The Individual Human Rights Amendment
0) The primary duty of the Supreme Court is to interpret laws in such a way as to protect individual citizens from violations of these rights, as well as those given in the Bill of Rights and the other relevant constitutional amendments, by any branch or level of government. Only individual human beings have these rights, not organizations. Novel legislative or regulatory schemes on the part of any branch or level of government that do, or are intended to, bypass enforcement of these rights by the courts or other branches of the government, are unconstitutional.
The new possibilities that will arise from scientific, medical, technical, or social advances, that could not in the past, and cannot now, be anticipated, must be met by the Supreme Court with an emphasis on maximizing individual freedom.
The Code of Conduct for United States Federal Judges applies to Supreme Court Justices.
1) Every American Citizen has the right to refuse any and all attempts to read the contents of their mind or to change the contents of their mind by any method or means, without any penalty of any sort. This includes, but is not limited to, use of machines, use of drugs, use of force or torture, use of threats legal or otherwise, or attempts by Congress, the President and Executive Branch, or the Courts to bypass or invalidate this right. No American citizen can have their citizenship removed in any fashion to invalidate this right. No citizen may be transferred or conveyed by any means to any foreign power to bypass this right.
Torture, of any kind, by any means, is expressly prohibited--this clause applies to any human being, not only citizens. This applies to any level of any branch of government, including any branch of the military, police or prison employees, as well as any other public or private person or entity. No subterfuge, including, but not limited to, turning an individual over to any other government, is allowed to subvert the intent of this clause. Neither Congressional actions, nor Executive Branch actions, including Presidential orders, may subvert or overrule this clause. Neither Supreme Court actions nor lower court actions, may subvert or invalidate this clause. This explicitly applies to the imprisonment of individuals in such a manor as to subject them to sexual, physical, or mental torture.
The United States of America does not torture.
2) Every American Citizen has the right to equal treatment and equal pay without regard to their sex, race, age, disability, religion, national origin, appearance, gender, sexual preferences or orientation, economic status, and expressed opinions or religious or political affiliations. This applies to all government branches and any type of business or public or private enterprise, as well as all academic institutions. Businesses with single owners of no other enterprises, with five or less employees, are exempt from this in hiring, but not in dealing with the public. Clubs and other organizations or religious groups, whose express purpose is to gather persons of the same sex, race, religion, appearance, sexual preferences, economic status, expressed opinions or political affiliation, are exempt in their membership rules, but not in their hiring practices unless they have five or less employees. Political parties and advocacy organizations may restrict hiring of individuals whose primary duties are related to the political or advocacy purpose to employees who agree with the advocacy purpose, or are members of that party, but must still follow non-discrimination provisions as above for lower level or service personnel. Organizations may not feign political, religious, or advocacy purposes to avoid nondiscrimination provisions of this amendment. Large scale organizations may not avoid the five employee rule by any sort of subterfuge or franchise scheme. Religious leaders, teachers whose primary duties include teaching or exemplifying the tenets of a particular religion, and other functionaries whose duties require membership in a particular religion and adherence to its tenets, in Church employment, are exempt from these rules, but ordinary non-religious employees are not. Seminary schools and other such religious educational institutions may restrict enrollment to members of their religion.
Discrimination based on sex, disabilities or physical abilities, age, or appearance, is only allowed in cases where these are clearly relevant to a necessary part of a job. Transgender individuals may be banned from participating in sports as other than their birth gender by schools or other sports regulating bodies, but may not be discriminated against in any way in other matters.
Discrimination based on economic status is only allowed when ability to pay for goods or services, or repay loans, is involved. Public or private organizations and businesses may enforce dress and behavioral codes on their premises that apply equally to everyone and are not formulated in such a fashion as to simply bypass anti-discrimination laws.
New citizens and their first and second generation children may be restricted to employment and other positions that are not critical to national security, whether in industry, academia, or military and other governmental positions.
3) Every American Citizen has the right to do as they wish with their bodies.
This includes the right to consume any food, drug, or other substance without legal penalty. The war on people who use certain drugs is over. Possession of small amounts of any drug for personal use is legal. Your actions towards yourself are your business and your privilege. It is only your actions that clearly harm others that are subject to legal restraint. Any such harm must be an immediate consequence of your actions and not a theoretical or general harm. Laws that attempt to invalidate this right via claims of “societal harm” or of other consequences to other smaller groups are not allowed. Sales of harmful substances may be regulated on a state by state basis. Importation of harmful substances or precursor chemicals may be regulated by the federal government.
Individuals have a right to pain medications based solely on their own perceived level of pain, without limits imposed out of concern for the possibility of addiction.
No law shall be passed, or shall continue to be enforced, abridging the right of consenting adults to engage in sexual acts of their choice with other consenting adults in private settings. This is irrespective of any inducements offered or accepted. Only third party inducements or payments may be prohibited. Credit card or other financial transactions, and the use of internet sites or other means of meeting people, do not count as third party inducements. This right includes, but is not limited to, homosexual and heterosexual oral or anal sex and consensual S-M and B-D acts that do not cause permanent damage, major injury, or death. Tattoos, piercings, and body modifications do not count as permanent damage.
Individuals have a right to die. Advance directives outlining the circumstances under which they wish to have medical or other interventions, meant to prolong their lives, ended, must be honored. Individuals who are determined to be competent to make their own medical decisions or who have filed advance directives allowing it, may request, and must be allowed, access to amounts of drugs sufficient to allow them to end their lives painlessly. After one year, even individuals who may not be competent must be allowed to exercise this right. It is your life, and when it has become a burden rather than a blessing is solely your decision. Individuals also have a right to either choose, refuse, or cancel, DNR directives filed by themselves or others, at any point in time, without regard to their supposed or legally determined competence.
