[DRAFT] The FREE Act. (Fair, Respectful, and Equitable Engagement Act)

[Vivanco]

In the time I have been in TNP, it is sad that I've seen acts of extorsion and coercion or intimidation in order to obtain political benefits, things that I am not in freedom to say or discuss. If we are to behave and coexist in a proper manner, with respect, instead of simply using the "catch-all crime" of Gross Misconduct regarding a citizen's oath, I'd think it'd be for the best to explicitly lay down the existence of the crime of extorsion in TNP.

The Legal Code, Chapter 1 would be amended as follows:

Section 1.13: Extorsion
27. "Extortion” is defined as the deliberate use of threats, coercion, or intimidation to compel a government official or citizen to surrender intelectual property, political concessions, or any other advantage against their will.
28. For the purposes of clarity, “threats” include any communication—whether posted publicly on the forum, sent via private messages, or delivered through any regional communication channel—that implies harm to personal reputation, position, security, or the stability and integrity of the regional government.

Section 1.14: Coercion
29. “Coercion” is defined as any act intended to manipulate an individual’s decision-making through undue pressure or abuse of power, rather than through free and voluntary choice.
30. The reception of electoral propaganda will not be considered as coercion unless it's done under the lense of malicious intent.

Section 1.15: Gross Misconduct
31. "Gross Misconduct" is defined as the violation of an individual's legally mandated sworn oath, either willfully or through negligence.

Section 1.16: Exceptions
32. Exceptions for treason, espionage or proxying may be given to members of the military and intelligence services with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving regional security.
33. Legitimate political negotiation or bargaining, where both parties engage freely and no coercion or threat is involved, shall not be considered extortion.
34. Any conduct shall only be classified as extortion if it is demonstrated that the actions were intended to force a decision or action contrary to the free will of the targeted party.

The Legal Code, Chapter 2 is amended as follows:

1. Criminal acts may be punished by restrictions on basic rights, in a manner proportionate to the crime at the discretion of the Court unless specified in this chapter.
2. Treason will be punished by ejection and banning, and removal of any basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit.
3. Espionage will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
4. Perjury may be punished by the suspension of voting rights, restriction on standing for election, and/or restriction on serving as a government official for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
5. Evidence Tampering may be punished by the removal from office, suspension of voting rights, and/or restriction on standing for election for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
6. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
7. Proxying may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
8. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
9. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than what would be appropriate for the original crime.
10. Extorsion may be punished by the removal from office, suspension of voting rights for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration if the action is deemed punitive or grave enough by the Court.
11. Coercion may be punished by the removal from office, suspension of voting rights for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
12. Gross Misconduct will be punished by removal from office and the suspension of voting rights for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.

 

[Pallaith]

What exactly inspired you to propose this? You appear to be hinting that something to this effect has taken place and you have witnessed it, but for some reason don’t feel able to speak up about it. That’s a very explosive thing to be hinting about, and I would hope if it’s true that you would bring it forward - we may not have an explicit law against it but we do, as you acknowledged, have gross misconduct.

I’m not generally a fan of enumerating endlessly specific crimes and this narrative that we can’t take action when people in our region do wrong because there isn’t technically a crime to identify. Gross misconduct covers a lot and I don’t think that’s a problem. If people feel gross misconduct should be the worst of the worst, why don’t we come up with a lesser gross misconduct that will cover some of these “smaller” crimes. We might even be able to trim this section down!

Write all the provisions you want, of course, the Court won’t properly respond if it comes to it. I’m sure you would, you are a true blue advocate for justice and you’ve long cared about this area and done your part to better perfect it. But the lawyer game in our criminal trial procedure disincentivizes actually punishing crime, and incentivizes getting them out of trouble through technicalities. We all seem to accept that’s a big fun joke and the whole point of the legal system anyway, so I’m personally more inclined to throw that whole thing out than add new specific crimes to the criminal and penal codes. To say I’m jaded, and lack faith in this region’s criminal justice system is putting it incredibly mildly, and I say that as someone who at this point has been a court justice longer than most others. Our trials are a sham and an international joke, and they deserve to be mocked. If your region marches obvious rule breakers and people who committed crimes through its hallowed halls and they are never actually held accountable and instead get away with it, then you need to rethink some things.

