Constitution of the United Territories of Liberty
We, the future citizens of a new representative republic, the United Territories of Liberty, in order to defend our human rights, establish justice, provide for the common defense, insure domestic tranquility, limit government powers, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our descendants, hereby ordain and establish this Constitution.
Article 1. RIGHTS of the PEOPLE
Section 1.1. Foundational Rights
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator at conception with certain unalienable foundational rights to life, liberty, and property ownership. Any attempt, conspiracy, or threat to deprive any person of these rights without due process of law is prohibited.
No person in the United Territories of Liberty, also known as The United Territories or UTL, shall be denied equal protection, nor shall escape responsibility, of the laws.
Life: Using physical force or violence against another person is prohibited, except: 1) in self-defense or to defend others against a clear and imminent physical threat not posed by dutifully-acting law enforcement or military personnel; 2) physical restraint or corporal punishment applied briefly by a parent or legal guardian upon his minor child, to inflict only temporary pain without risk of significant injury; 3) with informed consent where no lethality nor permanent injury is intended; 4) by law enforcement or military personnel using only necessary force against a suspect, inmate, or combatant; and 5) capital punishment following conviction for a heinous crime that caused the death or permanent injury of another person.
All innocent human life, which is alive and fully human at conception, shall be protected from violence, beginning at conception.
Abortion, being an assault upon the life of a distinct living human being, is prohibited except in cases of: 1) sexual assault promptly reported to law enforcement authorities; and 2) medical necessity to preserve the mother’s life, certified after review by an independent panel of physicians appointed by the governor of the Territory in which the mother resides.
Coercing or misleading any person into consuming any substance, or contacting any thing, known to be imminently physically harmful or disabling, or physically preventing any person from receiving air, water, or food, are prohibited acts of violence.
Any attempt to injure anyone, including one's self, or exhibiting vulnerability to injury in a public place or on government property, is prohibited.
Reckless action with the potential to cause injury to, or damage the property of, people who have not consented to the risk is prohibited.
Liberty: No person shall be captured, detained, imprisoned, conscripted, or subject to involuntary servitude, including military draft, even if compensated; or otherwise have his movements restricted, except under: 1) trespassing laws, which limit entry to, and personal presence on, designated properties; 2) arrest for probable cause with reasonable suspicion of criminal activity; and 3) due process of law following a criminal charge.
Enlistment into the armed forces shall be by voluntary choice only.
A person having reached the age of consent at 18 years old has sovereignty over his own body and can do as he chooses with it, except in violation of another person’s rights or in violation of this Constitution or of local laws. Sexual activity with any person under 18 years old is prohibited. Government cannot penalize anyone for taking any substance or item he owns into his body, and cannot penalize him for refusing to take a substance into his body.
Government shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. No government shall restrict the freedom of expression, including but not limited to speech, text, graphical, and audio material, whether spoken, written, read, recorded, broadcast, transmitted, bought, sold, shared, or donated, except for: 1) national security secrets; 2) material protected by court order; 3) material used without attribution or in violation of copyright; 4) knowingly false statements likely to produce a clear and present danger to public safety rising far above public inconvenience, annoyance or unrest; 5) speech or other audio emitted at such high volume, or visual effects emitted at such high luminosity,
or impediment to a public thoroughfare, as to cause physical interference with the lives and activities of others in the area;
6) photographic and audio material taken in a court of law, or of law-abiding people without their consent while they are on private property not open to the public, or in a private setting in a public facility; and 7) photographic images of minor children taken, reproduced, or distributed for prurient or licentious purposes.
The right of the people to assemble peacefully and to petition the government for a remedy against grievances shall not be infringed.
Right to assemble includes the freedom of private organizations, including businesses and those open to the public, to include or exclude anyone for any reason or no reason, and to create and enforce their own rules, except in violation of someone else’s rights or in violation of this Constitution.
People shall be free to wear, and decline to wear, any attire they choose, subject to local modesty laws. People can conceal any portion of their body while on public property, except when a law enforcement official requires access to biometric features for identification purposes. Private land owners and their proxies can restrict the attire of guests on their property. Government can restrict attire worn on government property and at government-sponsored events on public property.
The right of the people to keep and bear arms, except for weapons designed to kill multiple people simultaneously, shall not be infringed.
