r/Constitution

Clearly the American People need a much more robust system to stop a lawless President! Trump simply does what he wants and the Courts seem to be very little protection without a independent Justice Department!

Clearly we need a Justice Department, Inspector Generals and other oversight protection that have a firewall at least as strong as the Federal Reserve! Apparently relying on Congressional Oversight has been a complete failure with the current batch of dick-less Republicans

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u/RumRunnerMax — 1 day ago
▲ 3 r/Constitution+1 crossposts

What are the defining structural features of a constitution under a dictatorship, and how do they differ from those of democratic and totalitarian constitutions?

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u/Anomoly_01 — 2 days ago

How fast do you think the 2nd Amendment would be appealed or become even more restrictive in language if let’s say a billionaire decided to publicly make a program to provide minorities with $50 pistols/ guns in general?

Let’s assume to register for those guns, you would have to go through the same waiting period and evaluations as normal.

What would you think would happen? 🤔

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u/Thin_Huckleberry_913 — 3 days ago
▲ 1 r/Constitution+2 crossposts

I’ve spent months designing a hypothetical constitution built around meritocracy rather than electoral democracy. I want you to try to break it.

The Compact - An Attempt at a Meritocratic Constitutional Order

I'm aware that this is an absurdly large project. You absolutely do not need to read everything before commenting. If you see a fundamental problem with the premise itself, I'd actually prefer to hear that first. I'm looking for criticism of the architecture, not proofreading.

For those who want to read the documents:

Vol 0 Philosophy & founding principles- https://docs.google.com/document/d/142GezRBB66HTOulO9wBlNOuxLmnWgIVmSFMFM_x9O7I/edit?usp=sharing

Vol 1The Constitution- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T4euGmAKpbRrftVNNGLJJ9Kvt15GYksi/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117757509984994683636&rtpof=true&sd=true

Vol 2 The Colors https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NmtSNx7oV6PodEHqVn5V8HJRzeCQsCTl/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117757509984994683636&rtpof=true&sd=true

Vol 3Curriculum https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tGJ_X3vVlqPrn6nrxysXp7hz6MG82Mcl/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117757509984994683636&rtpof=true&sd=true

Vol 4 Military**:** Not included here; this was largely written because I thought it would be fun.

vol 5 Admin, Ministries & the ordinary machinery of government https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tGJ_X3vVlqPrn6nrxysXp7hz6MG82Mcl/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117757509984994683636&rtpof=true&sd=true

vol 6 Known Tensions (Work in Progress)

I've been working on this project for several months. Although it is still very much a work in progress, I think it has reached the point where I need people who don't already agree with me to start tearing it apart.

I'm currently writing a large Known Tensions volume specifically dedicated to the problems, contradictions, trade-offs, and failure modes I have not been able to resolve. The problem is that I'm too close to the project. I've spent so long building it that I can no longer reliably distinguish between a genuinely robust mechanism and something I simply know how to defend because I've spent years thinking about it.

So I want outside eyes.

I've designed a hypothetical constitutional system called the Compact, very loosely inspired by Red Rising.

The central premise is fairly simple:

>

The resulting system is neither conventional democracy nor hereditary aristocracy. It is closer to a constitutional meritocracy / technocratic republic, although neither term quite captures the entire thing.

The Compact divides society into vocational Colors, each responsible for a particular domain of civilisation. Gold is responsible for political governance; White for justice, ethics, and philosophy; Silver for finance and industry; Yellow for medicine; Grey for public security; Violet for arts and culture; and so on.

Importantly, the Colors are not intended to be hereditary castes.

Birth determines a citizen's starting Color, but every citizen receives a common education and later has the opportunity to change Color. Advancement within each Color is based upon demonstrated competence rather than birth. The system uses multiple ranks, examinations, apprenticeships, peer review, continuing evaluation, and professional experience rather than allowing a single examination to determine someone's worth.

