Court Tracker: Honors in the Hizhouse!

[Franzl]

I agree with the Attorney General that the law must be followed, regardless of whether the questionable act was intentional or not.

That said, I don't believe Ben meant to violate his ban illegally...and I have urged the AG....and I will do so again....to seek a light punishment under these circumstances.

[Franzl]

I do think the AG does have the discretion to drop cases he views as wrongful. If it oversteps a boundary then it is up to the President to judge if it was an acceptable course of action. However, the AG's role is not simply to file cases. It is to use his power to determine what is and is not harmful to the Atlasian community and what should or should not be punished.

I agree in general that the AG needs to use discretion while prosecuting to protect the rights of the defendant and to make sure that he is prosecuted according to the law.

Indeed, I agree that the AG has total discretion as to whether any charges are brought...certainly, but I would urge the AG, except in extremely exceptional circumstances, to follow the law as passed by the Atlasian Senate. Having the AG decide himself what is and what is not a good law would be a terrible precedent, in my opinion, especially in circumstances such as these where the guilt is clearly evident.

Once again, I do not believe that Ben acted intentionally...and I'm the first to propose that he receive a very light sentence. The law that was broke does not include a minimum sentence...and that's where I think the AG...and the court...should use their discretion.

[Franzl]

As I mentioned to Ben this morning, I think there is a question of when a ballot becomes a vote. He certainly cast a ballot in the absentee booth, however if his ban expires before ballots are counted, the question remains as to whether he has actually voted before or after the ban is lifted, since the ballots have not yet been counted.

That's actually a valid argument. This has the potential to become an interesting case.

edit: although...personally, I think the time at which the ballot was cast is the deciding factor:

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The language in that legislation leads me to that assumption, especially the part about attempting to vote, as that is clearly before the counting of the vote occurs.