Constitution of the Republic

ARTICLE IV: Judiciary and Due process rights

B) Criminal Due Process

  1. No person may be arrested arbitrarily or without probable cause, or by any agent of the government who is not a judicial or peace officer under the law; the responsible party shall be liable to compensate all persons wrongly or illegally arrested for actual damages.
  2. All persons accused of crimes shall be informed of the crime they are accused of, of the particular circumstances leading to their suspicion of that crime in sufficient detail to be able to answer reasonably, and of their rights at or soon following the time of arrest; and in no case before their interrogation.
  3. All persons have the right to remain silent, and to refuse to answer questions at any interrogation. This shall not in any way be used against the person invoking this right.
  4. No person accused of any crime may be deprived of their right to an appropriate attorney of their choice should they request one, from the moment of arrest until conviction or acquittal and again at appeals. Likewise any person who is deaf or does not speak or understand English has the right to an interpreter in the same situations. No person may waive any right of another except for that person's duly authorized attorney.
  5. Except when the public is highly likely to be in significant danger from the accused, bail must be granted at an appropriate level to insure both the freedom and the return of the defendant.
  6. All persons accused of a crime shall have the right to a fair, impartial trial by jury of members of their own community, in public, with due process of law, as swiftly as can be arranged without impacting fairness. However, all defendants have the right to adequate time, facilities, and legal process to mount a defense.
  7. The prosecutor must prove all elements of the crime in all criminal cases beyond a reasonable doubt by means of witnesses and evidence.
    The general crime of felony under Article III chapter B section 2 (III.B2) shall be chargeable as a lesser included offense in all crimes derived from it except those carrying a sentence less than one year. The maximum sentence for such a charge will be the minimum sentence of the derived crime.
  8. Only relevant evidence which is not hearsay shall be admissible, however, the judiciary shall have the power to create such exceptions to this rule as can be countenanced by fairness.
  9. No evidence obtained in violation of the law or this constitution may be admitted as evidence in any trial.
  10. All persons accused of crimes shall, at trial, have the right to face their accusers in cross-examination, to challenge any evidence presented, and to bring forth witnesses in their own defense.
  11. No person may be forced to bear witness against themself in a criminal trial, and no testimony given in a criminal trial may be used against the witness except to prove perjury, however, discovery shall be reciprocal.
  12. Ignorance of the law shall not be a defense to any crime except for violations of the tax code wherein the provisions are not explained in clear layman's terms applicable to the case, and that no person may be convicted of a crime which has not yet become valid under Article I Section A, chapter 7 (I.A7)
  13. The law shall be applied equally in all cases, varying only by the specific facts and adhering to precedent; only precedent in this republic may be considered except in cases of international law, however, decisions in other nations shall be admissible as evidence of possible interpretation of similar laws on appeal.
  14. In all cases wherein "jury" is used in a judicial context, it refers to a jury of 12, which must return a unanimous verdict or one with no more than one dissent. If there is one dissent on conviction, the defense shall have right of appeal to another jury, which may finally convict or acquit by the same standard with or without a dissent.
  15. In the case of members of the military being tried under military law, the jury shall consist of 12 members of similar rank to the defendant and the judge shall be a member of the military otherwise qualified to be a judge elected to that position by the members of the military. All other protections under this chapter apply equally to members of the military.
  16. In all felony cases sentence shall be an indeterminate range, to be set within the range specified for the crime by statute, set by the judge, or if statute permits, the jury, upon a finding of guilt; with the specific sentence within that range to be determined by the parole board at the time of release. If the sentences possible have changed in the time between the act and sentencing, the range shall be that most favorable to the defendant.
  17. Each restriction imposed at sentencing shall be separately argued and all explicitly given in the final sentence by the trial court, and such sentence shall not be increased over that for any reason.
  18. No person may be executed as sanction for a crime, nor may they be indentured for the cost of their incarceration, nor may they be tortured, nor may any person be punished for the crime of another; nor may any other cruel and/or unusual punishment be imposed.
  19. No person may be deprived of any right under Article I or IV of this constitution as punishment for a crime except those which exempt themselves in the section granting them.
  20. No person may be placed twice in jeopardy of their liberty, money or property for the same crime, nor for multiple crimes committed in the same act unless charged at the same time, nor may any person be imprisoned or detained for any purpose other than one provided by law or in contravention of any other provision of this constitution.
  21. No person imprisoned may be compelled to labor at less than the reasonable wage due a free man, nor to pay more than the reasonable cost of living at the standard provided for him in his prison had he chosen to live at that standard on the outside, nor of the right to accumulate savings during the period of his incarceration.
  22. All prisoners have the right to the strict and unerring protection of the state. To this end, each prisoner shall be furnished with a rulebook, in plain English or if he does not read English in a language he understands, not to exceed 10 pages in length; which shall be strictly and unerringly enforced, and shall contain all regulations placed on prisoners which are not placed on ordinary citizens.
  23. The government shall insure that, consistent with and subordinate to all other provisions of this constitution, fair, adequate, and democratic representation is provided of the prisoners in any matter of taxation, legislation, regulation, or administration germane to their interests as a body, and that they shall be granted self- government to the greatest extent which can be reconciled with their situation and the other provisions of this constitution.
  24. NEWThe government shall provide by law a set of rights not less than these covering the treatment of persons lawfully held by the government who have not been accused of a crime.
Copyright 2000-2001 Jack Durst, Last modified 8/3/2001 10:17PM PDT