Byardkuria
TNPer
It is with mixed feelings that I announce that as of January 31, 2007, I will be retiring from the post of Chief Justice of the North Pacific. I will have served a full year in the post, and feel it is time for a new face at the helm of the Judicial system. As well, my retirement will give me the opportunity to focus on some different projects, including the University and various other areas devoted to the continuation of the region and tradition we have built.
There is a tradition of using one's retirement speech as a bully pulpit, and, if you will forgive an old man his indulgences, I would like to make a short statement on the state our legal system. There is one major problem with democracy - it ends up giving the people the system they ask for. Our legal system was founded after a period of capricious and callous rule, both legal and political. In the design of the system, it was foremost in the mind of the Framers that the rights of the individual be preserved at all costs. In short, the Constitution is not designed as a document explaining how the Government shall be formed - its chief role is designating what the Government may not do to its people, and, in the cases of those more unpleasant duties the Government must discharge, exactly how they should be discharged. What many people decry as "bloating" and "convolution" in the Constitution are simply attempts to seal those chinks through which injustice and tyranny can seep into the home we have built. There is a great movement to simplify; how many of you are willing to simplify at the cost of your liberties? Is a speedy trial more important than a fair and regulated one? Would you rather spend one more week before a trial goes underway, or let one person decide whether you are guilty or innocent? What if that one person does not espouse your ideals? What if you are called to be that one person? Every time I answer a motion, I am looking to the future - what kind of precedent will this action set? Will this erode the region? How can I turn someone loose when the region is calling for their head? Am I doing what is easy, what is right, or what is just? This is the question we, as a region, must answer in these days.
Many democracies have been created in Nationstates. How many will be maintained when the new wears off? The honeymoon is over, and our democracy is wandering around in its boxers with a bag of chips. Would we be so quick to divorce it?
Many people run for office for fun, many do it out of a sense of duty. I found both during my tenure, and I thank all of you for your confidence in my abilities. I can only hope that I fulfilled your expectations, and that the sense of justice I attempted to foster will continue to grow in my absence. Thank you.
There is a tradition of using one's retirement speech as a bully pulpit, and, if you will forgive an old man his indulgences, I would like to make a short statement on the state our legal system. There is one major problem with democracy - it ends up giving the people the system they ask for. Our legal system was founded after a period of capricious and callous rule, both legal and political. In the design of the system, it was foremost in the mind of the Framers that the rights of the individual be preserved at all costs. In short, the Constitution is not designed as a document explaining how the Government shall be formed - its chief role is designating what the Government may not do to its people, and, in the cases of those more unpleasant duties the Government must discharge, exactly how they should be discharged. What many people decry as "bloating" and "convolution" in the Constitution are simply attempts to seal those chinks through which injustice and tyranny can seep into the home we have built. There is a great movement to simplify; how many of you are willing to simplify at the cost of your liberties? Is a speedy trial more important than a fair and regulated one? Would you rather spend one more week before a trial goes underway, or let one person decide whether you are guilty or innocent? What if that one person does not espouse your ideals? What if you are called to be that one person? Every time I answer a motion, I am looking to the future - what kind of precedent will this action set? Will this erode the region? How can I turn someone loose when the region is calling for their head? Am I doing what is easy, what is right, or what is just? This is the question we, as a region, must answer in these days.
Many democracies have been created in Nationstates. How many will be maintained when the new wears off? The honeymoon is over, and our democracy is wandering around in its boxers with a bag of chips. Would we be so quick to divorce it?
Many people run for office for fun, many do it out of a sense of duty. I found both during my tenure, and I thank all of you for your confidence in my abilities. I can only hope that I fulfilled your expectations, and that the sense of justice I attempted to foster will continue to grow in my absence. Thank you.
), I will miss having you at the helm of the court with great remorse.
