Southeast Initiatives for November

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

X Htmldon on all 97, 98, and 99.

[Jake]

The Century Mark
Initiative 100: Access for Recruiters Initiative

1. No college or university receiving funding from the Southeast Region may deny access to their campus for recruiting purposes to either the Southeast Regional Guard or any federal armed force.

2. Any institution violating the terms of Section One will have their funding cut by 50% for the following fiscal year. Any further violations will result in the cutting of all funding in the following fiscal year.

X Jake

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

The Century Mark
Initiative 100: Access for Recruiters Initiative

1. No college or university receiving funding from the Southeast Region may deny access to their campus for recruiting purposes to either the Southeast Regional Guard or any federal armed force.

2. Any institution violating the terms of Section One will have their funding cut by 50% for the following fiscal year. Any further violations will result in the cutting of all funding in the following fiscal year.

X Jake

X Htmldon on 100

[Ebowed]

X Ebowed to get it on the ballot... but I'm not sure I'll vote for that one.

OK, not completely necessary, since the death penalty is nearly gone all but officially from our region, but just to bug the voters about it one last time

Initiative 101: Complete Abolition of Capital Punishment Initiative

1. All methods of capital punishment are abolished in the Southeast region.

2. In replacement of capital punishment, the following methods of punishment may be used.

A. Forty years in prison without the possibility of parole.

B. Forty years in prison with hard labor.

C. Life in prison without the possibility of parole.

D. Life in prison with hard labor.

E. Life in prison with solitary confinement four days out of every week ("week" defined as seven days).

3. If there are any persons sentenced to death in the region upon the passage of this initiative, they shall be commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

4. Prison cells used for "Death Row" inmates shall be converted to extra space in the prisons for other offenders.  A Death Penalty Abolition Commissioner shall be appointed by the Governor to oversee this process; should this office lie vacant, its duties fall to the Lt. Governor.


X Ebowed

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

X Htmldon on 101

[Jake]

The replacement for the death penalty should be life in solitary confinement without parole. Anything less is simply disgusting, as is allowing some to actually rejoin society.

[Q]

Would Initiative 100, with which I disagree strongly, be in violation of Federal law?  The Support for Atlasia's Soldiers Bill repealed the Solomon Amendment last month.

[Emsworth]

X Emsworth on 98, 99, 101

Would Initiative 100, with which I disagree strongly, be in violation of Federal law?  The Support for Atlasia's Soldiers Bill repealed the Solomon Amendment last month.

The repeal of the Solomon Amendment only affects federal funding for universities. The Support for Atlasia's Soldiers Bill should not be interpreted as preventing regions from imposing their own rules.

[Ebowed]

What is the status of cocaine criminalization laws in the Southeast?

[Emsworth]

What is the status of cocaine criminalization laws in the Southeast?

I don't think that we've even decriminalized marijuana, let alone cocaine (though I may be mistaken).

[Ebowed]

I'm pretty sure pot is legal in the Southeast (with a heavy tax)... but I may be wrong.

[Emsworth]

I'm pretty sure pot is legal in the Southeast (with a heavy tax)... but I may be wrong.

Hmm, you seem to be right. (I had looked at the initiatives list for "marijuana," but the initiative referred to "cannabis.")

[Q]

In light of the testimony of former Governor Ernest, I have made modifications to my earlier initiative.  The new version follows:


Initiative 94: Commissioner Accountability Amendment
Article I, Section 12 of the Regional Constitution is added as follows:

"The Governor may nominate a Lottery Commissioner, Alcohol Commissioner, Tobacco Commissioner, Hemp and Cannabis Commissioner, Transportation Commisioner, and any other officer whose position is mandated by the Constitution of the Southeast Region or a voter-approved initiative subject to the approval by the majority of voters at the next election at which an initiative could be voted on.  This section applies also to offices created by future legislation."

EXPLANATION: Borrowing the language from the constitutional provision for a Magistrate, this initiative would convert the offices of the various Governor-appointed commissioners from those that operate at the pleasure of the Governor to those that, like the Magistrate, are still appointed by the Governor but for which the appointees must be also be approved by the voters.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'm pretty sure pot is legal in the Southeast (with a heavy tax)... but I may be wrong.

Hmm, you seem to be right. (I had looked at the initiatives list for "marijuana," but the initiative referred to "cannabis.")

No, we haven't decriminalized (or criminalized) marijuana.  Any state laws on the subject haven't yet been affected, IIRC.  What we have done is tax marijuana and done so in a way that allows people to pay the tax without worrying that doing so might give law enforcement a clue as to where they need to go to make a drug bust.  I know it sounds crazy, but it's done in the real world as well.  Drug dealers don't bother paying the tax (most of what little revenue that is collected is from people whio buy the tax stamps for the drugs as a novelty) so what it usually does is give prosecutors a second crime they charge a drug dealer with that they can use as leverage in a plea bargain.  The rates are set so that if we ever do decriminalize they should produce revenue rather than encourage tax cheating, but the tax measure was not a decriminalization measure.

[Emsworth]

No, we haven't decriminalized (or criminalized) marijuana.  Any state laws on the subject haven't yet been affected, IIRC.

In that case:

Initiative 95: Marijuana Legalization Initiative
1. The possession, sale, and consumption of marijuana, and of the plant Cannabis sativa, shall be lawful for all individuals (except minors).
2. The Southeastern Hemp and Cannabis Initiative is hereby repealed.

I have suggested the repeal of the Southeastern Hemp and Cannabis Initiative because it (in my view) imposes unneeded regulations and "sin taxes."