Property Ownership: Property, including intellectual property, copyrighted or patented works, plants, animals, money, land, and all other possessions which were obtained with the consent of the previous legal owner, if any, rightfully belongs to the person(s) or organizations possessing the property, and shall not be taxed, regulated, nor confiscated, with the following exceptions: 1) tax on retail sales, imported goods, and imported services; 2) regulation of materials of potential indiscriminate physical harm to people and/or property, impractical for personal defense, including but not limited to highly radioactive, explosive, or hazardous chemical or biological materials; 3) punitive confiscation of property, or recovery of damages, following a legal conviction in a court of law; and 4) repossession of collateral property under the terms of a secured loan.
Property will be voluntarily crafted, cultivated, salvaged, earned, bought, sold, traded, inherited, given, and donated without restriction, regulation, or tax, except for retail sales taxes and import taxes.
The right to receive, obtain, possess, and own property and goods does not imply entitlement to be given or sold any thing.
Governments shall not take private property for public use without paying the owner fair market value plus damages. “Public use” is limited to military installations, public thoroughfares, and vital utility structures where there is no practical alternative to using the property in question. “Public use” shall not include adding or modifying facilities to raise revenue.
Visitors to private land visit with the consent of the property owner or his proxy, who can invoke trespassing laws at any time. Ownership of the land does not imply entitlement to violate the rights of visitors, even if they are trespassing.
On privately owned land not open to the public, a person's actions posing no risks to anyone else’s life, safety, rights, or property shall not be restricted, except by the land owner.
A man-made object found on public land, or on an unrestricted space open to the public, shall not be vandalized. It shall not be removed within 10 days of being found unless it is: 1) an object of negligible value; 2) a safety hazard; or 3) an unsecured object of value, small enough to be moved away by one person without dismantling it. Objects in the 3rd category, upon being removed and stored by the landowner or his proxy, shall be listed on a public lost-and-found database, allowing the owner 10 days to identify, claim, and retrieve it. If the owner does not claim it within 10 days, then the object is subject to disposal, salvage, sale, or new ownership by the landowner or his proxy, or by the government if on public property. All objects which are safety hazards shall be reported to law enforcement authorities, and can be removed immediately.
Removal or modification of public property is prohibited, except by the appropriate governing authority.
Items considered to have symbolic or religious significance, such as flags, books, statues, and copies thereof, as with any other personal property, remain the sole property of the owner. The owner is free to willfully damage or destroy his own property, unless doing so creates a risk to other people or their property. Significantly contaminating public land, water, or air is prohibited.
Section 1.2. Rights of the Accused
The right of the people to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held for a capital crime or felony, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the Armed Forces, or in the National Guard, when in actual service in time of war; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of conviction; nor shall be sentenced more than once for the same conviction; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted, including during capital punishment.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the government and district wherein the crime was committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
A claim of insanity shall not prevent prosecution nor conviction for a crime.
The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended. The Common Government courts may hear the habeas corpus petitions of Territory prisoners as well as of Common Government prisoners.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
Treason against the United Territories shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment for treason, but no conviction of treason shall prevent the convicted person from inheriting or transferring property to anyone.
A person charged in any Territory with treason, felony, or other crime, who flees from justice, and is found in another Territory, shall on demand of the executive authority of the Territory from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the Territory having jurisdiction of the crime.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the Territory where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any Territory, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.
The citizens of each Territory shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the other Territories. Any non-citizen holding a valid visa while within jurisdiction of the United Territories shall have all the rights stated in this article, unless declared an enemy combatant by a council of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, in which case a Military Tribunal shall perform the prosecution.
Section 1.3. Civil Lawsuits
In civil lawsuits, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United Territories of Liberty, than according to the rules of common law.
The court must admit all evidence that the plaintiff received compensation aside from the damages it seeks from the defendant.
The plaintiff shall promptly file proof of litigation insurance or other assets sufficient to pay the costs of a judgment against it; otherwise, the case shall be dismissed without prejudice.
If a plaintiff withdraws a civil lawsuit later than 60 days after the initial complaint was filed, the plaintiff shall be liable for costs.
Fees awarded to the prevailing party in a civil lawsuit shall be limited to the actual fees, or 25% of the difference between final judgment and the non-prevailing party’s most recent written offer of settlement submitted within 40 days of the initial complaint filing, whichever is less.