Article III, Hypothetical New-World Constitution

Article III. The Judiciary.

Section 1a. The civil judicial power of the State shall be vested in a Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. Judges of civil law shall be styled arbiter. Arbiters, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

1b. The civil judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the civil laws of the State, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under its authority; To all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; To all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; To controversies to which the State shall be a party; To controversies between two or more inferior governing bodies; between the citizens of the State and foreign states, citizens or subjects.

1c. In all civil cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which the State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact.

1d. In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed an amount to be determined by law, 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 State, than according to the law.

Section 2a. The criminal judicial power of the State shall be vested in a Court of Criminal Appeals, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. Judges of criminal law shall be styled magister. Magisters, both of the Court of Criminal Appeals and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

2b. The criminal judicial power shall extend to all cases in, in law and equity, arising under the criminal code of the State, and the Court of Criminal Appeals shall be the final court of appeal for all those indicted and charged under the same. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the district where the said crimes shall have been committed, but when not committed within any district, the trial shall be at such place or places as Congress may by law have directed.

2c. In all criminal cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, the Court of Criminal Appeals shall have original jurisdiction. In all other cases before mentioned, the Court of Criminal Appeals shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact.

2d. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; 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; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

2e. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the district where in the crime shall have been 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.

2f. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

2g. The enumeration within these articles, of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the People.

Section 3a. The power of review shall be vested in a Court of Review. Judges of review shall be styled justice. Justices of the Court of Review shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

3b. The power of review shall not be construed to extend to any cases but those bills referred to the Court for review by the several Executive officers. The Court of Review shall be the final arbiter of matters concerning the conformity of these bills to the articles herein. Upon request by the Chair of the Common Council, the President of the Senate, or the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Chief Justice of the Court of Review shall issue an advisory opinion concerning the conformity of any proposed legislation to this Constitution, but that opinion shall not be construed to be final arbitration in this respect.

Section 4a. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, or in adhering to its 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.

4b. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.

4c. No person shall be a Councilor or Senator in Congress, or elector of Governor General and Lieutenant Governor, or hold any office, civil or military, under the State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the State, or as a member of any inferior government, or as an executive or judicial officer of thereof, to support the Constitution of the State, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Equal Opportunity in Education

Our three most basic rights are the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness or in more concrete language, of self-determination. These truths were held by the founders of our nation to be self-evident. From these three stem each of our other rights. The State has five basic responsibilities: to establish Justice, to insure domestic Tranquility, to provide for the common defense, to promote the general Welfare, and to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and to our Posterity. In order to determine our course of action in each of these responsibilities, we must consider the rights of the people.

In order to establish Justice in the State, the State must ensure a state of equal opportunity. While it is not just to enforce egalitarianism in distribution of wealth, for not all are equal in ability, effort, and merit, there must be an equality of opportunity to ensure that success or failure of an individual is his or her sole responsibility. The most basic, and sure way to ensure equal opportunity to wealth is to ensure the State's protection of the right to equal opportunity to education. Because authority over education is reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment, the states must recognize their responsibility in this. The right to equal opportunity to education does not necessarily mean to ensure that each student receives an equal education, for this is at odds with a parent's right to choice and determination for their children. Instead, the State must ensure that each student can receive an equally valuable education from each, the State public education system, the private sector education system, and from home school education. It is important to recognize that parents have broad rights of determination over their children; however, a parent has no right to cause his or her children harm. To deprive a child of a valuable education is one of the greatest harms that can be done to that child.

In order to equalize value of the public education, the State must ensure that each independent school district is funded equally and that strict spending guidelines be placed on the schools to prevent waste. While dollars spent per student is not the only factor in determining the effectiveness of education, it is a primary factor. Property taxes assessed and collected for the public schools should be equally distributed per student to the students of the public school system. This will allow each school district the ability to ensure they are able to fairly compensate their teachers, to hire enough teachers, and to construct ample classroom space for each student. Parents, also, should be permitted to allow their children to attend any public school to which they are willing to provide transportation to their children. It may seem undesirable to some that their children should not receive the full benefit of the tax dollars assessed on their properties, but in all actuality, an equalization of school spending will encourage competition among schools for attendance. If schools are paid by number of students in attendance and students may attend any school their parents choose, they will work to produce the best educational environment in order to attract more students. Caps on students from outside the school district may be required in order to ensure that schools do not grow too quickly, but these caps should be slowly relaxed as school attendance increases. Most importantly, the State must never lower the standard of public school education in order to bring more children above the standard. Rather, the State must work to bring more children above the existing standard. The State does our children no favors by decreasing the difficulty of their education.

In order to equalize value of the private sector education, the State must enforce strict guidelines for certification of private school curriculum and teachers. While they must be free to exceed the standard of the public education, they cannot be permitted to sink below it. In addition, a school voucher system should be put into place in order to allow a broader access to the private sector education system. By this, I mean that should parents decide to remove their children from the public school system and place them into private education, the State will provide a fixed monetary sum toward that child's private school tuition. This will further broaden parents' right to choice in their children's educations -- parents who may have been unable to afford private school education without vouchers could then afford it with them. In addition to allowing broader access to a higher standard of education, vouchers will remove students from public school classrooms, increasing the number of dollars spent per student and reducing the number of students per classroom in the public schools, thus further increasing the value of public school education for those students whose parents are still unable or unwilling to place their children into private education.

Most importantly, in order to equalize value of home school education, the State must enforce standards just as strict in home schooling as in the public sector. Parents wishing to home school their children must select a curriculum provided by an institution certified by the State and the student must be required to demonstrate proficiency in that curriculum. All effort must be made to prevent scholastic dishonesty in the home school system, for it is all too easy for a home school student in today's system to cheat his or her way to a diploma equal in value to that of a public or private school. It cannot be stressed enough that to allow our students to do this is to do them great harm.

No one can force a student to learn; that is the student's choice. However, the opportunity to learn must be provided to each student, and to each student equally in order to ensure that justice is maintained -- and not only this, but in order to ensure that our future is secure. We must not allow our standard of education to continue to decline. The solution is not to lower the passing score, but rather to increase our students' opportunity to achieve and succeed.