The Death Penalty and Rehabilitation Initiative

[CheeseWhiz]

The Death Penalty shall from now on be illegal.

§1 – Punishment

(a) Death Row & Previous Offenders
All criminals that have been or would be given the death sentence shall be given life in prison with labor duties in its stead.

(b) Those Who Carry Out the Death Penalty
Anyone who commands or carries out the death of a criminal shall be charged with murder and given the same sentence as stated above.  This will be in affect only for those who have carried out or command the death penalty after this law comes into affect.

§2 – Rehabilitation

(a) Rehabilitation Buildings
Rehabilitation centers shall be built beside every prison in the land in a timely manner.

(b) Rehabilitating Criminals
All criminals shall participate in rehab programs on a regular basis.

(c) Programs
Any Rehabilitation programs in the system shall be independently-owned and funded.  Programs that are accepted into the system will be conducted by the Magistrate, who shall keep varied programs active at all times. 

(d) Release
Any criminals that have been approved by a Rehabilitation group and are eligible for parole shall be released on the court's consent.

§3 – Labor

(a) Kind of Labor
Prisoners shall perform community service and labor such as:  road work, construction, or litter clean-up.

(b) Guard
Sufficient personnel shall be appointed to oversee the work and maintain discipline of the crew.

(c) Innocent Laborers
Anyone given the sentence of labor and found not guilty afterwards shall be duly compensated for their time and labor.


All right, this is my first initiative, so Ernest, feel free to change around to more legalese, if needed.

[John Dibble]

Dislike sections 1 and 2. Sorry, but I believe that the death penalty is perfectly just - it may need reform in it's implementation, but I don't believe in abolishing it. Also, rehabilitation is fine and dandy, but I don't believe in early release - any truly rehabilitated person would gladly take their punishment.

Section 3 is good, but I'd extend the labor even further - they should produce all their own food, clean up after themselves in the prision, and other things.

[ian]

If I lived in the district I would vote for all of these initiatives!

[Jake]

I will not vote for this.  The death penalty system needs reform not elimination.

[jokerman]

I will not vote for this. The death penalty system needs reform not elimination.

I agree with that

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Other than the need to substitute “effect” for “affect” in section 1(b), I don’t see anything wrong with the language.  However, I do not support this measure, so you’ll need to get two other Southeast citizens to sign their names to it in addition to yourself.  I doubt if a death penalty abolition intiative will be able to win in the Southeast even if does get on the ballot, but you certainly are free to try and if it has any hope of passage, you should be be able to get the signatures.

Going by the spirit of Section 3 of the Southeastern Election Regulations you have until noon Thursday, Central Standard Time to get the necessary signatutes if you want it on the February ballot, otherwise it will have to wait until the March ballot.  The Constitution and the law are both silent about how much advance time is required on intiatives.  If reelected, I’ll fix that flaw in the regulations, but with less than 100 hours until the polls open, I’m not sanguine about changing the regs right now.

If you gain the necessary signatures this will be the first SE initiative on the death penalty.  Hence, I will order a stay of execution for all convicts on death row in the Southeast Region from the moment the petiton is filed with the necessary three signatures until the end of the balloting on it.

[Sam Spade]

I will be happy to sign the petition, though honestly I will vote against this initiative. 

I would like to see it on the ballot though, as I would with any initiative that is fairly well thought through even though I disagree with it. 

X SamSpade

[Jake]

I will sign this.  Everything should be given an up or down vote.


Jake

[jokerman]

X Cosmo Kramer

[CheeseWhiz]

Thanks to everyone who posted, especially Ernest, because I don't like to make spelling errors
Took some of your ideas and added them:

The Death Penalty shall from now on be illegal.

§1 – Punishment

(a) Death Row & Previous Offenders
All criminals that have been or would be given the death sentence shall be given life in prison with labor duties in its stead.

(b) Those Who Carry Out the Death Penalty
Anyone who commands or carries out the death of a criminal shall be charged with murder and given the same sentence as stated above.  This will be in effect only for those who have carried out or command the death penalty after this law comes into effect.

§2 – Rehabilitation

(a) Rehabilitation Buildings
Rehabilitation centers shall be built beside every prison in the land in a period of 5-15 years.

(b) Rehabilitating Criminals
All criminals shall participate in rehab programs on a regular basis.

(c) Programs
Any Rehabilitation programs in the system shall be independently-owned and funded.  Programs that are accepted into the system will be conducted by the Magistrate, who shall keep varied programs active at all times. 

(d) Release
Any prisoners that have been approved by a Rehabilitation group and are eligible for parole shall be released on the court's consent.