The political system itself is deliberately designed around the assumption that institutions will eventually fail.

It therefore contains mechanisms such as:

independent courts;

an independent Inspectorate;

recall of officeholders;

term limits;

constitutional review;

transparency and permanent public records;

citizen petitions and political participation;

protections for independent journalism and whistleblowers;

restrictions on emergency powers;

separation between investigation, prosecution, adjudication, execution, and review;

periodic institutional review;

and an explicit constitutional principle of autophagy, under which an institution can ultimately be reformed or dissolved if it demonstrably ceases to serve the civilisation it was created to serve.

There is also a deliberate distinction between rights and duties. Citizens retain fundamental rights regardless of their Color or rank, while the Constitution also imposes a civic expectation that citizens cultivate their abilities and contribute to civilisation.

But I don't want this post to be a sales pitch.

In fact, one of the sections I'm currently developing is a massive Known Tensions volume whose purpose is to catalogue problems the Constitution does not pretend to have solved.

The central problem: meritocratic legitimacy vs. democratic legitimacy

Citizens do not directly elect the people who ultimately legislate. Gold elects Gold from among its most highly qualified political candidates.

The argument is that competent government may require political equality to be sacrificed to some degree.

The obvious counterargument is that political equality is itself a fundamental component of legitimate government, regardless of whether the people exercising political authority are competent.

I don't think that tension can simply be wished away.

And that's exactly the sort of criticism I'm looking for.

I'm particularly interested in people attacking the project from perspectives such as:

democratic theory;

liberalism;

republicanism;

political legitimacy;

technocracy;

aristocracy and elite theory;

institutional design;

constitutional law;

political economy;

sociology;

public choice theory;

or simply "this sounds good on paper but would catastrophically fail in reality."

Please don't just tell me whether you like the idea. Try to find where it breaks.

Some questions I'd particularly like people to consider:

Does a meritocratic ruling class inevitably become an aristocracy, even if it isn't hereditary?

Can a government be legitimate if citizens cannot ultimately replace its governing class through equal elections?

How do you prevent an expert class from becoming intellectually or culturally insulated from everyone else?

Can merit actually be measured reliably enough to determine political authority?

What happens when the experts are collectively wrong?

What happens when the majority is collectively wrong?

Does the Compact actually prevent elite capture, or merely make elite capture more sophisticated?

Are its checks and balances sufficient if multiple institutions become wrong in the same direction?

Could the system maintain legitimacy across generations, or would later generations simply reject the premise that competence entitles anyone to greater political power?

What assumptions about human nature does this system make, and which of those assumptions are likely to be false?

I'm not claiming this is a finished constitution, and I'm certainly not claiming that I've solved political organisation.

Quite the opposite.

I want people to find the things I haven't solved.

The document is currently enormous and still expanding, so although id love it, I don't expect anyone to read every page. I've included the current drafts for anyone interested in examining the actual institutional mechanisms rather than just the premise.

If you think the entire premise is fundamentally mistaken, I'd especially like to hear why.

If you think one of the mechanisms is inadequate, explain how you would exploit it.

And if you think something actually works, tell me why you think it works.

I'm trying to develop this as a serious exercise in political philosophy and institutional design, not merely as worldbuilding.

u/Your_Autistic_Cousin — 5 days ago

Remote workers privacy invaded

Have you guys ever heard of companies invading the privacy of their employees?
Not name dropping, but what I’ve experienced I would say that 95% of companies that send their remote employees equipment are invading their privacy by accessing other devices in their home/ on the home internet network you share with the company. I have 100% proof I’m being hacked through my smart extension cables

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u/OldOrange915 — 5 days ago

Killing a Kodiak

Killing a Kodiak, Killing a Republic

Sullivan’s Record of Submission, Silence, and Damage

By Van Abbott

Some trophies never stop bleeding.

