Zombie Preparedness Act

Zombie Preparedness Act:

1. A new section shall be appended to Chapter 6 of the Legal Code entitled Section 6.8: Disease Control
2. The new section shall have seven clauses, reading as follows:

• A NationStates event involving an outbreak of an infectious disease shall be considered an actual emergency under clause 11 of the Bill of Rights for all nations of The North Pacific.
• In advance of an outbreak, or promptly after an outbreak begins, the government shall present a poll to the public regarding how the government should respond. The poll must contain at least three substantially different options. The government will respond according to the will of the public expressed through that poll.
• During an outbreak, the delegate is authorized to act in any reasonable manner to pursue the adopted plan. This includes, but is not limited to, ejecting or banning nations from the region who have entered the region during the crisis and imposing restrictions on national movement into the region.
• Nations ejected or banned because of the outbreak must be promptly unbanned and invited to return once the emergency is over.
• During an outbreak, no nation may have their status as a citizen or Regional Assembly member removed solely for leaving the region, so long as they return within three days of the end of the emergency.
• Following an outbreak, the Speaker must promptly contact any citizen or Regional Assembly member who remains outside the region, and inform them that they are at risk of losing their status if they do not return within three days.

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This bill was written in collaboration with SillyString.

Zombies are coming, and we need to be ready for them.

There is a seasonal epidemic in NationStates that comes up on Halloween. The disease is...horrific. Without getting into details, each individual nation has the option to help in the effort to find a cure, kill infected citizens to prevent further spread, or actively spread the disease.

Naturally, this seasonal outbreak is an emergency situation, and as such, invokes clause 11 of the Bill of Rights:

TNP Bill of Rights:

In the event of an actual emergency, the governmental authorities of the region, with the express consent of the Nations of the region or their representatives, is authorized to act in any reasonable manner that is consistent as practicable with the pertinent provisions of the Constitution.

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Bolding is mine. In order to grant emergency powers to our government to combat the outbreak, the express consent of the nations or their representatives (the RA) is necessary. This bill is the RA's way of granting express consent to take emergency actions.

The first clause of the bill defines an outbreak as an actual emergency for purposes of clause 11, and essentially provides the rationale for the rest of the bill.

The second clause defines the goal of the regional government: to preserve the public health of the region. This means that the emergency powers we are granting to the government could not be used to actively spread the disease.

The third clause empowers the delegate to act in "a reasonable manner" to pursue that goal. The "reasonable manner" language mirrors clause 11 of the Bill of Rights, so that this bill explicitly cannot be interpreted to expand power beyond what is allowed in emergencies by the bill of rights. It defines ejections, bannings, and border controls as reasonable, so long as those actions are taken in order to protect the health of the region.

The fourth clause requires nations that were ejected or banned because of the outbreak to be unbanned and invited to return after the outbreak is over. We certainly wouldn't want to lose nations because of a game-wide halloween event. We want ejected nations to return, and permanent bans for spreading the disease would be entirely inappropriate.

The fifth and sixth clauses provides some protection for nations that wish to leave the region during the outbreak, perhaps to do humanitarian work abroad, or to flee the region if it becomes overrun - that is to say, if the virus becomes too widespread. >_> Anyway, if nations are only leaving temporarily to participate in the game-wide halloween event, and they return in a reasonable period of time (the bill says three days) then there's no reason for them to lose their status as a citizen or an RA member. The bill provides those nations a three day grace period to return, and requires the speaker to contact them about their status before that three day grace period is over.

The passage of this bill will enable the government to effectively combat the disease without overstepping their constitutional authority. We must pass it without delay for it to take effect before this year's strain of the infection rises.

I do not see a roleplay zombie invasion, that we all know will end in a day or two, can be described as an actual emergency.

I am unwilling to extend the delegate's right to ban without due process.

flemingovia:

I do not see a roleplay zombie invasion, that we all know will end in a day or two, can be described as an actual emergency.

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Yes, this. It is my sovereign right to manage my nation as I see fit without influence from the dang government. Export2014!

