Term 8 - The Office of the Judiciary

[Octavian X]

Welcome to the thread for the Office of the Judiciary.

Members
Cheif Justice: Octavian X
Public Defender: bootstoots
Judge Advocate: FionnMcCumhall

Quorum Figures
Active Census: 29
Full Census: 33
First 24 hours a poll is open: 10
After 24 hours have passed: 15

Important Links
Constitution of Fanatika
The Code of Laws
The Code of Standards
The Judicial Log
Previous Terms: Term 7, Term 6, Term 5, Term 4, Term 3, Term 2, Term 1

What is this thread for?
The Judiciary is happy to help with any legal question you may have. No matter how big or small, we'll try to answer you question.

Also, should you with to iniate a Public Investigation, you may post a request here, or you may send a private message to any of the members of the Judiciary.

 

[Bootstoots]

The Public Defender is here, reporting for duty.

As stated in the Public Defender nomination thread, I'm new to the demogame. I may need assistance if and when something comes up. Other than that, I'll just perform to the best of my ability as Public Defender during Term 8.

BTW, shouldn't the quorum for polls after 24 hours be 15 (rounded up from 14.5) instead of 20?

 

[Octavian X]

Hmm... Yes, that would be my mistake. I was temporarily operating under old procedure. Thanks for catching that. Changing now.

I can tell you're gonna do a great job!

 

[Bootstoots]

It appears that the poll calling for a name change for Denver is in violation of CoS F.b.1.a, which states, "To 'win' the poll in the first 24 hours, a category must receive at least double the votes received by the next highest choice." The poll can be found here.

The poll was closed, and the name Windfall was decided by a coin toss after a 6-6 tie on the name was reached after only 24 hours of polling. Only 12 votes had been recorded. I propose that the poll be reopened and should stay open until quorum is reached, or, if that is not possible, that poll should be declared void and a new poll should be posted.

 

[Bootstoots]

As stated above, I find that the premature closing of the poll violates the Code of Standards, which say nothing about allowing for an aggregate total of votes between two "yes" choices. The poll should be reopened to allow a quorum of 15 to vote.

(BTW, I do approve of the choice of Windfall for Denver's new name)

 

[Shaitan]

That was a composite poll including a Yes/No to rename plus an informational feedback to help me decide which of the two proposed options I would use. The official portion (Yes/No) passed with 12 - 0 - 0. The informational portion I decided randomly as there was no clear preference of the people.

 

[Shaitan]

Note that the alternative to the composite poll would have been to give the people only a single choice. As there is nothing in the rules prohibiting this method and it has been done many times before I think it better serves the populous to allow it.

 

[Cyc]

Good work, bootstoots. I like Judiciary members that keep an eye on Polls

As the originator of the losing proposed name for Denver, I don't have a problem with the outcome of the Poll, or the manner with which it was derived. Governor Shaitan needn't run any kind of official Poll for this, he was just looking for opinions. Because the Poll reached a quorum level of "super-majority" with the time frame (even though , as you state, there wasn't over-whelming support for one of the items) and no true direction was given by the populace, the Governor took the information and used it to help make the dicision. No harm done.

Had this been an "Official Poll" things would be different.

 

[Bootstoots]

Doesn't a poll to rename cities have to be official? CoS C.5 states, "A newly elected governor may request name changes for cities within his/her province. This can only be done in the first week of the governor's term of office. The governor will post a poll with the suggested name change in an APPROVED / DISAPPROVED / ABSTAIN format and a 2 day or longer time frame. Popular support will allow or deny the proposed name change." Wouldn't this cause the poll to have to be official to grant a name change? It also states that it had to be in an approved/disapproved/abstain format, and this poll had two selections for "approved".

 

[FionnMcCumhall]

Judge Advocates Review

I agree with Cyc and Shaitan here regarding the poll. It was informational after all. Good choices of names for the cities, made me wish i hadnt had to work while that poll was going on

It might have reached a majority had it have been longer or more people made thewir way to the polling place to vote on the cities new name

 

[Octavian X]

Chief Justice's Review

The required supermajority, as represented by the two options for changes, was reached. I find the renaming of Denver in that context to be completely legal.