Abortion is legal until the 24th week of pregnancy. This is at the sole discretion of the women. After that, the states may mandate right-to-life laws. The federal government must provide access to, and promote, early and widely available male and female birth control, sex education covering essential information to be determined by the National Institute of Health, as well as abstinence education. Adoption must be encouraged as an alternative to abortion. Adoption costs must be paid for by the federal government.
Video, pictorial, or written material, involving only themselves, produced by any individual who is past puberty, for their own use or for sharing with a significant other who is at that time no more than three years older, is not considered child pornography. These materials cannot be sold or transferred or shared with others outside of that or a subsequent relationship. Third parties may be prohibited from any access to any such materials involving individuals below the age of sixteen.
Consensual nude photographs or videos, and paintings or drawings, not involving sexual activity, of people of any age, are always legal. Consent must be given by parents or legal guardians if the subject is under the age of consent in the jurisdiction in question, or sixteen, whichever is greater. Control of these items passes to the person depicted at age eighteen. Videos or pictures of individuals under the age of consent in each state, or sixteen, whichever is greater, engaged in sexual activities, may be prohibited. Artistic depictions of imaginary prepubescent individuals engaged in clearly sexual activities can be prohibited on a state by state basis, or at the federal level. Other artistic depictions cannot be prohibited. Videos or other depictions of persons over the age of eighteen, engaging in protected activities, are always legal.
4) The conviction for crimes subject to the sentencing to, and application of, the death penalty, is only allowed under the following three conditions: 1) The crime must be heinous and abhorrent to the majority of Americans and have resulted in the loss of at least one life. 2) The criminal must be so dangerous that the perpetrator’s escape or release would put innocent people at serious risk, and, 3) The proof of guilt is beyond any doubt whatsoever.
The unequivocal establishment of the innocence of people sentenced to death, or put to death, under the older standards, via DNA testing and other means, has revealed the necessity of a higher standard for the application of this ultimate penalty. You can’t fix dead. You can’t appeal dead.
Deadly force can only be employed in interactions with the public by police if the suspect is armed, is clearly threatening police or bystanders, and there is no non-lethal option available. Non-lethal options must be developed and be put into general use within ten years of the passage of this amendment. Simply running away from police is not a sufficient cause to kill an individual and doing so is unconstitutional. Choke holds and other dangerous techniques can only be employed to restrain known violent felons or persons who are suspected of felony level violent crimes based on clear evidence. Misdemeanor crimes do not warrant potentially deadly force. Known terrorists or mass murderers, whose escape would clearly endanger the public, are exempt from these rules. Labeling people or crimes as terrorists or terrorism simply to bypass these restrictions is unconstitutional.
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5) Every American Citizen has the right to privacy in their mind, their body, their data, their home, their correspondence or communications of any type, their medical records, and their public movements.
Personal electronic devices, files stored on them, and personal files stored elsewhere, cannot be examined in any fashion without a search warrant issued by a judge in a relevant court, based on clear evidence of a crime related to the files or device in question. Citizens may use any level of encryption and cannot be forced by any means to assist in any attempt to bypass it. These files and devices have become extensions of our minds and memories and that trend will continue to and past the point where they are implanted in our bodies. Any implanted memory or memory assist device cannot be removed or accessed in any way for any reason without the willingly given permission of the individual involved. Individuals cannot be coerced in any way to allow any level of access to these devices. Individuals’ businesses, and all corporations, may be required to keep accessible records of various types, related to their business practices, but not related to the privacy rights of their customers.
Surveillance of individual’s homes must be authorized by a search warrant and can only use invasive technology that can, for instance, see through walls, or otherwise invade privacy in significant ways, in cases that clearly involve violent crimes, terrorism, or foreign nationals undermining our national security. Labeling people or crimes as terrorists or terrorism simply to bypass these restrictions is unconstitutional.
No-knock warrants to search individual’s primary residences can only be issued in the case of clearly shown potential terrorist threats, or to capture violent felons, or to ensure the immediate safety of others in the location and its vicinity. Apprehension of violent felons must be carried out in such a way as to protect others in the vicinity from harm. Searching for drugs or illegal items, or for non-violent fugitives, is not sufficient reason for armed men in black masks to forcibly enter American Citizens’ homes without warning. All other warrants must only be executed after ten minutes of loud warnings of the pending entry and a clear offer for any occupants to exit safely and peacefully.
Large scale surveillance that identifies many, most, or all individuals in public areas, with or without facial recognition, is not allowed. Generic surveillance aimed at detecting accidents, breaches of the peace, and other situations requiring emergency response, is allowable. Individuals seen to be clearly and obviously committing major crimes or violent crimes or crimes against other individuals, on these generic videos, may be retroactively identified with facial recognition. The use of these systems to micromanage individual’s public behavior is not allowed.
Government areas and buildings, primary and secondary schools, transportation centers such as bus or train stations or airports, as well as stadiums and other venues that attract large crowds, are allowed to collect data that can identify individuals in real time, but may only allow off-premise access to it with a court order based on evidence of potential terrorist activity, murder or mass shootings, and felony level violent crimes including, but not limited to, child trafficking and kidnapping. Real time facial recognition can only be used in these areas in cases where an immediate serious threat is clear, or to track or identify known or suspected terrorists. This information cannot be used to track, surveil, or arrest individuals for minor crimes. Public surveillance of particular individuals suspected of major crimes, based on clear evidence, is allowed, but only with a court order.