I do see the zombie invasion as a global emergency. I think the Delegate should have the right to use whatever means is at his disposal to successfully preserve the lives of TNP nations. If it means ejecting a few troublemakers, so be it.

I would like to see the wording of the proposal changed from "An outbreak of an infectious disease" to "A Nationstates Zombie Invasion event." A more narrow definition of what constitutes an emergency is needed to prevent some weirdly creative minds from using the law in a manner not intended.

Democratic Donkeys:

flemingovia:

I do not see a roleplay zombie invasion, that we all know will end in a day or two, can be described as an actual emergency.

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Yes, this. It is my sovereign right to manage my nation as I see fit without influence from the dang government. Export2014!

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Zombie policy is not a domestic matter, because the choices of individual nations affect the public health of other nations in the region.

Great Bights Mum:

I do see the zombie invasion as a global emergency. I think the Delegate should have the right to use whatever means is at his disposal to successfully preserve the lives of TNP nations. If it means ejecting a few troublemakers, so be it.

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That's the spirit!

Great Bights Mum:

I would like to see the wording of the proposal changed from "An outbreak of an infectious disease" to "A Nationstates Zombie Invasion event." A more narrow definition of what constitutes an emergency is needed to prevent some weirdly creative minds from using the law in a manner not intended.

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Hmmm, this is a possibility, I suppose, but I would hate for a minor tweak in the game event (such as switching from zombies to some other horror) to require us to change our laws before being able to respond to it.

I agree with GBM; I'm not sure we want to adopt broadly worded legislation without some prior observation and testing of a more narrow proposal. Zombies are one thing, infectious diseases are something else.

Hypothetically, why would we not want to adopt a similar policy for other forms of infectious disease? I don't think that committing the government to the preservation of public health could ever be interpreted as a bad thing.

Over the years we have seen a gradual but insidious erosion of individual nations rights intnp, and an extension of delegates executive powers.

I see this as furthering that trend.

You know what it is like with the powerful; give. The an inch and they take a mile.

Crushing Our Enemies:

Hypothetically, why would we not want to adopt a similar policy for other forms of infectious disease? I don't think that committing the government to the preservation of public health could ever be interpreted as a bad thing.

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I was thinking more along the lines of an "infectious disease" that originated with the delegate or some other entity, rather than a game-generated one.

Hmm, I see. Yeah, that could be a bad thing. But I still think "A NationStates Zombie invasion event" is too specific. Perhaps "A NationStates-wide outbreak of an infectious disease" would be sufficient. I think it's pretty obvious that a non-game-generated outbreak would not fall under this section, and if the delegate tried to use this section to justify random or targeted bans and ejections, no one would fall for it.

Crushing Our Enemies:

Hmm, I see. Yeah, that could be a bad thing. But I still think "A NationStates Zombie invasion event" is too specific. Perhaps "A NationStates-wide outbreak of an infectious disease" would be sufficient. I think it's pretty obvious that a non-game-generated outbreak would not fall under this section, and if the delegate tried to use this section to justify random or targeted bans and ejections, no one would fall for it.

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This is reasonable and necessary, but I feel that there should be in place some kind of approval system. I can't tell momentarily what that might be — perhaps something as simple as SC members being able to veto an ejection after it occurs, or a limit on the circumstances the Delegate can eject infected nations under.

There's already a limit on the circumstances the delegate can eject under: it has to be to preserve the public health.

flemingovia:

Over the years we have seen a gradual but insidious erosion of individual nations rights intnp, and an extension of delegates executive powers.

I see this as furthering that trend.

You know what it is like with the powerful; give. The an inch and they take a mile.

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I think it has been going in the opposite direction, to be quite honest.

I am against this bill for a number of reasons:

1) I think that some members of the region are taking the Zombie day event too seriously. The Bill of Rights can be used to deal with this matter, if it is taken to court, then the court would likely rule that the power of the Delegate to eject in this case would be sufficient. I would prefer that we leave the handling of the Zombie Day within the discretion of the Delegate. It is the only day of the year where this can happen and I think that it can reasonably be allowed to occur.

2) I see no reason why banning is necessary given that the borders can be closed immediately.