Senator Dan Sullivan’s campaign television commercial celebrating the killing of a Kodiak bear was intended to project strength. Instead, it revealed something more enduring: a view of power that measures success by domination rather than stewardship.

A magnificent animal became a political prop. Triumph replaced respect. Conquest eclipsed responsibility. The same instinct that turns a living symbol into a trophy can also shape the exercise of public office.

In the United States Senate, that instinct has left a record.

Over the past decade, Sullivan’s votes, public silences, and repeated deference to Donald Trump have formed a pattern. It is not merely political. It is constitutional. Again and again, Sullivan has aligned himself with a president whose conduct has tested constitutional limits and challenged the institutions designed to restrain executive power. Where independence was required, he offered loyalty. Where scrutiny was expected, he supplied silence. Where the law demanded clarity, he accepted ambiguity.

This is not an occasional lapse. It is a governing philosophy.

The first obligation of a senator is defending the rule of law, especially when doing so carries political risk. Sullivan has supported or tolerated the elevation of loyalists whose allegiance appeared directed more toward one individual than toward the institutions they were sworn to serve. The executive branch cannot police itself. It depends upon officials who understand that public office requires fidelity to the Constitution before loyalty to any president. Replace independence with obedience, and constitutional safeguards begin to erode from within.

Sullivan knows these constitutional responsibilities. He has chosen a different course.

When expansive theories of presidential immunity are advanced, when long-established precedent is stretched beyond recognition, or when credible allegations involving undisclosed financial dealings demand scrutiny, a senator trained in the law has an obligation to insist upon transparency. Silence in such moments is not neutrality. It is permission.

The Constitution grants presidents the power to issue pardons, but it does not sanctify their abuse. When clemency appears to reward political allies rather than correct injustice, confidence in equal justice inevitably weakens. A senator unwilling to question that pattern helps normalize it.

The courts deserve the same vigilance. Allegations that executive officials or the Department of Justice have advanced claims that misrepresent material facts should trigger rigorous congressional inquiry. Fraud upon the court is not merely a political accusation. It threatens the integrity of the judicial system itself. Yet Sullivan has offered no sustained public effort to demand independent review.

Congress possesses constitutional tools precisely for moments such as these. Hearings. Subpoenas. Investigations. Public findings. They exist to preserve the separation of powers, not to serve partisan interests. 

Enable. Excuse. Evade.

That pattern extends beyond the courtroom and into broader questions of national policy.

Military commitments continue without clearly defined objectives or measurable endpoints. Congress possesses the constitutional authority to authorize and oversee war, yet too often allows prolonged conflicts to continue with limited debate and diminished accountability.

America’s alliances have been weakened by inconsistency and inflammatory rhetoric, yet Sullivan has offered little sustained resistance. Immigration laws remain outdated despite widespread recognition that reform is necessary. Vast sums flow abroad while urgent needs at home are dismissed as unaffordable. Each decision can be defended in isolation. Together, they reveal priorities shaped less by constitutional responsibility than by proximity to power.

The bear was never just the bear.

A Kodiak represents more than size. It represents strength balanced by nature, power restrained by an ecosystem that allows it to endure. To celebrate its death as entertainment is to misunderstand what gives it value. It is to confuse domination with achievement.

The Constitution survives for the same reason. It is not protected by the power of one person, but by the balance among institutions. Presidents possess enormous authority because Congress, the courts, and the rule of law impose limits upon that authority. When elected officials stop defending those limits, the system begins to weaken.

Senator Sullivan’s record tells that story. Oversight yields to loyalty. Constitutional duty yields to political calculation. Silence becomes consent. 

Some trophies never stop bleeding.

The Sullivan television commercial celebrated one. History may remember another. A republic is rarely destroyed in a single dramatic moment. It is weakened every time constitutional duty yields to political loyalty, every time oversight gives way to silence, and every time power escapes accountability.

If that pattern continues, the greatest trophy hanging on the wall will not be a Kodiak bear.

It will be the Constitution itself.

