Revised Constitution-first draft

Since writing this document, I have revised my thoughts on some of the specific ideas. I will revise this page as soon as I can. Until then, please view this as an early rough draft. To read and/or participate in the discussion that has shaped some of these changes, please go to the link in my blogroll for the Real Democracy Yahoo Group.

The Constitution of the Federated Communities of America

We the people of these American Communities, in order that by self-government we may better develop an ideal federation, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, establish this Constitution of the Federated Communities of America.

Article I

Section 1

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in the People of the Federated Communities of America through a process of graduated Assemblies.

Areas that were considered parts of states under the United States government, as well as the District of Columbia and other territories of the United States shall all now be considered equal Communities under this new Constitution.

Section 2

All initiation of federal legislation, as well as final ratification thereof, shall be done exclusively in the Community Assemblies.

Community Assemblies shall consist of not more than one thousand eligible participants, the actual target number of which shall be variable, based upon the overall federal population of eligible adult participants as described hereafter in Section 3 of this Article. These Assemblies shall gather twice per year for new business, as often as once per week, as many as four consecutive weeks, or until the session’s new business is concluded. These new business sessions shall be held within the first four weeks of Spring, and the first four weeks of Autumn.

The meeting days of the Community Assemblies shall be considered National Holidays for persons residing in that Community. Adjacent Communities shall stagger their Assembly days so that commerce may continue uninterrupted.

The Community Assemblies shall require a simple majority to move a bill forward to a District Assembly.

Any bill which passes the Community Assembly by 2/3 but does not pass in the District Assembly shall become law in that Community, so long as that law is deemed Constitutional and not in conflict with any other federal, regional, or district statutes.

Before adjourning, each Community Assembly shall elect four delegates and two alternates to attend their District Assemblies. Delegates chosen may not serve again in that capacity for the following three sessions. District Assemblies shall consist of the elected delegates of a number of Communities determined from the overall population according to the formula outlined in Section 3 of this Article.

Communities may petition to change from one District to another, and granted or denied permission to do so by the Communities of that District. A District that has fewer Communities than 5% less than the established norm, according to Article I, Section 3, must admit a petitioning Community into the District.

2. A.

After a one week legislative break to allow for preparation and travel, District Assemblies shall meet in the sixth, seventh and eighth weeks of Spring and Autumn.

District Assemblies shall bring forth all the proposed legislation of the various Communities within that District. Delegates will discuss each bill and vote whether or not to recommend it to the Regional Assembly.

The District Assemblies shall require a supermajority (2/3) to move a bill forward to a Regional Assembly. Any bill which passes the District Assembly by 2/3 but does not pass in the Regional Assembly shall be put on the ballot for members of that District, and if it should pass that referendum, shall become law in that District, so long as that law is deemed Constitutional and not in conflict with any other federal, regional, or community statutes.

Before adjourning, each District Assembly shall elect ten delegates and two alternates to attend their Regional Assembly. Regional Assemblies shall consist of a number of Districts determined from the overall population according to the formula outlined in Section 3 of this Article.

Districts may petition to change from one Region to another, and granted or denied permission to do so by the Districts of that Region. A Region that has fewer Districts than 5% less than the established norm, according to Article I, Section 3, must admit a petitioning District into the Region.

2. B.

After a one week legislative break to allow for preparation and travel, Regional Assemblies shall meet in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth weeks of Spring and Autumn.

Regional Assemblies shall bring forth all the proposed legislation of the various Districts within that Region. Delegates will discuss each bill and vote whether or not to recommend it to the Federal Assembly.

The Regional Assemblies shall require a supermajority (2/3) to move a bill forward to the Federal Assembly. Any bill which passes the Regional Assembly by 2/3 but does not pass in the Federal Assembly shall be put on the ballot for members of that Region, and if it should pass that referendum, shall become law in that Region, so long as that law is deemed Constitutional and not in conflict with any other federal, district, or community statutes.

Before adjourning, each Regional Assembly shall elect ten delegates and two alternates to attend the Federal Assembly.

