Aberrant: Dead Rising - Constitution Proposals

[Courier]

This is an OOC thread for what people would like the new Constitution to look like... I get the feeling that an actual Constitutional Convention would be pretty boring to RP out.

[BlueNinja]

As a rough guide, it should include:

Method for choosing leadership. Presumably some sort of secret ballot by citizens of the enclave. And a method for choosing a replacement in case of emergency.

Method for applying for citizenship. Probably this will require a certain amount of work, or supplies donated to the community. Yes, I realize that implies 'buying' your way in, which is why it should also include a certain amount of work as option 1.

Method for justice, including selecting of a court system. Trial by jury is going to be a little too labor-intensive for the start, so probably a three-judge panel would be best. I suspect that justice is more closely going to resemble the Old West than modern society for a while.

That's all I can think of for the moment.

[Courier]

Good ideas all.

I liked Fox's idea of "everyone is in the army", but also clearly there needs to be something about "equality under the law" or "universality of law" or something.

Method for changing the constitution.

Bill of rights?

[BlueNinja]

I don't think the post-apocalypse can afford the same bill of rights. Certainly some protections, like freedom of press and assembly. Freedom of religion to some extent, unless your religion is converting people into zombies. I don't think there will be a 'right' to bear arms so much as a 'requirement' to bear arms. Most of the other stuff - search and seizure, self incrimination, would work better written in as part of the rules of justice.

I expect it will work well as long as the survivors are part of the same small community. Once there are enough survivors, scattered to enough locations, some parts will need to be rewritten to acknowledge the complexity involved.