3) I dislike the fact that citizenship removals will not take place because of a halloween event. If you move your main nation out, your citizenship should be removed.

4) We should allow the Delegate to determine the course we will take on a Zombie Day (or for him/her to have no involvement in it and to simply let chaos ensue). At some point in the future, we may wish to see how many infected people we can get, or allow a civil war between members of the region. I think the possibilities are endless and to tie ourselves to researching for a cure seems unnecessary.

tl;dr I am not going to support this. We can allow the Delegate to handle this matter using his own discretion.

Edit: If we are to pass something I would prefer that reference to bannings be removed. That we expand the reference to Zombie Day as a whole and not to simply protecting the public health (to give the Delegate more discretion over the regions policy or lack thereof).

I'm with Flem and McM on this one. Z-day is supposed to be fun, and it brings a lot of people to the RMB. Calling this an actual emergency is laughable imo. If you want to RP that idea, then enjoy. Against.

mcmasterdonia:

1) I think that some members of the region are taking the Zombie day event too seriously. The Bill of Rights can be used to deal with this matter, if it is taken to court, then the court would likely rule that the power of the Delegate to eject in this case would be sufficient. I would prefer that we leave the handling of the Zombie Day within the discretion of the Delegate.

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The bill of rights requires the express consent of the nations or their representatives. Without express consent, the government remains limited to the letter of the constitution. What you are suggesting is illegal.

mcmasterdonia:

2) I see no reason why banning is necessary given that the borders can be closed immediately.

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There are plenty of reasons to leave the borders open - for example, if nations leave to provide humanitarian assistance to other regions, the delegate might decide they should be let back in. Exporters who enter the region could simply be banned before each click. In addition, we should consider that downsides to closing the borders might be implemented in future iterations of the event, and leave our options open.

mcmasterdonia:

3) I dislike the fact that citizenship removals will not take place because of a halloween event. If you move your main nation out, your citizenship should be removed.

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I can't disagree with this enough. We should impose legal penalties on players who just want to participate fully in the game-wide event. Given that we require them to return in a very reasonable time-frame, I don't see the harm here.

mcmasterdonia:

4) We should allow the Delegate to determine the course we will take on a Zombie Day (or for him/her to have no involvement in it and to simply let chaos ensue). At some point in the future, we may wish to see how many infected people we can get, or allow a civil war between members of the region. I think the possibilities are endless and to tie ourselves to researching for a cure seems unnecessary.

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I think it would be inappropriate for the government to take any course of action that endangered the public health of the region. We are a democratic region, and have an obligation to the nations of The North Pacific. We must not allow them to fall to the horde.

falapatorius:

I'm with Flem and McM on this one. Z-day is supposed to be fun, and it brings a lot of people to the RMB. Calling this an actual emergency is laughable imo. If you want to RP that idea, then enjoy. Against.

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OOC: Do you not understand that this bill is the government playing along? The RA giving emergency powers to the delegate to protect the region during zombie day is a way for the government community to connect with the game-side community. There's always an element of role-play to our legislation. This is just a little bit more RP than most of our laws, and, unlike most of our laws, actually has an in-game effect!

mcmasterdonia:

1) I think that some members of the region are taking the Zombie day event too seriously.

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Uh, yeah?

This seems like a serious legislative change for a triviality. I repeat that it is my right to govern my nation as I see fit, and this stupid zombie game has absolutely NO IMPACT on other nations to the point where it could be considered an emergency situation. If I want to export zombies to other nations and alter some gimmick stats what does that actually matter to the governance and continued existence of this region?

flemingovia:

I do not see a roleplay zombie invasion, that we all know will end in a day or two, can be described as an actual emergency.

I am unwilling to extend the delegate's right to ban without due process.

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Hear, hear.

And besides, if we ejected Zombies there would be no one to vote "Abstain" in the RA and elections.


This is a truly silly bill of epic silliness.

Roman:

And besides, if we ejected Zombies there would be no one to vote "Abstain" in the RA and elections.

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Huh? I thought it was the Aye votes to any IRCabal proposal that qualified as Zombism.