2. C.

After a one week legislative break to allow for preparation and travel, the Federal Assembly shall meet in the first three weeks of Summer and Winter.

The Federal Assembly shall consist of all the elected Delegates of all Regional Assemblies of the United States. It shall bring forth all the proposed legislation of the various Regional Assemblies. The Delegates of the Federal Assembly shall discuss each bill and attempt to reach Consensus on whether or not to recommend it to the Community Assemblies for ratification. Failing Consensus, a bill will require approval of 2/3 of the Assembly to recommend it for ratification.

2. D.

Delegates elected to the District, Regional, and Federal Assemblies shall be exempted from their regular employment without fear of loss of position or employment, or other retribution.

District, Regional, and Federal Assemblies shall meet on consecutive days for up to three weeks each, or until all business is concluded.

2. E.

After the Federal Assembly has adjourned, there will be a three week break so that all citizens may prepare for ratification proceedings of all recommended legislation to the Community Assemblies.

Community Assemblies for debate proposed legislation from the Federal Assembly for Ratification will meet in the seventh, eighth, and ninth weeks of Summer and Winter for one day per week for discussion and debate over the various bills to be considered. During this time, no votes shall be taken. No amendments to the bills may be made.

In the tenth week of Summer and Winter, ballots may be cast at the site of the Community Assemblies for or against each bill. Polls shall remain open the entire week, from Monday at midnight until Sunday at midnight. Ballots shall not be counted until all polls have closed.

If it is determined that e-voting can be done securely from remote locations, this shall be allowed.

A bill shall become law if it shall receive BOTH a majority of the general popular vote, AND EITHER a supermajority (2/3) in a majority (50%+1) of Communities, or a majority in a supermajority of Communities. This shall be the rules for ratification at the District, Region, and Federal levels, according to how far the bill may have progressed through the Assemblies.

Section 3

For determining the number of Assemblies, at each half-decade, a Census shall determine the overall population. The total number of adults (18 years of age or older) who are eligible participants shall be divided by four, then the fourth root of that number shall be the target number of Communities per District, Districts per Region and total number of Regions represented at the Federal Assembly, and four times that number shall be the target number of participants per Community. The numbers thus derived may be altered by as much as 5% in either direction to allow for geographical differences, shared interests, and voluntary changes of participation by the various bodies.

If the eligible adult participant population shall reach more than 12 billion, 880 million, then that number shall be divided by three instead of four, and consequently, each Assembly shall thereafter send three Delegates instead of four to the next larger area Assembly.

If the eligible adult participant population shall reach more than 30 billion, 530 million, then that number shall be divided by two instead of three, and consequently, each Assembly shall thereafter send two Delegates instead of three to the next larger area Assembly.

Section 4

Each Assembly shall keep a journal of its proceedings, published annually, and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.

All Assemblies shall meet in a standard, predetermined place known to all members, and shall not be moved, except by Consensus of the body, or by reason of emergency.

Section 5

The Delegates chosen to serve at District, Regional, and Federal Assemblies shall have travel expenses to the Assemblies paid, and receive compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the federal treasury.

Article II

Section 1

The executive power shall be vested in an Executive Council.

One legislative half-year cycle every four years shall be dedicated to the electoral process for choosing the Executive Council.

The Executive Council shall consist of one hundred Councilors. Potential Councilors shall be nominated at Community Assemblies. Each Community shall nominate two candidates for the Council, and each District and Regional Assembly in turn shall approve no less than two and no more than four nominees. If approved by majorities in Community, District and Regional Assemblies, nominees shall be placed on the Federal ballot. The hundred Councilors shall be chosen from the field of candidates created thus by popular vote according to Single Transferable Voting method

Each Councilor shall hold office during the term of four years, unless removed from office by the will of the People.

Section 2

The Executive Council shall act collectively as Commander-in-Chief of the military of the Federation,

It shall have power to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Federal Assembly concur; and It shall nominate, and with the advice and consent of the Federal Assembly, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and all other officers of the Federal Executive whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for.

