Constitution of the Republic

ARTICLE I: Declaration of rights

Neither law nor amendment shall be made infringing upon the personal freedoms of the people.

A) Rights of Expression

  1. All persons shall have the right to their opinion on all matters and the freedom to express that opinion in any medium by any means. The government may not in any way abridge the freedom of speech.
  2. No person may be restricted in their right to speak in an appropriate public forum, nor of their right to publish or broadcast any matter excepting knowingly false libel and secrets vital to the security of the republic.
  3. No person may be denied their right to assemble peaceably and petition the government for redress of wrongs, nor of their right to organize against the existing order. In the context of petitions, x% petition shall be shorthand for
    "A petition having been signed by X percent of the number of (specified) persons voting in the last election"
  4. No one may be deprived of any right or privilege guaranteed by this constitution or by law, or may be imprisoned due to their political beliefs or their exercise of any other right.
  5. The government shall make available records of all proceedings and internal activities in a manner not inconsistent with the security of the republic or the right of privacy of individuals.
    All meetings of consensus committees, the Council or Parlaiment at which there is a vote shall be public and open to the press.
    All government documents shall be declassified and made available upon the request of any citizen as soon as would not jeopardize the security of the republic, ongoing criminal investigations, or the privacy rights of living individuals.
    All intellectual property created or owned by the government shall be made available to all citizens of the republic under a general public licensee.
    No law may be valid which is not codified and publicly available from the usual sources of law; all laws shall contain a reference to the point in the code at which they are to be inserted.
  6. No vote, statement or speech in the normal course of official debate or deliberation of a member of the Council, Parlaiment, the supreme court, Board of Selectors, or any consensus committee, nor the result and deliberation of any jury, may be used against them in any criminal or civil proceeding, or be the source of any government sanction, impeachments excluded. Members shall be immune from arrest for all crimes except felonies during the session.
  7. No person may be denied their right to speak to members of the press except to the extent that the security of the republic and the privacy rights of individuals require it.
  8. No media outlet in this republic may be owned in whole or in part by the government, with the exception of a single printing office for the printing of laws and records, nor may any one person have a majority interest unless they own it outright, nor may any corporation except one created for the sole purpose of owning media outlets be a shareholder of a media outlet. For purposes of this section, "media outlet" shall not include:
    1. Common carrier services
    2. Management or provision of public fora, provided that their content is not regulated in any way by the government or the corporation managing
    3. Publication of public records, government reports, or where otherwise required by this constitution
    4. Instructional materials and distance education services
    Members of government may represent their positions to the media in any way not otherwise prohibited by statute or by this constitution.
  9. The government shall never in any way interfere with the academic freedom of any institution of higher education, public or private, in the republic except to the extent that it may require certain courses for license to practice some professions, may require that civics and/or political science classes be taught, and shall, by law, insure the requirement that all human experimental subjects give informed consent.
Copyright 2000 Jack Durst, Last updated 7/30/2000 8:36PM PDT