Individuals and businesses may have surveillance of their property and their immediate public surroundings. Individuals may record any interaction with government employees, and, in particular, interactions with law enforcement or military engaged in law enforcement activities, without interference or penalty of any sort. They may refuse government requests for that data, except in the case of violent crime or terrorism investigations. Those requests still require a search warrant or court order. Only a copy may be required. The original data remains the property of the individual and must be left in their possession.
Every American has the right to complete privacy in their medical records. This right explicitly prohibits the government in any of its branches from obtaining those records for any purpose without the consent of the citizen. The holders of those records may not share them with anyone without the informed consent of the patient. Each citizen has the right to dispute the contents of those records in writing, such dispute to be included in the records, and, in simple and affordable by all proceedings, to correct or expunge those records. Diagnoses of contagious diseases may only be expunged if they are disputed by later testing and a second opinion by a Doctor with relevant qualifications. A diagnosis that represents a serious public health threat may be reported to relevant authorities.
Testing for illegal drugs may only be done with the individual’s knowledge and consent unless they are unconscious and even then only for medically necessary purposes. In cases where major injuries, deaths, or significant economic damages are suspected to be the result of intoxicated behavior, samples may be taken passively, but force may only be used with a search warrant obtained based on clear evidence of wrong-doing. Simply testing positive for any substance is not enough to impose any sentence involving incarceration, evidence of a level of impairment sufficient to be a major contributing to factor to the event in question must also be presented. Accidents that are caused by circumstances that are not under the individual’s control and that could result in similar outcomes regardless of the state of the individual involved, may not be punished differently simply based on a positive test result.
This privacy right explicitly includes psychiatric diagnoses, particularly those in dispute. If the contents indicate a clear danger to others, a panel of three judges and three independent medical professionals in relevant fields may, after consultation with the person's doctor and a medical advocate chosen by that person or their legal guardian, and paid for by the state if necessary, report details to the relevant authorities. This advocate must be chosen or assigned before any therapy begins. The involuntary confinement of individuals is only allowed for 48 hours without the concurrence of such a panel and a patient advocate as above. Immediate threats of violence may be reported and dealt with, but a reduced emergency panel of three doctors with relevant qualifications must still agree that there is a clear threat.
Individuals cannot simply be declared incompetent and then have all of their rights taken away. Even individuals who are determined to be unable to care for themselves still have basic rights. They cannot have their possessions confiscated or sold without their informed consent, or the consent of at least two family members or friends, chosen by them, as well as the consent of a court appointed advocate who has no financial interest of any kind and, finally, also the consent of an impartial judge. Failing that, after honest and thorough attempts to find friends or relatives to advocate for them, a panel of three judges and three independent medical professionals in relevant fields may determine the best course of action.
They must be allowed visitors of their choosing for at least one hour per day, and must also be allowed to contact relatives, friends, journalists, and lawyers, and any other people who might advocate for their rights. Access to phones, computers with internet search, and email, must be available for at least seven hours per week. Aides must be available to assist these individuals if they need help using these things. A one year waiting period, during which no final action resulting in the loss of their property may be taken, must be allowed to pass. During this time, property taxes, storage fees, and other payments which could result in the loss of their property, must be suspended, and not be allowed to accumulate.
6) The Second Amendment to the Constitution gives each American the right to own and bear arms. This includes arms similar to whatever currently available military personal small arms are in common use. All individuals, excepting only violent felons and those who have been clearly shown to be a threat to others due to mental illness or terrorist associations or other documented threats of violence, may own such weapons. Small arms such as pistols, and non-lethal weapons must be allowed in each individual’s primary residence.
Hunting weapons, military style weapons that are not fully automatic, and others of similar type and use must also be allowed in primary residences. The public open or concealed carry of any of these may be regulated by states, or by cities with populations over 100,000. You must be 21 or older to purchase or own these type of weapons.
Fully automatic weapons and other weapons capable of inflicting mass casualties, except as above, may be limited to law enforcement and security forces, or collectors, dealers, and firing ranges, on a state-by-state basis, or by federal regulations. All five types of organizations must be allowed to possess these weapons, but under reasonably formulated restrictions on who can be a collector, and/or be an owner or employee of any of these organizations. Limits on numbers and types of weapons based on potential dangers to the public are allowed.
Any state may form a well-regulated militia whose members may possess these weapons while on duty. Careful and thorough vetting and training of the members of these militias is a requirement for their formulation and continued existence. The members of these militias must be reasonably representative of the racial and other identifiable protected class characteristics of the residents of these states. Violations of either of these requirements is valid cause for them to be disbanded by federal courts. Any reformation of disbanded militias must be guided by those courts.
No general confiscation of guns is allowed for any reason. Retroactively applicable laws, intended to change the rules for ownership of particular weapons and accessories, are not allowed. If it was legal when it was legally purchased, it remains legal until sold.
The choice of concealed or open carry of handguns, and rules for specific indoor and outdoor locations, may be legislated by localities such as states and cities with over 100,000 residents, within their boundaries. Either one or the other or both must be allowed with simple and affordable rules for safety education and licensing that do not discriminate facially, or in practice, against protected classes.