COE:

OOC: Do you not understand that this bill is the government playing along? The RA giving emergency powers to the delegate to protect the region during zombie day is a way for the government community to connect with the game-side community. There's always an element of role-play to our legislation. This is just a little bit more RP than most of our laws, and, unlike most of our laws, actually has an in-game effect!

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Hey, if you want to RP that... go nuts. No legislation is required. Use the WFE or whatever. I can't see the point of drafting legislation for one day of the year. Particularly with the banning language (RP or not) included.

falapatorius:

COE:

OOC: Do you not understand that this bill is the government playing along? The RA giving emergency powers to the delegate to protect the region during zombie day is a way for the government community to connect with the game-side community. There's always an element of role-play to our legislation. This is just a little bit more RP than most of our laws, and, unlike most of our laws, actually has an in-game effect!

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Hey, if you want to RP that... go nuts. No legislation is required. Use the WFE or whatever. I can't see the point of drafting legislation for one day of the year. Particularly with the banning language (RP or not) included.

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I don't have the power to devote the government to the protection of public health, or to prevent people who leave the region to go cure somewhere else from being removed from the RA. Nor can I ensure that nations which are ejected or banned during the zombie event are unbanned and invited to return. We need legislation if we want to require the government to do that. It's not up to me to RP this - this is a proposed law. I don't see why you mentioned the WFE - I can't edit the WFE because I am not the delegate O_o

Guys, the point of this proposal is to make zombie day *more* fun.

I do not believe in mummy and daddy gubment.

Zombies arent real. Crazy conspiracy theorists put more tin foil on your hat and go back to your generic Zombie shows on your tellie.

I do not support this legislation. This is a broad over reach of government drafted by some crack pot doomsday preppers.

You...joined NationStates after last Halloween, didn't you?

Crushing Our Enemies:

Guys, the point of this proposal is to make zombie day *more* fun.

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Aye - more fun all around, by protecting the government's ability to get involved in a constructive way, explicitly granting the delegate the power to temporarily eject and ban in the name of the cause, and encouraging people to participate to the best of their ability.

If anyone here doesn't believe that there are a whole heap of nations who will take this event very seriously, and who will flee for safer places when finding that the whole of TNP is overrun by zombies, then you are dreadfully unfamiliar with the general public. A lot of players will care very much - maybe because they take national RP seriously, as some people do (a strange concept to those of us weary of issues, but a very common mindset), or maybe because they're new, don't know much about how the game or the event works, and don't realize the deaths are temporary. Maybe they like to statwank, and want to be able to show off a saved population with 0 deaths. Maybe their goal is to be cured elsewhere and then return to TNP to help promote the cure (because of the mechanics of this event, this has the potential to be a worthwhile strategy). There are any number of reasons why people might choose to leave the region during this event, none of them related to their desire to be TNPers, TNP residents, citizens, RA members, or government officials. In my opinion, it would be dreadfully callous and elitist to not recognize the validity of multiple playstyles. This is a two-day event - we're not talking about letting people leave the region voluntarily any time for any reason. Players should not be forced to give up elements of the game that they care about, or full participation in a temporary, once-a-year event, just because we govern offsite.

I additionally share COE's concerns quite strongly that in the absence of any formal RA consent, any attempt by the delegate to actually exercise any emergency actions via the ejection or banning of TNP residents would potentially constitute enormous violations of the constitution and of the bill of rights. The emergency clause specifically restricts usage to cases that have been consented to by the region's representatives - the RA - and the bill of rights additionally explicitly revokes the delegate's power to eject or ban except as expressly authorized within the legal code. Failing any legal code authorization, failing any consent to an emergency declaration, the government is legally paralyzed.

The thing that causes alarm in this situation is that the delegate intends to ban people during this event. Either this event is a genuine emergency, in which case RA consent to that fact and explicit assignment of emergency powers is important to keep in alignment with the constitution and bill of rights, or it is not a genuine emergency, and the delegate's stated intention to eject and ban is a direct threat of criminal action.

