Amendment Writing Procedure

Corporations are not people. They have none of the Constitutional rights of human beings. Corporations are not allowed to give money to any politician, directly or indirectly. No politician can raise over $100 from any person or entity. All elections must be publicly financed.


Many of you were dissatisfied with the above wording of the 28th Amendment as it stood and so, over the first 3 days since the PAC was announced, many early members, including lawyers and writers for local news organizations, decided to work together to produce a draft of a more detailed version of the initial amendment. We have continued to refine the amendments with the thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and criticism of many members since then. We have moved from the main site to here so we can continue to better the PAC members' revision of the amendment above.

The Amendment (Official)

This will be the current version of whatever amendment is proposed. This will include all official language and changes. The thread will always be stickied and open for discussion among those who have registered with the forum. However, suggesting official changes to the amendment and putting it up for a vote will not be done here.

Offering amendments to the Amendment

To offer an amendment to the Amendment in question, all you have to do is

1) Be a registered member and;
2) Make a poll with your suggested change in quotations and provide any relevant information if you'd like in the appropriate board.

If there is sufficient support for a major change in the Amendment and it's not ridiculous (i.e. Sec 8. Free beer for everyone.), as determined by a staff member, the staff member will sticky the poll and allow it to continue until it reaches a satisfactory level of support. Staff members are required to be as open-minded as possible. Even if a staff member disagrees with the change, if it has satisfactory support, it must be put up for an official vote (stickied).

When you go in and modify a post, a little line will appear at the bottom of your post indicating a modification. The final version of your proposal up for a vote cannot be edited. If it is, the poll will be null and void. Sorry for the hassle, but this is to prevent people from writing a proposal and making it sound appealing only to change the wording in a significant way after they've gotten a bunch of votes. What I would suggest is making a discussion-only thread for it first. Once you've settled some things and perfected the wording, post a poll with the final draft of your proposal.

An exception to this would be an administrative edit for whatever purpose the administrator chooses as long as it does not change the wording of another's proposal (unless a spelling edit is made at the request of the proposal's author), and is not on a proposal submitted by the administrator themselves to ensure fairness.

All serious polls for amending the amendment should have these 3 options and these 3 options only and must allow for the rescinding of votes:

• I approve
  
• I object
  

The above will only apply to major changes or removals in the Amendment. Changes in grammar, spelling, or wording for the purpose of refining the Amendment or one of its sections to clarify something or so it can better serve its original purpose can be made unilaterally by a staff member. Registered members are encouraged to point out spelling mistakes and such so we can have a more perfect amendment.

Be a grammar Nazi, is what I'm saying. And I think that's all there is to cover. While creating new threads and replying to this thread will not be allowed, if anyone have a problem with or want to suggest a change to this procedure, please don't hesitate to send me a PM. Our 2 amendments:

The 28th Amendment
The 29th Amendment

Don't forget to read and vote in the polls created by other members.