Section 3

The Executive Council and its individual members shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission officers of the Federal Executive to aid in that duty.

Section 4

The People may remove a member of the Executive Council from office upon impeachment for and conviction of any crimes or misdemeanors conducted while in office, or according to a recall for failure of duty.

Impeachment shall require proposal thereof by a majority in a Community Assembly and agreement thereto of the District and Regional Assemblies, and by Consensus of the Federal Assembly. Conviction, or absolution, shall require a Consensus of the Supreme Court.

A recall of a member of the Executive Council shall require either the same procedures as passing a bill into law, OR proposal by 4/5 of the Executive Council with ratification by the People, according to the same percentages requires for ratification of a bill into law.

Article III

Section 1

The judicial power of the Federated Communities shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in a lower court in each District and Region. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices for one year, and shall receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished or increased during their time in office.

Section 2

The judicial power shall extend to all law arising under this Constitution and the laws of the Federation. In cases determining conflicts between laws of different levels of government, i.e. federal statutes that may conflict a regional statute, then the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all other cases the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction.

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment or by preference of the defendant, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the Community where the said crimes were alleged to have been committed.

Article IV

No Community shall pass any law that is in direct conflict with this Constitution, or any laws passed by the Federated Communities.

Section 1

Full faith and credit shall be given in each community to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other community

Section 2

The citizens of each community shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens of the Federated Communities.

A person charged in any community with a crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another community, shall on demand of the executive authority of the community from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the community having jurisdiction of the crime.

Section 3

New communities may be admitted into this union upon approval by Consensus of that Community as well as by a majority vote of the citizens of the Federation. Failing a direct vote, the motion to admit a new Community may be done through the process of the graduated Assemblies, as if it were a bill.

Section 4

The Federated Communities shall guarantee to every community therein a democratic and participatory form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion.

Section 5

The Federation shall grant no title of nobility.

Section 6

The People, through the legislative processes of Assemblies, shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several communities, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

Section 7

The People of any Community may by Consensus of its members choose to secede from the Federation.

Article V

This Constitution may be amended if a bill intended to do so, after passing through all levels of Assemblies according to the normal procedures of a bill, then passing according to the normal rules for ratifying a bill into law, should then one year later be passed by majority in 2/3 of all Community Assemblies, 2/3 of all District Assemblies, 2/3 of all Regional Assemblies, and obtain a Consensus in the Federal Assembly, followed by again being ratified by the general population by at least 2/3 of the general vote, AND EITHER a 2/3 majority in at least 2/3 of all Communities, OR by a simple majority (50%+1) in at least ¾ of all Communities.

Article VI

This Constitution, and the laws of the Federated Communities which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the Federated Communities, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every community shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any Community to the contrary notwithstanding.

The Delegates to Assemblies before mentioned, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the Federated Communities and of the several communities, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution, and no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the Federated Communities.

Article VII

Only those Communities that shall ratify this Constitution shall be party to it, and shall be member Communities of the Federation.

Bill of Rights

1. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of invasion the public safety may require it.

2. No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

3. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

4. The right of the people to dissent and revolt without violence against a government that should become tyrannical shall not be infringed.

5. No soldier shall be quartered in any house.

6. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

7. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself or herself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

8. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the community and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

9. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the Federated Communities, than according to the rules of the common law.

10. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

11. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

12. The powers not delegated to the Federated Communities by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the communities, are reserved to the People.

13. The judicial power of the Federated Communities shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the Federated Communities by citizens of another community, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign community.

14. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the Federated Communities, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

15. All persons born or naturalized in the Federated Communities, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the Federated Communities and of the community wherein they reside. No community shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the Federated Communities; nor shall any community deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

16. The right of adult citizens of the Federated Communities to participate in Community Assemblies, or the other procedures of this democratic form of self-government shall not be denied or abridged by the Federated Communities or by any community on account of race, color, religion, creed, gender, disability, advanced age, sexual preference or gender identity; nor shall this right be denied for any financial reason, including failure to pay any sort of tax