§3 – Labor

(a) Kind of Labor
Prisoners shall perform community service and labor such as:  road work, construction, or litter clean-up.  Prisoners must also produce their own food and clean their own cells, etc., the institution shall only supply basic necessities.

(b) Guard
Sufficient personnel shall be appointed to oversee the work and maintain discipline of the crew.

(c) Innocent Laborers
Anyone given the sentence of labor and found not guilty afterwards shall be duly compensated for their time and labor.

If I lived in the district I would vote for all of these initiatives!

Ian, you do live in this district and this region (sorry if my WI avatar confused you)

I will not vote for this. The death penalty system needs reform not elimination.

I just hate the Death Penalty.

As I was writing this I got my two signatures, but do your signatures still stand?

[John Dibble]

Personally, I think it might be best to seperate this into three different initiatives - I like the prison labor initiative, and would vote for it if it were standalone.

[Jake]

I also would vote for the prison labor initiative, but I think if we commute death sentences, we should make it life without parole.

[Sam Spade]

Thanks to everyone who posted, especially Ernest, because I don't like to make spelling errors
Took some of your ideas and added them:

The Death Penalty shall from now on be illegal.

§1 – Punishment

(a) Death Row & Previous Offenders
All criminals that have been or would be given the death sentence shall be given life in prison with labor duties in its stead.

(b) Those Who Carry Out the Death Penalty
Anyone who commands or carries out the death of a criminal shall be charged with murder and given the same sentence as stated above.  This will be in effect only for those who have carried out or command the death penalty after this law comes into effect.

§2 – Rehabilitation

(a) Rehabilitation Buildings
Rehabilitation centers shall be built beside every prison in the land in a period of 5-15 years.

(b) Rehabilitating Criminals
All criminals shall participate in rehab programs on a regular basis.

(c) Programs
Any Rehabilitation programs in the system shall be independently-owned and funded.  Programs that are accepted into the system will be conducted by the Magistrate, who shall keep varied programs active at all times. 

(d) Release
Any prisoners that have been approved by a Rehabilitation group and are eligible for parole shall be released on the court's consent.

§3 – Labor

(a) Kind of Labor
Prisoners shall perform community service and labor such as:  road work, construction, or litter clean-up.  Prisoners must also produce their own food and clean their own cells, etc., the institution shall only supply basic necessities.

(b) Guard
Sufficient personnel shall be appointed to oversee the work and maintain discipline of the crew.

(c) Innocent Laborers
Anyone given the sentence of labor and found not guilty afterwards shall be duly compensated for their time and labor.

If I lived in the district I would vote for all of these initiatives!

Ian, you do live in this district and this region (sorry if my WI avatar confused you)

I will not vote for this. The death penalty system needs reform not elimination.

I just hate the Death Penalty.

As I was writing this I got my two signatures, but do your signatures still stand?

Of course, my signature still stands. 

I doubt think I have to sign changes to the initiative though in order for it to be on the ballot.

[Jake]

Just in case, mine still carries over.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Yes, I am going to be picky and insist that a revised version propoosed by petition be resigned unless the revision is only correcting minor textual errors.  Since such revision has been resigned this won't be a problem.  This will be Initiative #27.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The initiative is now uploaded to the Southeast website:
http://ernestcline.home.mindspring.com/Southeast/init027.html
I made a couple of minor textual edits.

Until February 22, I am imposing a stay of execution for all individuals convicted of a capital crime by a court of the Southeast Region or a subdivision thereof.

[minionofmidas]

Until February 22, I am imposing a stay of execution for all individuals convicted of a capital crime by a court of the Southeast Region or a subdivision thereof.

Praise the Lord.

[CheeseWhiz]

Until February 22, I am imposing a stay of execution for all individuals convicted of a capital crime by a court of the Southeast Region or a subdivision thereof.

Praise the Lord.

Hey Lewis, if you want to put my initiative on the Pacific ballot, I think it would get alot more support there

[ian]

Ian, you do live in this district and this region (sorry if my WI avatar confused you)

I was confuzed... But I did know you were formerly registered in FL.  I just didn't look at your name on your post; I would've recognized my mistake immediately.
I will vote for all of these initiatives.

[minionofmidas]

Until February 22, I am imposing a stay of execution for all individuals convicted of a capital crime by a court of the Southeast Region or a subdivision thereof.

Praise the Lord.

Hey Lewis, if you want to put my initiative on the Pacific ballot, I think it would get alot more support there

There are sections in your proposal that I don't approve of though...and anyways I can't do that. We need 5 signatures or the Governor. I'm the Lt.Governor.