X Emsworth

[Ebowed]

X Ebowed on Init 95

[John Dibble]

Dibble on init 95

[jokerman]

Legalized marijauna with no taxes or regulations at all?  Outrageous!  In the current system some of the tax revenue goes to fighting substance abuse.  I see no need to do away with any of the nesecary regulation either.

[Emsworth]

I see no need to do away with any of the nesecary regulation either.

I would respectfully suggest that regulation of marijuana is necessary. The only exception is the use of marijuana by minors, which for obvious reasons should remain illegal (the exception is a part of the regulation itself). But establishing a regional marijuana commission, licensing marijuana distributors and producers, and so forth, seems like a waste of this region's resources, as well as an unneeded intrusion into private corporations.

Marijuana will not be completely untaxed; it will still be subject to the normal sales tax. No doubt, the legalization of this product will boost state revenues.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'm in favor of legalization, but the main bar to taht (unless the feds have passed some law that I didn't pay attention to) is the national restrictions on its sale.  So long as marijuana remains squarely on Schedule I, anything the Southeast does will have minimal impact on that issue.  That said, I'm not at all in favor of eliminating the excise tax on cannabis, so here goes an alternative, it decriminalizes cannabis, allows for reasonable regulation, and it also provides a way for those who wouldn't be guilty of a crime after decriminalization to be released.  The date of effect was chosen to be Januarty 1, 2006 because that's the same date that the original Southeastern Hemp and Cannibis Initiative goes in effect.

Initiative 96: Cannabis Decriminalization Initiative

§1. Any law of any subdivision of the Southeast Region that criminalizes the production of, possession by, or sale to persons 21 years old or older of cannabis (as defined by the Southeastern Hemp and Cannibis Initiative) shall be null and void as of January 1, 2006.

§2. The Southeast Hemp and Cannabis Commission and the subdivisions of the Southeast Region may pass regulations on the use of cannabis in public areas so as to prevent persons not wishing to engage in the consumption of cannabis from being affected by second hand smoke.  Regulations passed by the Southeast Hemp and Cannabis Commission may only affect use at the place of business of a licensed processor or distributor of cannabis.

§3. Nothing in this initiative shall be construed as to affect any law providing a punishment for either public intoxication due to the use of cannabis or driving under the influence.of cannabis.

§4. Persons convicted by a Southeastern court prior to January 1, 2006 of the production, possession, or sale of cannabis may file with that court for a reduction of sentence to time served.  Such reduction shall be granted under this initiative only if the plaintiff can show that his activity would not be illegal if the provisions of section 1 of this initiative had been in force at the time of conviction.  The burden of proof for a reduction in sentence under this initiative shall be the plaintiff's.  Reduction in sentence under this initiative shall not involve expunging convinctions from any person's criminal record.  Nothing in this section shall alter or affect any other process of pardon or parole available with respect to such crimes.

[Emsworth]

I'm in favor of legalization, but the main bar to taht (unless the feds have passed some law that I didn't pay attention to) is the national restrictions on its sale.

Fortunately, the Senate has passed a federal Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Fortunately, the Senate has passed a federal Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act.

Good!

Now all we need now is a responsible measure (such as the one I proposed) to override our state laws on the subject and not an irresponsible one that removes all regulation and sets a rate of taxation for pot that is lower than that of either alcohol or tobacco.

[Ebowed]

What is the status of the legality or illegality (and associated penalties) of prostitution in the Southeast?

X Ebowed on Init 96 to get it on the ballot.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

What is the status of the legality or illegality (and associated penalties) of prostitution in the Southeast?

No laws at the regional level IIRC, so whatever Federal and State laws are on the books would still pertain.

[Bono]

I'm in favor of legalization, but the main bar to taht (unless the feds have passed some law that I didn't pay attention to) is the national restrictions on its sale.  So long as marijuana remains squarely on Schedule I, anything the Southeast does will have minimal impact on that issue.  That said, I'm not at all in favor of eliminating the excise tax on cannabis, so here goes an alternative, it decriminalizes cannabis, allows for reasonable regulation, and it also provides a way for those who wouldn't be guilty of a crime after decriminalization to be released.  The date of effect was chosen to be Januarty 1, 2006 because that's the same date that the original Southeastern Hemp and Cannibis Initiative goes in effect.

Initiative 96: Cannabis Decriminalization Initiative

§1. Any law of any subdivision of the Southeast Region that criminalizes the production of, possession by, or sale to persons 21 years old or older of cannabis (as defined by the Southeastern Hemp and Cannibis Initiative) shall be null and void as of January 1, 2006.

§2. The Southeast Hemp and Cannabis Commission and the subdivisions of the Southeast Region may pass regulations on the use of cannabis in public areas so as to prevent persons not wishing to engage in the consumption of cannabis from being affected by second hand smoke.  Regulations passed by the Southeast Hemp and Cannabis Commission may only affect use at the place of business of a licensed processor or distributor of cannabis.

§3. Nothing in this initiative shall be construed as to affect any law providing a punishment for either public intoxication due to the use of cannabis or driving under the influence.of cannabis.

§4. Persons convicted by a Southeastern court prior to January 1, 2006 of the production, possession, or sale of cannabis may file with that court for a reduction of sentence to time served.  Such reduction shall be granted under this initiative only if the plaintiff can show that his activity would not be illegal if the provisions of section 1 of this initiative had been in force at the time of conviction.  The burden of proof for a reduction in sentence under this initiative shall be the plaintiff's.  Reduction in sentence under this initiative shall not involve expunging convinctions from any person's criminal record.  Nothing in this section shall alter or affect any other process of pardon or parole available with respect to such crimes.

I'd challange it through the courts, but it's probably an item of commerce or some other idiocy.