Large cities with more than 100,000 population, and a higher than average gun violence rate, may place stricter rules on either type of carry outside of an individual’s primary residence. These rules must be based on objective and reasonable criteria related to criminal records, job or personal dangers the individual might face, and any other factors that clearly affect the risk to that individual, and to risk to the public by that individual. There cannot be general prohibitions on the possession of handguns. The open or concealed carry of long guns may be prohibited in cities with more than 100,000 population. The transportation of long guns must still be allowed in some fashion. Individuals always have a right to armed self-defense in their homes and businesses.
Any governmental property, school, business, church, or nongovernmental organization, may forbid the possession of any sorts of weapons on their premises. This does not apply to individuals’ primary residences. Tenants of all rental properties, whether public or private, retain their second amendment rights.
Sales of guns by regular or commercial sellers require a seven day waiting period and a background check.
Sales from one individual to another do not, but laws may penalize people who sell to known criminals, or who sell to those who are clearly dangerous or unstable, or who sell more than ten guns per year. These types of sales may be prohibited or regulated within any state, or any city or town with 100,000 or more residents.
Individuals who are shown to be mentally unstable or prone to violent behavior, or who make threats to schools, or threaten to cause mass casualty events, may have their right to buy or possess firearms of any type be temporarily or permanently revoked. A court order is required. Emergency revocations for up to three months can be granted with minimal evidence. Longer revocations must be based on a detailed examination of psychiatric and other evidence. These may be appealed yearly, and evidence of continued good behavior and stability must eventually lead to the restoration of the individual’s rights.
7) The presumption of innocence, right to face your accusers, and all other due process protections, extend to all public or private academic or governmental extralegal proceedings of any punitive nature.
Students and faculty have first amendment rights in all levels of public and private educational settings. Students may not be expelled or otherwise penalized, for their speech or political activities outside of classes, including on school property, that do not interfere with the functioning of the institution, or off of school property, or for expressing any clearly relevant to the subject matter opinions in their written or oral classwork that calls for such opinions.
Faculty may not be penalized for their speech or political activities outside of classes. Faculty may not be penalized for expressing clearly labeled opinions in their written or oral class presentations that are relevant to the subject being taught. Faculty may not be penalized for casual public or private utterances that may offend some groups.
In any level of academia, admission standards and passing grades and passing test results, cannot be different for different groups. Up to 10% of admissions may be reserved to increase the proportion of under-represented groups in any way deemed necessary, without regard to the above requirement, but passing grades and standards must still be the same for all .
Nobody can be penalized, blamed, or shamed, for the actions of their ancestors or descendants, or the actions of any other people of similar sex, race, age, disability, religion, national origin, appearance, sexual preferences, economic status, expressed opinions or political affiliation, in any level of academia or business or government. Simple discussion of historical events is allowed even when those events reflect poorly on some group’s past actions.
Individuals have a right to equal opportunities in education, but do not have a right to equal outcomes. Laws or rules or regulations attempting to legislate equal outcomes are unconstitutional.
America is a meritocracy, and merit, whether proven by testing, academic or real life accomplishments, or by other, clearly relevant means, is the only allowable reason for discrimination in academia, or in hiring and promotion in government or business. Ten per cent of new hires may be reserved by law to increase the representation of under-represented classes. Basic qualifications must still be met.
8)The doctrine known as “Qualified Immunity” is unconstitutional. Actions by any government official, that an average person would think, or know, violated our constitutional rights, are subject to criminal and/or civil redress. Judges may still dismiss frivolous lawsuits in cases that clearly do not involve violations of our rights, but a jury trial is required in any case whose facts are debatable or borderline. Governmental entities have a duty to educate their employees and other representatives in what actions they may take and what actions they may not take, in their position, under the constitution. Failure to meet this burden is also subject to criminal and/or civil redress.
9) Civil Asset Forfeiture is, and always has been, under the Fourth Amendment, unconstitutional. Seizures of money or property may only be made after an indictment by a grand jury for a clearly related crime, and may only become final after conviction of a crime that can be shown to be the source of the money or goods in question. Seizures of money or property made during an arrest for a clearly related crime must also meet the above burden within 60 days or the property must be returned with no cost or penalty. Any money obtained in this way must be turned over to a national victim compensation fund. Property obtained in this way must be auctioned off and the money given to the same fund. Victims of the criminals from whom the property or money was taken, or who were physically injured by those criminals, are to be given first consideration for disbursements from this fund. This money is not allowed to go to any organization involved except as above. The agencies involved in these seizures may not benefit in any way.
Criminal or Civil Laws, whose main purpose or effect is simply to generate income for police or other branches of government, are forbidden. This includes, but is not limited to, excessive fines for minor crimes including, but not limited to, traffic infractions, parking violations, and zoning issues. Excessive fees for permits and business licenses are not allowed. All fines or fees must be based on rational reasons for them to exist, have reasonable rules for applying them, and not be solely aimed at particular individuals or businesses, or at classes of people who are protected from discrimination. Reasonable fees for licenses and services, and reasonable, generally applicable, taxes and fees, are allowed.
No branch of government may take any individual’s primary residence in eminent domain proceedings to transfer to any private party of any type, for any reason. Only public works projects such as those related to roads, water or sewer systems, and other necessary infrastructure, or to public buildings and military projects, are allowable reasons to take these properties. Such properties, with an inflation-adjusted value of less than one million dollars, must be paid for at twice market value plus moving costs. Larger value properties are to be paid this on the first inflation-adjusted million and then at a minimum of twenty-five percent above market value for the rest. Other private property may be taken for public works as above, but not to be sold or transferred to other private parties. Owners may dispute the necessity of these projects, or their fair market value, in court.
