Organizing our laws

[Methos]

I believe we need to organize our bills and laws better, so I've come up with an idea I'd like to bring forward. We create a thread that will contain every bill and law that is passed. The OP will be nothing but an index and link to every bill/law. Each post will be a bill or law that has been passed and will contain the full text of the bill/law, the endorsers, and links to the discussion and voting thread for it. To make it more clearer, I'll give a visual representation of what I'm talking about. Please realize that each quote text below is representing a post in that thread.

Post #1

Hoopengobben Act
Whatchamajiggie Bill

Post #2

Whatchamajiggie Bill

text..............
..................
..................

Endorsed by:
link to discussion
link to voting thread

Post #2

Hoopengobben Act

text..............
..................
..................

Endorsed by:
link to discussion
link to voting thread

This thread would not be a discussion thread. Every post would be an individual bill only. This way, it would be easier to keep track of and locate all the individual bills. BTW, the links are dead, just there as an example. We can always organize the OP into categories or something easy to use.

 

[Smidgey]

This is a good idea. We should also try and group the bills, such as having all medical, taxation, drug, transportation or education bills grouped under their respective catagories.

Also, what about amendments? Should we include these as edits under the bill of the original post? That way people can easily see the old law and the current law as it stands. Also, should MP's who brought forward that bill make the post and have the OP set up the links for it?

 

[Methos]

We should also try and group the bills, such as having all medical, taxation, drug, transportation or education bills grouped under their respective catagories.

I agree, though we'll probably have to discuss how we prefer to organize them.

Also, what about amendments? Should we include these as edits under the bill of the original post? That way people can easily see the old law and the current law as it stands.

We already have a thread for our Constitution, so maybe add similars posts to that thread listing every Amendment. Granted, we could list the Amendments here, as well as the Constitution if that is what people prefer. I don't mind either way.

Also, should MP's who brought forward that bill make the post and have the OP set up the links for it?

Might as well. According to our Constitution that individual has to create the appropiate threads, so maybe we should include the related post in the organization thread too.

 

[Smidgey]

Thanks for the quick reply, but by amendments I means amendments to bills, for example, say we made the smoking age 18 and it was later amended so that it was reduced to 16. We could put the bill before the amendment in a spoiler and have the current bill as it stands in the quotation box?

 

[Methos]

My mistake, I took it as Constitutional Amendments.

Yeah, that would work. That way we would have one single post for the bill and spoilers would show the bill as it was written both currently and pre-amendment(s). Than we'd just include more links in the Bill post for the amendment(s). I like that idea.

 

[Provolution]

Very good idea as always, you are by far my favorite moderator at CFC, fully endorse it.

 

[mangxema]

I was just thinking about how we need such a thing this morning. Seriously, good call.

I think we should also include votes with the bills.

I also think that any bill that comes to a vote should be included, not just those that pass, as a matter of public record. These should be indicated as such of course.

 

[Methos]

I also think that any bill that comes to a vote should be included, not just those that pass, as a matter of public record. These should be indicated as such of course.

Makes sense. That way if in the future someone wishes to try again, or something similar, they can easily check if it has already been tried and see possibly why it failed. Great idea. I hadn't thought of that.

Edit: Unless someone wishes to discuss this further, I'll create the OP later tomorrow.

 

[sirdanilot]

Go ahead and make the stickied topic, I guess.

We can use this thread for MPs to post links to their bills, so we don't clutter up the real thread.

Of course, it would require a lot of work to list all those bills, methos...

I'd suggest to put all the bills in one category in one post, and simply spoiler them so the post doesn't become huge.
The first post should be the index which includes the links to the thread of the bills, and also an index of how the posts in the Organizing thread are organized.

 

[Methos]

I've created a very bland Law Library thread with a sample bill. Without actual bills and acts posted, the OP looks useless. Please look over the sample bill and let me know what you think of the template. What do you feel should be, or shouldn't be there? Do you think certain parts need to be stated in a different way? For example, I really don't like the "Created by" part, but couldn't think of a better way at the time.

The OP will have links to every post, so it'll fill up as we move along. We can always add in or edit sections of the OP in the future. For now the only sections we'll have are those that we have laws for.

I also plan on keeping everything indexed alphabetically for easier reference.