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u/Appropriate-Staff543 — 6 days ago
▲ 3 r/Constitution+1 crossposts

What happened after Watergate?

Congressional reform. They did it after Watergate? Why not step in and do it now? Reverse all the corruption and give people their jobs back. The ones that quit cause they didn’t want to do follow something they didn’t believe in.

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u/Weary-Sky-8534 — 7 days ago

Constitution 2.0 - anyone start such a conversation?

250 years is impressive, but it’s apparent we need some fixes. Setting aside the logistics of implementing a rewritten constitution, I’m curious what key changes should be made?

• Limit terms: Set a maximum time limit for people in Congress and the Supreme Court. Just like the President.

• Congressional Benefits: Limit to what is available to all government employees.

• Fair maps: Stop politicians from drawing voting lines to help only their own party.

• Money in politics: Make campaign rules stricter so rich donors have less special power.

• Balanced budget: Force the government to spend only the money it actually makes.

• Health care access: Make basic medical care a clear right for everyone.

• Work rules: Raise the minimum wage to match the real cost of living.

• Get rid of the electorial college.

• Better Define "we the people": "we" is more than white men. Woman, gay, transgender, atheists, legal immigrants, etc.

...just a start! :)

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u/Separate_Rock_1962 — 9 days ago

Could US citizens organize a class action lawsuit against the Trump administration for some of the executive orders and policy changes that are violating our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

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u/joeyjoejoeshabbadude — 8 days ago

A second American Republic - new constitution and the elite permanently disciplined and removed from political power

I have come up with profound reforms; the oldest being 17 years old last month- and the most recent and powerful this past January. My system is a hybrid of capitalism- allowing the animal spirits to roam in a regulated but fair market system. Making America the top of ease-of-doing business ratings.

The profit motive has proven a failure in many areas and the law is the most important one of those. The January reform is to create a new legal cohort- trained from 13 to 23- and leaving with no debt- to make 250k a year- today's value of money. This cohort will be divided into criminal law - civil law and business. The Criminal division will train in all three positions- so they can be judge in one case but defense lawyer in their next one. The person facing charges uses a randomizer to pick the team that decides their fate. Businesses present' their issues to the legal/business cohort- a team is put together, a binding decision is made in six months at the most. Same for civil matters- no lawyers needed. This is a huge hedge against inflation- stopping the billions spent on lawyers milking hours- and billions in retainers not working for the economy.

The new economy will be designed by Andrew Lo- author of Adaptive Markets and MIT professor- working with The Economist Intelligence Unit to deliver unified business laws across all the states- taking away the power of the states to regulate business. Sweeping away the distortions that now hold back- banking- insurance, construction and finance- ending regulatory arbitrage. Also, employee regs will be unified and set. In the gestation of the system - the necessity to spend the current 60 billion on compliance will end- and this is another huge check against inflation.

And anyone running for office or work for the civil service- after the transition- will have to been trained like the legal cohort from 13 to 23. Learning important lessons and being exposed to the reality of war. A 3-D room will be created to show the future decisions makers the horrors of war- battlefield surgery- the aftermath of mass deaths through battle. Ten thousand case studies of the devasting effect of losing a warfighter to the family. Ten thousand case studies of the suicides because of how badly Iraq and Afghanistan wars were managed. Learn how idealism without practical data guiding it can be devasting. Using the example of the last Senate of the Roman Republic- announcing that Julis Caesar was to face trial; to dismiss his 50k men and come to Rome. The hard data that Caesar was an exceptional battlefield commander whose men were made rich by his decisions- who trusted his military instincts like the thoughts were coming out of their own heads- was clear. They ignored that reality and created fifteen years of civil war before Augustus settled things down in the new Empire- which eventually allowed depraved morons like Nero and Caligula to rule to devasting effect. Or the lesson of the Jewish Zealots who- though justified in every way- agitated and created a conflict they had no chance to win like a toddler fighting an adult- three times- leading to the mess we are still dealing with in the middle east- their idealism has had profound costs including the German pogrom of the 1940s.