No branch of government may take any individual’s primary means of transportation for minor fines or minor traffic infractions. Towed vehicles must be returned for a maximum total cost of two hundred dollars, adjusted for inflation. This only applies to individuals with a yearly income of less than one hundred thousand dollars. Higher income individuals may have to pay up to five hundred dollars, pro rated from one hundred thousand dollars to two hundred thousand dollars income. Beyond $200,000, or in the case of individuals with a net worth of more $1,000,000, fines and fees may range up to 10% of the value of the vehicle, but must be reasonably related to the infraction and towing and storage fees. Individuals have up to forty-five days to pay these amounts. All limits must be adjusted for inflation.
10) Conscription, being the complete moral equivalent of slavery, is forbidden. A public service mandate may only be imposed if the territory of any of the fifty (or more more) states are invaded. That mandate may require up to fifty hours a week of paid employment in civil defense or critical industries. The pay has to be at least minimum wage, commensurate with the worked performed, and take into account the income lost by the person involved. Nobody can, however, be forced to kill other human beings.
11) Imprisonment that includes forced labor, also being the complete moral equivalent of slavery, is forbidden. If we, acting together as the government, decide that a human being needs to be kept in a cage, then we must bear the cost of that imprisonment.
The text of the 13th amendment section 1 is hereby changed to: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude of any type shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
No level of government may profit in any way from the incarceration of human beings. For profit prisons are also unconstitutional and must be bought out or closed within five years of the passage of this amendment.
Prisoners must be provided adequate food, medical care, and a safe environment. Abuse of any sort, whether by guards, other prisoners, or anyone else, is not allowed. Prisons should not be places where violence is king, where learning that violence is the only way to survive or thrive is the main lesson taught, or where the weak are the prey of the strong.
Prisoners may be offered the choice of engaging in any type of work that is allowed for free persons. They must be paid at the federal minimum wage or higher. No more than one-half of this money, after taxes, in total, may be applied to fines, debts, restitution, or room and board. Special taxes or fees levied on prisoners are not allowed. Prisoners should be taught that honest work is valuable, not that their honest work is futile, and is only worth ten cents an hour. Up to 20% of their remaining half may be held in interest bearing accounts to be returned to them upon their release. Half of this must be easily available to them when they walk out the door on the day of their release, the other half must be disbursed promptly on the first day of the month, for the following six months, in equal installments.
Prisoners must be allowed to communicate electronically with their lawyers, legal advocates, and immediate family, free of charge, for at least two hours a week. Telephone or video calls to immediate family and friends must be allowed, free of charge, for a total of at least two hours a week. Any further communications can be offered at no more than double the going rate. These communications may not be monitored when lawyers and other official legal advocates are consulting one on one with the prisoner. Other communications may be monitored.
Prisoners must have access to common food items, personal care products and clothing, as well as books, magazines or newspapers, and, where the possession of them does not present a danger, radios or tvs, at no more then one and a half times the national average price of these items. They must also be allowed to receive these items from anyone outside the prison without cost or penalty. Rules prohibiting potentially dangerous items, and other contraband, are allowed.
The allowable purposes for incarcerated our fellow human beings are as follows: 1) Protecting us from violent individuals. 2) Punishing individuals who harm others. 3) Preventing or punishing behavior that violates our other laws. No individual may ever be incarcerated for their thoughts, opinions, membership in protected classes, or actions or words that may offend others, but do not harm them in any other significant way. No individual may ever be incarcerated for debts of any type, this explicitly includes, but is not limited to, loans of any type, other personal debts, fines, penalties for non-payment of fines or debts, court fees, or taxes.
Mandatory minimum sentences, three strikes laws, and other such laws that take away the ability of judges to tailor the sentence to the crime and circumstances, or to show mercy, are unconstitutional. Juries may recommend leniency with a two thirds plurality when returning a guilty verdict, and may thereby limit the maximum sentence to anywhere from 10% to 90% of the statutory sentence, require that multiple sentences be served concurrently, or forbid the death penalty. Juries may also decide, even though the circumstances of a defendant’s alleged actions may superficially require a guilty verdict, that they believe that the law does not, or should not, apply to the case at hand, and return a “not guilty” verdict. They must be clearly informed of this option when receiving instructions from the judge and the defense is also allowed to mention and advocate for this option.
When a person completes their prison sentence they must be released. Only another conviction is a valid reason for any further confinement.
12) Any pair of consenting adults who are not already so encumbered, may enter into a binding civil contract entitling them to all the legal benefits of those unions currently called "marriages" and may, at their own sole discretion, refer to themselves as "married", although legally they will be referred to only as members of "Civil Unions". These contracts must clearly state the terms and conditions for their dissolution and for the subsequent division of assets as well as custody rules for any children involved. Every such contract must be able to be terminated by either party, at any time, for any cause. The rules agreed to for asset division and child custody must still be followed. Other contractual arrangements among more than two individuals aimed at individual and group personal commitment, security, and the security of the members’ children, are also legal, but do not enjoy the legal benefits of civil unions. These contracts also must be able to be terminated at will by any party.
Any church may confer the religious union "marriage" at their own sole discretion, in addition to these civil unions, to any couple they deem qualified. The couple would legally be referred to as "Married in the (appropriate) religion."
Small businesses with only one individual owner, and five or less employees, with their only places of business on church land, whose only products are directly related to weddings in that faith or the practice of that religion, may chose to only serve customers who are members of that particular congregation. All other businesses must follow the laws forbidding discrimination. Franchise schemes and other methods of allowing ownership or control of multiple such businesses are not allowed.
