maintenance fee of $750 per year.

2. All fees mentioned in this initiative shall be annually adjusted for the CPI.

Section Three
1. Off-shore religious organizations as defined in this initiative shall be exempt from taxation.

2. The Southeast reserves for itself the right to exert tax jurisdiction over these organizations, their organizational direction, branch or dependencies of any sort, wherever they may be located, except where expressly delegated by the people of the region to the Atlasian Senate.

X Bono

Those are a lot of questions.
Basically, what this initiative does is to create a special category of corporate entity. Like a corporation, not a municipality, so don't worry about that. This isn't a new form of local government. Basically, there are certain parts of the world where religious organizations are taxed. This initiative allows them to register themselves safely in the Southeast, but operate on those oppressed parts. We reserve exclusive jurisdiction over them so that they cannot be taxed elsewhere. If you've any further questions, ask away.

[Bono]

Thanks for clarifying. Just two more:

Section One
2. Incorporation of off-shore religious organizations shall be to organizations that meet all the following criteria:
b) Do not establish any places of cult within the Southeastern Region;

cult- a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.

So, we will incorporate these organizations but they are forbidden from practicing their religion on shore? Notice the passage below does not say Southeast citizens.

5. Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to hold religious or philosophical beliefs according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; and no person shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for acting upon those religious or philosophical beliefs in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; or for his religious or philosophical profession, sentiments, or persuasion; provided he does not disturb the public peace or disturb others in their religious or philosophical pursuits.

Also, who approves of the incorporation? The governor or does each one have to be voted on via initiative?

They can establish places of cult within the Southeast, they'll just lose the status as off-shore religious institutions and become normal religious institutions for the effects of Southeastern law.