It is one or the other - it cannot be both. And I am disturbed that, regardless of whether you agree with this legislation or not, this glaring contradiction seems to have been given no serious thought.

So the real question to everyone is this: In your opinion, will the delegate be acting appropriately when he bans TNP residents, citizens, RA members, and government officials from the region? If so, why not enshrine that in legislation to ensure no confusion? And if not, why the hell aren't you raising a riot about the delegate's intentions?

Yeah.

OOC: I understand this is some RP element - I was trying to Role play opposite of my normal "truther" inclinations and insinuate people who are fearful of zombies are conspiracy theorists + RP a limted government involvement roll.

IC: yes, and your point?

COE:

I can't edit the WFE because I am not the delegate O_o

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I know that. But since there's been some activity in the Delegate's Forum (Zombie preparedness) regarding this subject, I presumed the delegate was aware of what you're proposing. My apologies if I presumed incorrectly. You could ask r3n if you can alter the WFE.

Silly:

I additionally share COE's concerns quite strongly that in the absence of any formal RA consent, any attempt by the delegate to actually exercise any emergency actions via the ejection or banning of TNP residents would potentially constitute enormous violations of the constitution and of the bill of rights.

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Delegate constraints are not lifted during Z-day. It's an outside event. There's no state of emergency. I was present at last year's Z-day. It was quite fun, and devoid of any emergency actions (as far as I know).

I don't remember exactly, but I think I ejected/banned a grand total of around 5 people. None of those nations were natives as I recall, but nations that were created just to spread the zombie curse. I recall that Mall was very excited.

8. No Nation shall be ejected from the region, or banned from any forum, except as expressly authorized by the Constitution or the Legal Code.

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Whether or not you consider those nations "natives" doesn't actually have any bearing on the law.

Mall's excitement notwithstanding (we know how purges affect him.. heh), you have provided evidence for retroactive (and future) recall, according to this proposal. Damn you..

SillyString:

The thing that causes alarm in this situation is that the delegate intends to ban people during this event. Either this event is a genuine emergency, in which case RA consent to that fact and explicit assignment of emergency powers is important to keep in alignment with the constitution and bill of rights, or it is not a genuine emergency, and the delegate's stated intention to eject and ban is a direct threat of criminal action.

It is one or the other - it cannot be both. And I am disturbed that, regardless of whether you agree with this legislation or not, this glaring contradiction seems to have been given no serious thought.

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Please do not assume that because people reach a different conclusion to you that they have not thought about the issue.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but at the end of zombie day, everything goes back to normal, yes? My nation loses no population, influence, etc? My political alignment remains the same? To all intents and purposes, it did not happen.

So no, I would not define the day as a "genuine" emergency, under the constitutional definition of the term. It is a pretend one. An "emergency" is something that threatens the government to the point where national rights can be suspended. Raiders piling into the region with the intent of toppling the delegacy - that is a real emergency.

This legislation extends the powers of the executive and broadens the scope of the exception clause in BOR 11 into a whole new sphere of Nationstates activity.

Yes, I have thought about it. And No, I do not want to go down this path. In particular I do not want to rush legislation through without proper consideration which has a profound effect on our rights under the BOR and on our legal code.

And let us not forget that our current Attorney General was elected through the vote of a zombie. Not all zombie activity is bad.

Since the dead apparently have the right to vote, shouldn't they have other rights too?

flemingovia:

Please do not assume that because people reach a different conclusion to you that they have not thought about the issue.

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There is a reason you are my God...

I find it disturbing that the proposer of this bill insinuated I would be ejected from the region and lose my endorsements were I not to act in accordance with the people who are currently rabidly supporting this proposal. As a member of thr Security Council who has spent a lot of time accruing and maintaining a high endorsement count it is ridiculous to me that my work for the security of this region would be so casually discarded for the sake of a one day event.

flemingovia:

And let us not forget that our current Attorney General was elected through the vote of a zombie. Not all zombie activity is bad.

Since the dead apparently have the right to vote, shouldn't they have other rights too?