No individual can be required to print, write, draw, or otherwise craft, a symbol or message with which they disagree. Single owners of businesses with five or less employees can refuse requests for producing such things, regardless of their reasons, but employees may only chose to quit, they have no right to dictate what their employer produces. Businesses and corporations who have more than one owner must follow all relevant nondiscrimination laws. Objects, such as food items, plants, flowers, clothing, and other products that do not carry any particular meaning outside of additional added adornment, are not such symbols. Common adornments, such as plants, flowers, geometric designs, colors, and animals, are not such symbols. Generic products without any such symbols or messages must be sold to all without consideration of their intended use. You may have to make a very large cake or T-shirt or other product you regularly sell, for anyone, without discrimination, but you do not have to decorate it with any symbols or words you disagree with. This supersedes all current state laws.
13) Every American citizen over the age of eighteen has the right to vote. This right cannot be taken away for any reason. This explicitly includes prisoners. Nobody needs the right to vote on laws, issues, and candidates that may be able to change those laws, than people that have lost their freedom to those laws.
The Voting Rights Act is restored in its entirety. States and localities must make voting simple, easy, safe, and secure from any form of interference. Every individual should have equal access to voting sites and equal ability to cast their vote regardless of their location or membership in protected groups. Barriers to voting that favor higher income individuals are also not allowed. There must be a minimum of one polling place per one thousand voters. Water and bathrooms sufficient for these voters must be available. A way to secure their place in line while using the bathroom or getting water must be provided. Food vendors and others who want to provide food to voters in line must be allowed to do so, subject only to local food safety laws and election campaigning rules. Individuals may sue states and/or localities if these requirements are not met.
Voters are presumed to be qualified if they are on the roles and their votes must then be counted unless evidence of fraud is later proven in court. Voter’s names may not be removed from the roles before ten years have passed since they last voted, and even then only with affirmative evidence of their death or relocation. No identification is required unless two people attempt to vote with the exact same name and address, then the votes must both be provisionally recorded and the discrepancy resolved within fourteen days.
Non-partisan election officials must be in charge of monitoring and certifying elections. Partisan state or local governments may not override the popular vote for any reason.
No federal law enforcement personal may be involved in elections, or be visibly present, or engage in any law enforcement actions within one kilometer of a polling place.
The practice known as Gerrymandering is unconstitutional. A non-partisan commission consisting of mathematicians and statisticians is to be formed to develop a simple and easy to use algorithm that produces voting districts that do not favor any party significantly beyond the natural local proportion of that party, and are compact in the sense that they all fit inside of a circle whose radius is related to the population density. Convoluted serpentine shapes drawn to make or prevent districts of a particular voter make-up are not allowed.
14) The maximum sum total yearly expenditure of each individual of voting age on any and all political donations to individual candidates is limited to one half of the previous year's federal yearly minimum wage. Children may not contribute. Only individuals may contribute. Organizations of any type, being composed of individuals who already have this right, are forbidden from making any political donations to individuals running for office, or to other organizations whose purpose is to support individuals running for office.
Individual candidates may donate an amount not to exceed the amount they collect from individual donations to their own campaign. Initial investments of up to an inflation-adjusted $100,000 of their personal funds, or individual donations as above, or public or other matching funds, used to kick-start a campaign, are exempt from these limits. General non-partisan funds may be used to bring all candidates’ funds up to double their individual contributor’s donations.
Organizations whose purpose is to advocate for or against particular rights or laws, are allowed to accept, and spend, individual’s donations of up to one half of the previous year's federal yearly minimum wage. Only individuals may contribute. The maximum sum total yearly expenditure of each individual of voting age on these donations is limited to one half of the previous year's federal yearly minimum wage. These organizations may use these donations as they wish to advocate for the purpose that they are publicly committed to support, excepting only supporting particular candidates.
Contributions to non-partisan general funds are exempt from these limits. Rules for the equitable distribution of these funds that do not favor the currently rich and powerful must be developed after due consideration by a non-partisan commission appointed for that purpose.
Corporations and other businesses may run ads advocating for or against laws and regulations that clearly affect them. These ads must clearly and explicitly say who is running them and why. Fine print that is not visible for long enough to read it does not satisfy this requirement. They may not be aimed at electing particular candidates.
15) Employees retain all constitutional rights in their employment, and have a right to private lives that their employers cannot control or dictate.
15.1) Employees cannot be fired for their private political or religious affiliations.
15.2) Employees cannot be fired for publicly expressing opinions that have no clear and significant bearing or effect on their employers.
15.3) Employees cannot be fired for their private activities, private communications, or personal affiliations, that have no bearing or effect on their employer’s direct clear interests.
15.4) Employees have a right to privacy outside of work. Employers may not monitor employee’s private activities or communications.
15.5) Drug testing of any type cannot be required as a condition of employment or continued employment, except in cases involving public safety or workplace safety. Workplace safety or public safety does not include minor or common dangers. The workplace dangers which may require testing are: Driving or flying any vehicle; working with dangerous machines; providing medical services, except for low-level care; any police or military work involving possession of a weapon; anything that is clearly similar to, or related to, these type of dangers, and that entails a similar level of risk. Evidence of past addiction, including convictions for drug or alcohol related crimes other than simple possession or use, or involuntary inpatient treatment, may be considered when workplace safety is involved.