 

[Provolution]

You are free to put in the Energy Act and Our Ocean acts, these are quite well written laws.

 

[jeps]

Marijuana Legalisation Act (August, 27th, 2007)

Article 1: Individual use and Possession:

1) Possession and use of cannabis as a recreational drug, medicine or any other use (including the hemp plant itself) shall be made completely legal.
2) A person must be of 18 or more years of age to use cannabis.
3) The sale and transfer of cannabis in its drug form to any persons under the age of 18 is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $2,500.
4) Any person above the age of 18 who allows the transfer of cannabis to a minor through negligence on their part is punishable by up to six months imprisonment and a $500 fine.

Article 2: Marijuana and Retail:

1) Retail outlets of any kind are permitted to sell cannabis.
2) All locales that sell cannabis must provide labeling on their products of ingredients as well as instructions for safe use of the product.
3) Cannabis may only be sold in outlets which have a license to sell tobacco and/or alcohol.
4) Any private outlet that sells to an underage user may have their license revoked and a fine of up to $5,000 on the business establishment as well as being personally liable to Article 1 Sections 3 and 4.
5) If a private establishment open to the public is subject to smoking prohibition laws then marijuana/cannabis falls under the same jurisdiction as tobacco under these laws.
6) Individuals are permitted to grow cannabis for their own use and for the use of others, profit-free, without possessing a license of sale.

Article 3: Taxation:

1) Marijuana/Cannabis should be taxed at the same basic level of sales tax that are applied to tobacco products.

Article 4: Hemp Growth and Production:

1) Hemp can be grown on private property so long as it does not affect neighbouring properties in an adverse fashion.
2) Hemp and the refined cannabis drug cannot be legally traded to those countries where these products are illegal. Illegally trading with such countries may result in penalties in those countries and will result in a maximum of a five year prison sentence and/or a fine of up to $10,000 if apprehended within the jurisdiction of Civilitas.
3) It is illegal to grow hemp inside a private home in which people live, due to damage to health and property from the high levels of damp that these species require. Article 4 Section 3 supersedes Article 4 Section 1.

Sponsor: Smidgey
Endorsed by: Equuleus, Algeroth
DISCUSSION THREAD
VOTING THREAD

Something Like that?

 

[Methos]

You are free to put in the Energy Act and Our Ocean acts, these are quite well written laws.

Not yet. First I want to get a basic template set up that everyone feels is easy to understand. I don't want anything to confusing to figure out, yet not so complex the poster has trouble posting his/her law.

Plus, I'd rather the iniator of the bill/act be the one who posts it, though if they prefer not, I don't mind doing it.

First let's get the template figured out, than we'll start filling up the library.

 

[jeps]

I think that in the template, the voting total should be put once the bill is finished. It would be good to know without having to search the thread.

 

[Methos]

Something Like that?

A couple comments:

• I like the inclusion of the date, as it helps establish when the law was enacted.
• I also like using "Sponsored by:" rather than Created. Sounds a lot better. Edited the Sample Bill
• I think it would be best to keep the actual text of the bill in quote tags, that way it's easier to know exactly when the bill begins and ends. Plus, it makes it easier to read.

 

[Methos]

I think that in the template, the voting total should be put once the bill is finished. It would be good to know without having to search the thread.

In the sample bill I have the voting totals located in the title of the thread. Do you think it would be best to put it someplace else? I though this way the reader would know right off whether it passed or failed. We could put it under the first header I guess.

I'm thinking maybe add the date near the first header too, or should that be in the post title?

 

[Methos]

I've added four bills/acts that have been recently passed to the law library. Does anyone have an opinion, be it agreement or complaint, on how they're setup? If no one does, than I'll unlock the thread. Also note that I have added a "Return to Index" to each bill/act, so that you can jump back to the OP rather than have to scroll. It'll be more handly has the thread turns into pages.

Also note that I do not feel the Law Library thread should be a discussion thread. IMO only posts that contain bills/acts should be in that thread. Do people agree/disagree with this?

 

[mangxema]

Also note that I do not feel the Law Library thread should be a discussion thread. IMO only posts that contain bills/acts should be in that thread. Do people agree/disagree with this?

Agreed... I think discussion would interfere with its purpose as a look-up table of sorts for bills.