My oldest reform ends all money in politics-the nightmare Citizens United has created. A super website will handle all political campaigns from the local dogcatcher to president. This site will be the only place money can be given and limited to $75 a politician. E-cards or government issued credit cards will be the only way a campaign can spend its money and that will be available to be audited.

A government construction cohort will be created to build government housing. Using design methods and hempcrete to keep cooling and heating cost down- backed up by solar and wind arrays for each home or cluster of homes. These homes will be rented for 22% of household income. Paying more can buy you the place but it can never be sold for profit- but only given to family. If a person who owns one of these properties and wants to move to a new state- the transition will be easy-peasy- no cost. Warehouses will be created that take in people's stuff- the heavy things - gives them a credit- and when they move to their new state a similar warehouse will have things they need at a fair price with a certain level of quality. Also, a cohort will be created that maintains and fixes issues in these properties- but they will also fix problems for renters- without the landlord needing to get involved - their buying power will make things cheaper and probably save landlords money in the long run- but it is the right thing to do and huge vote winner Personal property taxes will be ended after a home is paid off- another huge vote winner and check against inflation.

My education reforms end the Prussian system of being bored to death- and that only motivates natural students. The first 8 years will be about- layered empowerment- instilling basic life skills and emotional grounding- preparing them to make their career choice at thirteen. Delivering a maturity level at thirteen that most of us took to our mid-twenties to find. Lobbying will be outlawed- replaced by live-stream pitch that anyone can make about a pending law or current law- saved forever and sent to right committees. These are just a few of my reforms - I have about a thousand pages of reforms and their nuances- and the plans for the transition.

What I am looking for right now is someone to bankroll my data intake. At 59 with a sleep disorder and a job that men and women half my age could not keep up with because of the physical/mental demands- has taken away my energy to read. I crave data have two hundred plus history books waiting for me to digest. I will send you everything I have developed already- and report what I have read and what I have learned if you want that. All the reforms I have come to me in pop-up- Gestalt- mostly formed ideas from the previous data I have digested- and I know when I am reading 40 to 60 hours every week more ideas will come. I am asking for a modest raise from the $1000 a week I make now from tips- and modest sum for better computer equipment. The money can be held in an escrow paid quarterly or twice a year.

I grew up lower-middle class and lived the same. I know the stress of being a dumb fuck with money and getting an email alert that your checking account is the negative- forcing you to go to an ATM and deposit the cash I was too tired earlier. I can sell these reforms where a middle-class person including my nephew Dan Lizka- who is above reproach- honorable- but raised solid middle class upper / middle-class life could not. I am Them'- THE PEOPLE- and the 40% who never bother to vote will now have reason to.

The plan is to use your confidence in me- to parlay to bigger backer with your support. The bigger backer will bankroll my charity ideas to deliver proof of concept before the second constitution is presented to public as whole living thing. I discovered Stanislav Grof's protocols when I was 30- they were the reason I healed my drinking problem and my PTSD and other minor issues- they are effective and life changing- on a permanent basis. We use these protocols to heal war vets- train them- place them in good jobs they are ready for- including government jobs- since the government goes out of the way to hire them. Some of this healed cohort will want to give back and serve others- with them we open or take over children's charities- shelters for abused women. So, when we present The Boring Party and the second Republic, we have real proof of concept- with the promise once elected The Boring Party dismantles itself and the training system I have developed takes over.

I have worked at the same place for 17 years this October- and lived in the same place for 14.5 years- next month- FYI.

Joseph Madbak

3815 Thaxton Ave SE

Albuquerque, NM 87108

JMadbak1967@gmail.com

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u/ClerkExpress4129 — 6 days ago
▲ 6 r/Constitution+2 crossposts

Violation of the 14th amendment🇺🇸🚩

Unable to afford education or lose your car to a private towing company the law treats all defendants as individuals but collateral consequences like these they fall harder on working class defendants than on wealthier ones, Does this create a two tier justice system that violates the 14th amendment Equal Protection Guarantee Even when the Law itself Appears neutral on its face.