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Should I be considered a RL American Democrat then? Seeing as dead peiple are always voting for the Democratic party in the States then, maybe I should found the TNP Democratic Party? (A mixture of IC and OOC)

falapatorius:

Roman:

And besides, if we ejected Zombies there would be no one to vote "Abstain" in the RA and elections.

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Huh? I thought it was the Aye votes to any IRCabal proposal that qualified as Zombism.

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My definition of the IRCabal: It's a big club and you ain't in it!

PaulWallLibertarian42:

flemingovia:

And let us not forget that our current Attorney General was elected through the vote of a zombie. Not all zombie activity is bad.

Since the dead apparently have the right to vote, shouldn't they have other rights too?

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Should I be considered a RL American Democrat then? Seeing as dead peiple are always voting for the Democratic party in the States then, maybe I should found the TNP Democratic Party? (A mixture of IC and OOC)

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Speaking of Zombies and Democrats:

I also do not support this bill.
First of all, this is only a 1-2 day event, and there is no reason for the Delegate to eject anyone in my opinion. Personally, I would not want to be ejected even if my population was suffering through the event. Even if I was to come back in 3 days, I still would not want to lose my Influence in this region and I consider myself a native citizen of TNP, something that I would not want to lose just because of a 1-day event. The reason for this event is to have fun, not to eject players just so that we would do well in the event.
Instead, I believe that goal can be achieved through careful research of the event, which the Cultural Ministry is doing, and co-operation on the RMB.

Thank you,

~ Tomb

The Democratic Republic of Tomb:

I also do not support this bill.
First of all, this is only a 1-2 day event, and there is no reason for the Delegate to eject anyone in my opinion. Personally, I would not want to be ejected even if my population was suffering through the event. Even if I was to come back in 3 days, I still would not want to lose my Influence in this region and I consider myself a native citizen of TNP, something that I would not want to lose just because of a 1-day event. The reason for this event is to have fun, not to eject players just so that we would do well in the event.
Instead, I believe that goal can be achieved through careful research of the event, which the Cultural Ministry is doing, and co-operation on the RMB.

Thank you,

~ Tomb

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yes, I agree

Flem, you're demonstrating exactly my point.

You don't think this is an emergency, and you don't think legislation is appropriate - but you also don't seem concerned about the prospect of the delegate banning nations during this event. If I am misreading you then that is my mistake, but you do not appear concerned.

I still think people should not lose their citizenship or RA membership if they wish to fully participate in this event. Would there be support for removing the provisions for banning, ejection, and regional passwording, and simply protecting peoples' freedom to participate?

Well, I can see which way the wind is blowing here.

Can we move this to the private hall? If it is public knowledge that the delegate won't be allowed to eject nations who are actively working to infect the very nations we are trying to cure, that's just an invitation for disaster. We ought not be broadcasting that, unlike 90% of active regions, we will not be using ejection as one of the tools in our arsenal. At least the delegate can still use the threat of ejection - or is that, too, objectionable as a BoFR violation?

Silly string, yes - you are misreading my position. Let me take your points in order:

You don't think this is an emergency,

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Correct.

and you don't think legislation is appropriate -

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Sort of correct. I do not think this legislation is appropriate. I am not ruling out the possibility that someone will come up with legislation around the Zombie Day that I would support.

but you also don't seem concerned about the prospect of the delegate banning nations during this event.

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Totally wrong.

When nations prove a genuine threat, I support robust action from the delegate. In fact, I have been more hawkish than some people here in advocating banning threats. But that is for genuine threats to the security of the region. This does not qualify.

The delegate can always eject and ban. Nothing can stop them. And should, during the Zombie Day, nations choose to enter into the spirit of the thing and not complain, then fair do's.

But nations have the protection of the Bill of Rights, and should they choose to complain, then the legal sanctions that protect nations against abuse by the delegacy ought to apply.

For myself, if the delegate banned me in the course of some roleplay bit of halloween fun, I would expect the full protection of the law. So my concern is not simply over the banning as over the removal of legal protection from abuse.

I hope my position is clearer to you now.

Did we have this last year? I know we definitely discussed it, but I can't remember if we actually passed something.

We worked out fine last year. Even if I lost a load of sleep.