Attn. Justices: Atlasia v. Southeast (Case Closed)

[SPC]

If Governor Duke doesn't mind, I would like to serve as his regional government's defense attorney.

[SPC]

Thank you, Mr. Governor. I will be absent on Friday, so I will probably not be able to argue until Saturday.

[SPC]

If anyone has questions about how to present a brief, I'll pull up the form.

Yeah, since this is my first time arguing before the Supreme Court, this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

EDIT: Nevermind. Past Wiki entry's have helped me find out that it is in
"statement of facts
question presented
argument
conclusion"

form.

[SPC]

Atlasia v. Southeast
[Attorney General Marokai Blue, Senator SPC; Arguing]

Statement of Facts

On April 8, 2009, the regional government of the Southeast passed the Freedom of Currency Act, which states the following:
"1. Article I, Section XII, shall be added to read the following:
a. The government of the Dirty South shall gradually take Atlasian dollars out of circulation within the Dirty South.
b. The government of the Dirty South shall circulate currency called "dixies," which can be exchangable for a pegged amount of gold at any time.
c. Section 2 will be enforced on a purely voluntary basis, and no legal tender laws will be used to force businesses to accept dixies as currency."

Question(s) Presented:

Can a regional government circulate currency without interfering with the constitutional prohibition on a region either issuing currency or making a currency besides that of the Senate legal tender?

Argument:

Article I, Section 5, Clause 8 of the Constitution gives the Senate the power "to establish coin and currency, which shall be the sole legal tender of the Republic of Atlasia, regulate the value thereof, with respect to other coin and currency." However, there is no mention of making dixies a legal tender in the Freedom of Currency Amendment, and in Section 3, it explicitely says that "Section 2 will be enforced on a purely voluntary basis, and no legal tender laws will be used to force businesses to accept dixies as currency." Thus, this amendment is clearly not in violation of the Senate's sole power to make legal tender, since no legal tender is recognized in this amendment.

Article I, Section 7, Clause 2 of the Constitution states that "No Region may issue Coin or Currency or make any Coin or Currency other than that of the Republic of Atlasia a legal tender." As explained above, the Freedom of Currency Amendment does not make anything legal tender, so that part is not violation. As for the former part, Section 2 of the Freedom of Currency Amendment states that "The government of the Dirty South shall circulate currency called "dixies," which can be exchangable for a pegged amount of gold at any time." Circulate does not necessarily mean issue in this context, since the dixie is being issued by another entity. Thus, since the dixie is being issued by another entity, this amendment is not in violation either.

Since the Freedom of Currency Amendment does not interfere with either of the above prohibitions, Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution establishes that "The powers not delegated to the Republic of Atlasia by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the Regions, are reserved to the Regions respectively, or to the people." Thus, the power to circulate currency other than that of the Republic of Atlasia, so long as it isn't issued by the regions or given legal tender status, is reserved to the regions.

Conclusion:

Since the Freedom of Currency Amendment neither states that the government of the Southeast would issue a new currency nor states that the Southeast would make a currency other than the Atlasian dollar legal tender, the amendment is constitutional and should not be overturned by the Supreme Court. While I would be in agreement with the Attorney General if this amendment issued currency or recognized a currency as legal tender, this amendment does neither.

[SPC]

If I may:

What exactly does the bill do then, if we're to accept your reasoning here, Senator?

It does what it says it does. It takes Atlasian dollars out of circulation via exchange and circulates currency issued by someone else.

[SPC]

If I may:

What exactly does the bill do then, if we're to accept your reasoning here, Senator?

It does what it says it does. It takes Atlasian dollars out of circulation via exchange and circulates currency issued by someone else.

And you see no conflict with the Constitution by taking the federally mandated currency out of circulation and recognizing another?

There is nothing in the Constitution prohibiting states from taking in federally mandated currency and not spending it. The region isn't "recognizing" another currency in the Constitutional sense, since it is not making it legal tender.

[SPC]

If I may:

What exactly does the bill do then, if we're to accept your reasoning here, Senator?

It does what it says it does. It takes Atlasian dollars out of circulation via exchange and circulates currency issued by someone else.

And you see no conflict with the Constitution by taking the federally mandated currency out of circulation and recognizing another?

There is nothing in the Constitution prohibiting states from taking in federally mandated currency and not spending it. The region isn't "recognizing" another currency in the Constitutional sense, since it is not making it legal tender.

The Dixies will become a de-facto currency, by basically taking away all other options but the Dixies though, will it not?

No, because people are still free to issue their own currency. Additionally, people may choose to use gold or silver directly, or they could use foreign currency if they want.

[SPC]

May I derive from your words that SPC's dixie circulation is fine as long as the SE government does not receive or spend them? So the residents of the SE will have an informal currency once Dollars are removed by their government, but the government does not have that same sort of privilege and would be considered bankrupt.

So, it's the best of both worlds.

In retrospect, it's probably even better than those parts of the FOCA were removed. Too bad it's going to be voted down.

[SPC]

May I derive from your words that SPC's dixie circulation is fine as long as the SE government does not receive or spend them? So the residents of the SE will have an informal currency once Dollars are removed by their government, but the government does not have that same sort of privilege and would be considered bankrupt.

So, it's the best of both worlds.

In retrospect, it's probably even better than those parts of the FOCA were removed. Too bad it's going to be voted down.

You're bankrupting the region. I guess that's good?

Can the Mideast bailout the region and take 50% ownership stake? There are some states I would like to pick up.

Well, given that the effect of the Court's ruling is to prevent the Dirty Southern government from spending any money, that means that regional government will be greatly limited. Also, this allows for even more economic freedom by allowing the money to be purely voluntary.