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u/Rough_Engineering513 — 8 days ago
▲ 11 r/Constitution+1 crossposts

Islamization

For those of you suddenly shrieking in fear and clutching your proverbial pearls over the silly idea that the United States is being “taken over by Muslims,” and that you will suddenly be forced to live under Sharia law, you need only come back to the Constitution—the same Constitution some of you seemed perfectly willing to ignore when it was your religion you wanted government to favor:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
That is the very first sentence of the very First Amendment.
And then there’s the math.
Muslims make up only about 1.2% of the U.S. adult population. Christians, by comparison, account for roughly 62%. Even Americans who identify with no religion at all—atheists, agnostics and those who simply say “nothing in particular”—make up about 29% of U.S. adults.
In other words, the religiously unaffiliated alone outnumber Muslims in America by roughly 24 to 1.
And our Constitution addressed another part of this argument before the First Amendment was even written.
Article VI explicitly prohibits religious tests for public office:
“…no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
The Constitution does not require someone to be Christian—or Muslim, Jewish, atheist or anything else—to serve this country.
Likewise, religious belief has no legitimate place as a qualification for the right to vote. How someone worships—or whether they worship at all—is inherently a private matter.
In fact, for those who insist that Christianity should guide public life, the Bible itself contains a rather pointed instruction about making a public spectacle of one’s faith. Matthew 6:6 tells believers to pray privately, “in thy closet,” rather than for public display.
Choosing our political leaders should hinge on the policies they promote, their character and competence, and how well they adhere to the idea of governing for everyone—not just a select few who happen to believe, worship, look or live as they do.
The 2020 U.S. Religion Census identified 356,739 religious congregations across the United States, representing hundreds of different religious bodies. Christianity isn’t exactly hanging on by a thread.
That same census identified approximately 3,300 Jewish congregations across the country, alongside Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other religious congregations—not to mention the tens of millions of Americans who are agnostic, atheist or otherwise religiously unaffiliated and, yes, even the occasional adherent of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
All of these people live under the same First Amendment.
The sudden fear of “Islamization” is not evidence that America is somehow on the verge of becoming an Islamic state. It is a remarkably effective political tactic for generating fear, hate and division—and for convincing people that they need someone to protect them from an enemy that is supposedly coming to take away their way of life.
But the Constitution already provides the protection.
It protects Christians from a government-imposed Islam.
It protects Muslims from a government-imposed Christianity.
And it protects those who want absolutely nothing to do with either one.
That isn’t a flaw in the American system.
That’s the point.
If you believe in country over party, if you believe in facts and critical thinking over fear, and if you simply believe in the Constitution, then leaving the fear behind and making honest, informed decisions becomes a whole lot easier.
Sources:
• Pew Research Center — 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study: Religious Identity
• U.S. Constitution, First Amendment — Congress.gov / Constitution Annotated
• U.S. Constitution, Article VI, Clause 3 — Congress.gov / Constitution Annotated
• 2020 U.S. Religion Census — Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies

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u/frostedkinkster — 11 days ago

CMV: Jews hold a disproportionate amount of power in American society largely for innocuous reasons but wield that power to persuade the US government to adopt foreign policy decisions that often run counter to US interests all because they have a greater feeling of loyalty towards Israeli interests

I've come to this thesis not through those stereotypically awful conspiracy nutjobs but through my own thinking. I've followed the syrian civil war pretty closely for the past 5 years and as the dust has settled the reality has become more transparent. To Israel, Iran is a hostile nation. The expansion and rapid contraction of Isis have provided Iran the opportunity to make their way in the good favors of Iraq and Syria. With the civil wars coming to an end, the Iranians with help from the russians have effectively recreated an Achaemenid Persia that has a direct link to Hezbollah in Lebanon. This had been Israel's worst case scenario all along and they had been working hard to make sure this didn't happen.