Perhaps @St George might join me in repealing the bulk of the criminal trial procedure, and our esteemed justices could assist in doing the same on their end of things? We ought to clean out useless things, it’s almost time for spring cleaning anyway.

 

[Vivanco]

What exactly inspired you to propose this? You appear to be hinting that something to this effect has taken place and you have witnessed it, but for some reason don’t feel able to speak up about it. That’s a very explosive thing to be hinting about, and I would hope if it’s true that you would bring it forward - we may not have an explicit law against it but we do, as you acknowledged, have gross misconduct.

That's definitely wrong wording on my end, I apologice! I meant as in IRL, and I don't want to see that kind of thing happen here in TNP unpunished.

 

[Antonius Kaizuniviel]

What exactly inspired you to propose this? You appear to be hinting that something to this effect has taken place and you have witnessed it, but for some reason don’t feel able to speak up about it. That’s a very explosive thing to be hinting about, and I would hope if it’s true that you would bring it forward - we may not have an explicit law against it but we do, as you acknowledged, have gross misconduct.

I’m not generally a fan of enumerating endlessly specific crimes and this narrative that we can’t take action when people in our region do wrong because there isn’t technically a crime to identify. Gross misconduct covers a lot and I don’t think that’s a problem. If people feel gross misconduct should be the worst of the worst, why don’t we come up with a lesser gross misconduct that will cover some of these “smaller” crimes. We might even be able to trim this section down!

Write all the provisions you want, of course, the Court won’t properly respond if it comes to it. I’m sure you would, you are a true blue advocate for justice and you’ve long cared about this area and done your part to better perfect it. But the lawyer game in our criminal trial procedure disincentivizes actually punishing crime, and incentivizes getting them out of trouble through technicalities. We all seem to accept that’s a big fun joke and the whole point of the legal system anyway, so I’m personally more inclined to throw that whole thing out than add new specific crimes to the criminal and penal codes. To say I’m jaded, and lack faith in this region’s criminal justice system is putting it incredibly mildly, and I say that as someone who at this point has been a court justice longer than most others. Our trials are a sham and an international joke, and they deserve to be mocked. If your region marches obvious rule breakers and people who committed crimes through its hallowed halls and they are never actually held accountable and instead get away with it, then you need to rethink some things.

Perhaps @St George might join me in repealing the bulk of the criminal trial procedure, and our esteemed justices could assist in doing the same on their end of things? We ought to clean out useless things, it’s almost time for spring cleaning anyway.

I’m just a layperson with regards to the law, but I do wish to know: what is it about the region’s criminal justice system that you think is flawed?

 

[Juba]

You appear to be hinting that something to this effect has taken place ... but for some reason don’t feel able to speak up about it. ... That’s a very explosive thing to be hinting about, and I would hope if it’s true that you would bring it forward - we may not have an explicit law against it but we do, as you acknowledged, have gross misconduct.

But the lawyer game in our criminal trial procedure disincentivizes actually punishing crime, and incentivizes getting them out of trouble through technicalities. We all seem to accept that’s a big fun joke and the whole point of the legal system anyway, so I’m personally more inclined to throw that whole thing out than add new specific crimes to the criminal and penal codes. To say I’m jaded, and lack faith in this region’s criminal justice system is putting it incredibly mildly, and I say that as someone who at this point has been a court justice longer than most others. Our trials are a sham and an international joke, and they deserve to be mocked. If your region marches obvious rule breakers and people who committed crimes through its hallowed halls and they are never actually held accountable and instead get away with it, then you need to rethink some things.

I think the issue posed in your first paragraph is answered by the problems you describe with the Court later in your response @Pallaith. Why would individuals bring a claim when it is pretty apparent pursuing such an accusation in the Court is likely to be procedurally time-consuming and almost certainly result in little consequence to the offender?

I experienced just the kind of extortion and/or coercion over election posts I made that Vivanco notes above. I looked at the Court and decided it wasn't worth pursuing, and if Vivanco and myself have seen this kind of behavior, I venture to guess we're not the only ones.