Any such testing must be for time periods relevant to the employment. Past usage cannot be considered after the duration of impairment plus one year. Usage outside of work can only be considered if it clearly impacts workplace safety.
15.6) Employees are not slaves. They must be treated with respect and common courtesy. The use of demeaning language, insults, and threats, is not allowed. The only type of threat that is allowed, is a reminder of what the rules and requirements of the job are, and a simple statement of any ways in which those rules are being broken, or those requirements are not being fulfilled, along with what the consequences may be. Businesses may still fire employees for poor performance, bad behavior, or violations of rules that are reasonable and made known to them before they are hired.
Sexual harassment is not allowed. Pressuring lower level employees into sexual relationships is not allowed. Casual flirting between coworkers is allowed, but must be mutual, or be terminated on request with no penalty for either party. People cannot be forbidden from forming relationships at work. They may be given reasonable rules for public displays of affection at work.
Dress codes may be required to be followed. Hair styles and other details of personal appearance and grooming may only be part of these codes if it is a safety issue.
15.7) A national minimum wage of an inflation-adjusted $12 per hour must take effect with the passage of this amendment. A workweek of 40 hours is the maximum that may be required. Voluntary overtime of up to an additional 20 hours per week may be offered and must be paid at an inflation-adjusted $18 per hour.
15.8) Employees may form unions with no penalty of any sort. They must also be free not to join. Benefits that accrue to union members as a result of membership, including, but not limited to, higher pay, do not automatically extend to non-members, but must be extended to them upon payment of one years’ retroactive dues plus current and continuing membership dues.
15.9) Previous criminal convictions can only be asked about or considered in employment applications when the conviction would clearly be relevant to the position offered. Convictions for theft of property or data may be asked about if the position involves access to significant amounts of either. Violent felonies are allowed to be asked about and considered.
16) All punitive fines have to be proportional to income and be able to be replaced by public service. Public service must be imposed in cases where the offender has so many resources that a fine would be meaningless. The rich cannot buy their way out of adherence to our laws. Cash bail can only be imposed in cases involving previously convicted violent criminals or in violent crimes, residential burglary, clear flight risk, multiple repeat offenses, or multiple failures to appear to court dates. Cash bail must be proportional to income as well as to potential dangers to others and flight risk. Offenders who have many previous offenses, or who are determined to be a serious risk to the public, may, upon presentation of significant evidence of guilt, be denied bail. Incarceration must be terminated after a period time equal to one-half the average sentence for the alleged crime if no trial is under way. The charges must then be permanently dismissed. Trials must be completed, or charges must be permanently dismissed, after incarceration for three quarters of the average sentence for the alleged crime. Electronic monitoring may be used in place of bail or temporary incarceration, or as an alternative to punitive incarceration. This monitoring may be used to restrict the movements of the individual as punishment or as a preventative measure.
17) All law enforcement personnel who interact with the public must be equipped with audio and video recording devices within five years of the passage of this amendment. These must be used during any encounter with the public. They must also be installed on all police vehicles to be used to record traffic violations and stops. Any member of the public may record video or audio of their own or other’s interactions with law enforcement or other government employees without penalty or interference. Only military bases, and research, defense, or intelligence agencies’ properties, may restrict these recordings, and only for good cause. These recordings may not be used for publicly making fun of, or personally attacking, any employee who is following the law and behaving in a reasonable way.
Individuals may verbally object to, and even vehemently oppose, police actions, without penalty. They may not physically prevent arrests.
Local and state law enforcement must provide use of force data and misconduct allegations to the FBI, for inclusion in a public database. These statistics must be reported to congress and made available to the press on a yearly basis.
18) The following requirements must be met in order for a conviction of a crime or group of crimes subject to one or more months in prison. Any conviction may be appealed at any point if they can be shown to have been violated. Significant new evidence of innocence is always a valid reason for an appeal.
18.1) Defendants must have an adequate defense. In the case of federal, state, or local public defenders, adequate time, money, and other resources must be available. Lawyers must meet minimum standards of competence to be determined by the Supreme Court if Congress fails to legislate clearly reasonable such standards. Evidence of malfeasance, negligence, or other failures to provide an adequate defense are always valid reasons for appeal and the granting of new trials.
18.2) Prosecutors must provide all relevant information to the defendant’s lawyer as soon as it is known. In particular, that information must be provided well in advance of the offering or acceptance of any plea deal.
18.3) Judges must hold a pretrial hearing on the reliability of jailhouse informants. If they are found to be of questionable reliability, their testimony must be excluded. All of the inducements given to these informants must be revealed to the defense and the jury.
18.4) Witnesses given an opportunity to identify a suspect in a photo or live line-up, must be told that the perpetrator may not be there. The suspect and decoys must be wearing similar clothes and be of similar general appearance. The person conducting the line-up must not know which person is the suspect. No further information about the witness's identification may be provided to them prior to an unbiased assessment of their confidence in their identification or lack of an identification. The line-up and post line-up interview must be videotaped. Juries must be allowed to see these recordings if the defendant’s lawyer wants them to.
18.5) The reliability of forensic techniques used must be well-established and subject to challenge, both during the trial, and later, on appeal, if those techniques and the results produced by them, become suspect for any reason, including, but not limited to, advances in the science behind them. Evidence of malfeasance on the part of anyone involved in collecting or processing the evidence is also valid cause for appeal.