Even more ominous is the strange alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia and so by extension us. Ideologically there isn't much of any difference between the SA and Iran but because the two are enemies and Iran is seen as more hostile to Israel, both the US and Israel find an ally in the SA.

I never really understood the past 8 or so years(I'm young so I don't remember anything before Obama) of staunch anti-Iranian rhetoric with the pro-Saudi Arabians within our government but with this thesis it makes sense ya know...the pieces fit with this outlook.

Otherwise why does America give a shit about a land as far away as Israel and Iran? Because of pro-israeli influence within its own institutions is what I assert.


> This is a footnote from the CMV moderators. We'd like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please read through our rules. If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which, downvotes don't change views! Any questions or concerns? Feel free to message us. Happy CMVing!

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u/hottcheeseupfront — 11 days ago

Legal reforms mandatory for protecting democracy

In a country where justice is always delayed and often corrupt, the judicial system is the punishment distributed to the victims.
Since the judiciary can easily be misused for political gains, to protect democracy, the first and foremost reforms needs to be in the judiciary.
Speedy justice has to become the norm. This is however never in any political manifesto. It is not demanded by the public, as other demands are prioritized more, not incentivizing any political party to fix it.

Speedy and fair judiciary is the most important demand the public can make.

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u/Remarkable_Peach7778 — 10 days ago

Can an agency regulate a lawful religious model out of existence when the statute doesn't require it?

A Native friend of mine, Indigenous to Oregon, wants to establish a psilocybin church, with an OHA-approved training program, and licensed service center grounded in Indigenous ceremonial practice.

This "2022 Oregon DOJ memorandum" https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cCzeOG4KXqhvHrA6Dd4yC8kSosl0ub\_x/view?usp=drivesdk analyzed an entheogenic pathway involving Indigenous traditions, ceremonial practice, affordability, and treatment of mushrooms as sacred. DOJ ultimately concluded that giving religious practitioners less restrictive regulations was unnecessary.

But what Oregon implemented next raises a serious constitutional question.

First, HECC isn't mentioned anywhere in the Measure 109 statutes. Yet OHA later adopted a rule requiring training programs to provide HECC documentation showing career-school licensure or that licensure isn't required.

Religious institutions can be statutorily exempt from career-school regulation. Yet HECC now says it lacks authority to issue exemption determinations for those exempt categories. This makes OHA’s required documentation seemingly impossible to obtain, leaving the commercial career-school model as the only apparent path to compliance.

Second, ORS 475A.662(6)(a) prohibits giving away or discounting psilocybin when its retail sale is made in conjunction with another retail sale. OHA's rule omitted that anti-bundling qualification and simply prohibits giving psilocybin away. For my friend's model, that makes a commercial sale of the sacrament mandatory.

He isn't seeking exemption from Oregon's safety requirements. He wants to comply without converting his religious training into a commercial school and his sacrament into a retail commodity.

I'm interested in people's opinions on the constitutional issues raised in the DOJ memorandum, particularly when considered alongside the subsequent extra-statutory rulemaking that appears to have created new barriers to the religious and ceremonial practices the memorandum was addressing.

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u/shastawinn — 13 days ago

“Cmv:” if the pentagon can’t do an audit without falling than I shouldn’t have to pay my taxes.

It makes no sense. We as tax payers give pentagon and dod a trillion dollars a year for a budget but they can’t complete an audit.

If they can’t complete an audit why should the average American pay taxes to them?
Personally as I see it. Power is in the poeple if everyone in American stopped paying taxes the politicians would Acutally listen to us.

Plus the dod is wasting tax payer money which could be spent on other stuff like national parks and wildlife.

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u/Aggravating_Hall_399 — 13 days ago