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Bill: Lex Mutanabbia de Corporis Poena
Details
Submitted by[?]: Factio Republicana Socialistica
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: May 4408
Description[?]:
| Mutanabbian Law on Corporal Punishment Senators, Voluntary corporal punishment has been a cornerstone policy of the Republican Party, and one that we are proud to have introduced and defended numerous times in the Senate. The previous administration unfortunately abolished that practice, but the political climate is once again such that judicial corporal punishment can be reintroduced. So far we have not received any convincing argument as to why a policy of involuntary incarceration is in any way preferable to voluntary judicial corporal punishment. The possibility of reform and rehabilitation was quoted by the Senate in its proposal to end corporal punishment, however it is known that incarceration does not actually achieve this goal. Recidivism remains high, no matter how many resources we dedicate towards rehabilitation programs, so in fact most inmates do not see prison as an experience to meditate on their actions and modify their future behavior. Given that most crimes actually have an economic cause, it stands to reason that further harming the employability of offenders and removing them from the labor force will do little to remove the causes of crime, and will in fact exacerbate them. The car thief or heroin addict will have little reason to reform in prison, and, statistically, most of them do not. Moreover, given that imprisonment happens beyond the reach of the public eye, with little accountability and oversight, inmates are subject to considerable physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Just because we don't see what happens in prison does not mean it does not happen. The physical and mental torture that prisoners experience for years is, frankly, barbaric, and the fact that they find themselves under the arbitrary domination of prison wardens and other inmates is contrary to Republican principles. And incarceration does not just harm the individual, but has serious negative consequences for the inmate's family, friends, community, and society as a whole. Senators, we are not proposing this out of sadism or even a desire to punish. We are proposing this because, however cruel and barbaric corporal punishment may be, and we absolutely agree that it is, prison is unmeasurably worse. We are proposing this as a compassionate measure, by choosing the lesser evil and allowing the offenders themselves the freedom to choose their own punishment. Compared to judicial corporal punishment, under clearly defined and pre-determined criteria as we are proposing, jail is absolute torture. I will repeat the question I had asked Secretary Belletor: if any of you, given the opportunity, could choose between ten lashes and five years in prison, which would you prefer? I know I would take the lash any day. If there is any compassion in the Senate, I hope you would do the same. So I urge all of you to once again put an end to the cruel and horrific torture that goes on every day in our prisons and accept our proposal. With your support, the Senate will once again restore judicial corporal punishment, under the same conditions as introduced in 4397: I. All those convicted of a crime resulting in a prison sentence of at least one year will be allowed to voluntarily alter their prison sentence to an equivalent of one lash per six months of jail time. II. The offender shall receive no more than 30 lashes on any one occasion, irrespective of the total number of offences committed. III. Flogging is to be carried under strict medical supervision by a trained medical officer. The medical officer is to certify that the offender is fit to undergo the procedure and verify the offender's medical fitness for its entire duration. IV. Flogging must not be carried out in installments. Should the medical officer, at any point during the procedure, certify that the offender is no longer in a fit state to receive the remainder of the punishment, the procedure must be stopped, and the offender returned to the court for the remainder of lashes to be converted to the equivalent prison term. V. Flogging is to be applied over the bare buttocks, and protective gear is to be worn by the offender to avoid damage to vital organs, such as bones, the kidneys or the spine. VI. Flogging is to always be applied in private by a trained and physically fit caning officer, who is to maximize the physical and psychological pain caused by flogging without causing lasting damage; if the sentence involves more than six lashes two or more officers may take turns to flog the offender to ensure all lashes are equal in forcefulness. VII. Flogging is to be applied with a single whip, which must be treated with antiseptic prior to use to prevent infection. VIII. The following categories of offenders may not apply for flogging and must carry out their prison sentence: * Offenders convicted of first-degree murder * Violent sexual offenders * Repeat sexual offenders * Repeat violent offenders * Offenders convicted of sexual crimes against minors * Offenders sentenced to death whose sentences have not been commuted * Offenders under the age of 16 or over the age of 65 Haider bin Talal al-Mutanabbi Minister of Justice |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Legality of judicial physical punishment
Old value:: All forms of physical punishment are illegal.
Current: Judicial corporal punishment that causes permanent injury (eg. mutilation) is legal.
Proposed: Judicial corporal punishment (eg. caning or flogging) is legal.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 20:58:13, June 12, 2018 CET | From | Novus Partis Rexisti | To | Debating the Lex Mutanabbia de Corporis Poena |
| Message | Senators, As we have done before, we shall support this bill. Gildas Justinian Princeps Senatus |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | |||
| yes | Total Seats: 388 | |||
| no | Total Seats: 362 | |||
| abstain |
Total Seats: 0 |
| Random fact: Particracy does not allow role-play that seems to belong to the world of fantasy, science fiction and futuristic speculation. |
| Random quote: "He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself." - Thomas Paine |