18.6) All federal or local interrogations involving American citizens must follow these rules: 1) They must be videotaped, with clear audio, from beginning to end, and these tapes must be available to the defense in any proceedings involving the contents. 2) The interrogators may not lie about facts, legal consequences, or anything else that might mislead the suspect into a false or coerced confession. 3) The individual being questioned must be allowed to satisfy all normal human needs, such as access to food, water, and bathroom breaks. Interrogations may not last more than four hours without a one hour break, may not total more than eight hours in one day, and may not interrupt the suspect’s sleep. 4) Charges, supported by clearly relevant evidence, must be filed within 48 hours, or the individual must be released. 5) Suspects must be informed of their Miranda rights when arrested and at the beginning of every interrogation session. Suspects may not be penalized, before, during, or after being arrested, for refusing to answer questions. If they ask for a lawyer during interrogation, it must end until a lawyer representing them is present. 6) If the suspect invokes their right to remain silent, the interrogation must end.
18.7) The practice of “over-charging”, to force plea deals, is not allowed. Individuals have a right to a jury trial and threats of added or exaggerated charges intended to, or having the effect of, forcing them to give up that right, are not allowed. Charges must be reasonable in light of the circumstances, and also when compared to charges filed and prosecuted in similar past cases. Threats to family and friends are not allowed.
18.8) Anyone under the age of 18 must have a parent or legal guardian present during questioning while detained in any fashion. Individuals whose mental competence or stability is clearly questionable must have an advocate or attorney present during questioning while detained in any fashion.
19) Net Neutrality is the principle governing internet regulation. All users and sites must have equal access to the infrastructure that allows them to connect to each other. Sites may not pay for preferential treatment. Internet infrastructure is not a public utility. Providers are not common carriers, but may still be regulated in ways that encourage competition, quality and speed of service, reasonable prices, and rural and general access.
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher of, or speaker of, any information provided or posted by another user or information content provider.
Internet Service Providers and Internet Sites are not responsible for content posted by users, but may be required to remove, or try to discourage the posting of, content that depicts child abuse, promotes dangerous medical misinformation, promotes terrorism, or contains clearly false information that does, or is intended to, disrupt our free elections. Individuals may still post content that is clearly labeled as opinion, on any site that is willing to host it. That content may be required to be removed as above, but is not legally subject to prior restraint.
Social media and other sites cannot be forced in any manner to host any content that does not comply with their freely self-determined and clearly posted “Terms of service”.
Content that is dangerous, criminally deceptive, fraudulent, or that violates copyright laws, may also be required to be removed within a reasonable amount of time after it is discovered, but is also not legally subject to prior restraint. The time allowed to remove such content must be determined by technical, physical, and financial constraints, as well as the damage that may accrue to the public as a result of such content.
20) Jury verdicts in any criminal case, local or federal, must be unanimous. Juries must be reasonably representative of the population that they are drawn from. Juries must have at least one member of similar, but not identical, racial characteristics as the defendant, if those characteristics are common in the area. (Common means 5% or more of the population in the state for felonies, or county for misdemeanor crimes, or of the country for federal crimes. This refers to where the crime was committed.)
21) The rights enumerated here, and in the rest of the constitution, apply to all citizens, in all states, all territories, and all foreign locations. This cannot be bypassed by taking citizens elsewhere or by delivering them into foreign custody. They cannot be bypassed by any action or subterfuge of the courts, congress, or the executive branch, or state or local entities.
22) Any law that can only be enforced by invading the privacy of an individual’s temporary or permanent residence by the proactive use of surveillance technologies, or by invading an individual’s private medical records, or by proactively invading an individual’s data, thoughts, or memories, of any type, in any way, is unconstitutional.
23) Lotteries and scratch-offs and other government run gambling schemes must pay back out 80% of the price to play. The net profit (winnings minus losses) from gambling must be taxed in exactly the same way as earnings from casual work (side jobs). The sum total of federal, state, and local taxes, on alcohol or any other drug of any type, cannot exceed 50% of the final price to the consumer. Taxes, including income or other sorts of taxes or fees, on prostitution, cannot exceed 50% of the price that the consumer pays.
24) Parents can decide what level of autonomy to allow their children without penalty. After age 6, children may be allowed to play mostly unsupervised in the yard or immediate vicinity of the family residence if there are no obviously serious, or unusual, dangers, that a reasonable person would be able to identify. After age 10, children may be allowed to play unsupervised in the neighborhood of the family residence, or at nearby playgrounds, also under the condition that there are no obviously serious, or unusual, dangers that a reasonable person would be able to identify, without penalty. Both of these provisions are irrespective of negative consequences that may possibly result from this freedom.
Parents can decide what medical treatments their children are allowed to have or not have without governmental interference or penalty, excepting only denying life-saving emergency care. Vaccines and other infectious disease control measures may be required for public school attendance.
Children have basic rights. They are not their parent’s slaves. They have a right to basic nondenominational educational information even in private schools. They may not be physically or mentally abused. They have freedom of the mind. They only freedoms they don’t have are those that must be relegated to their parents or guardians until such time (18 years of age at the latest, or younger if reasonable) that they become fully capable of exercising them.
25) State laws cannot reach beyond their borders in any way. States cannot penalize or prohibit or prevent or restrict Americans who wish to move into or out of their states, in any way, or restrict their travel in any way for any reason, except as a condition for parole or probation that is not imposed solely for that purpose.
States are allowed to decide about, legislate, and regulate, the research into the effects and possible medical uses of, and the sale and legality of, all recreational drugs, within their borders. These laws supersede federal laws. The only exception is that possessing small amounts of any drug for personal use cannot be prohibited or penalized.