Constitution of the Kingdom of Cascadia
ARTICLE III: BASIC RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES
Section 1. Non-Enumerated Rights.
The enumeration in this Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Section 2. Non-Delegated Powers.
The powers not delegated to the Kingdom of Cascadia by this Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the Commonwealths, are reserved to the Commonwealths respectively or to the people.
Section 3. Freedom of Property.
The right to own, maintain, use, protect, and dispose of private property must be accorded status and merit equal to that of other human rights. The protection of this right shall be a priority of the Government of the Kingdom of Cascadia, and of all Commonwealth governments.
Section 4. Freedom of Religion.
A. Parliament shall not establish any church, religion, or sect as the official church of the Kingdom of Cascadia.
B. Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to prevent the full, free, and voluntary exercise of religious faith, or cooperation between the government and religious bodies in various fields of mutual interest, or voluntary religious association and instruction within the public institutions and public schools of the Kingdom of Cascadia; nor shall the separation of church and government in this Section be construed to mean the enforced removal or separation of religion or voluntary religious observance from civil society.
Section 5. Freedom of Speech, Expression, and Assembly.
A. Every person may freely speak, write, broadcast, transmit, or publish his thoughts and sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of this right under the laws of the Kingdom of Cascadia and the several Commonwealths.
B. The provisions of this section shall extend to television and radio services, telegraphy and telephony, and electronic data transmission and networks. Neither the Kingdom nor any Commonwealth shall have the power to require licensing of such systems, nor shall it exercise a monopoly over broadcast spectra and frequencies, cable systems, or other information-exchange media. All regulation of such systems must be consistent with the provisions of Title A of this section.
C. While the Government of the Kingdom of Cascadia and of the Commonwealths shall protect this right, neither the public nor the Kingdom of Cascadia bears any responsibility to subsidise such expression. Accordingly, the Kingdom of Cascadia shall not expend public funds to support or promote art, broadcasting, or election campaigns.
D. Parliament shall make no law restricting or limiting the amount of money an individual or corporation may spend supporting any candidate or ballot issue.
E. The people have the right to instruct their representatives, petition their government and Sovereign for redress of grievance, and to assemble peaceably and freely to consult for the common good.
Section 6. Right to Privacy.
A. No government agency or committee, save those of the courts, shall have the power to compel any person to appear or testify. Nor shall any government agency compel mandatory record keeping or disclosure of economic activity by any individual or family.
B. All correspondence, electronic data transmissions, bank and other financial records and transactions, doctors’ and lawyers’ communications, and employment and other voluntarily-maintained records shall not be open to review by any agency of government without the consent of all parties involved in those records, except in such cases involving clear national-security interests as may specifically be authorised by Parliament. Such consent shall not be a condition of employment in any public capacity.
Section 7. Freedom to Work.
A. All people shall have, and shall be protected in the exercise of, the right to freely, without fear or penalty of reprisal, form, join, or assist labour organisations, or refrain from any such activities.
B. An individual’s freedom to work shall not be infringed or restricted in any way based on membership in, affiliation with, or financial support of, a labour organisation, or on refusal to join, affiliate with, or financially or otherwise support, a labour organisation.
C. No labour organisation shall represent for any purposes any individual who does not desire such representation, nor shall any individual be required to pay for any union services he did not request or does not desire.
D. No employer shall be prohibited from or restricted in the hiring of employees to temporarily or permanently replace workers who are striking against the employer.
Section 8. Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
A. Recognising that the rights to life, liberty, and property imply a right to defence of self and property, and that an armed citizenry is the final defence against government tyranny, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
B. No person shall require permission from any government agency for any purpose relating to ownership of arms and ammunition, nor shall Parliament make any law regulating the ownership and bearing of arms, nor shall it require registration or any other record keeping of the ownership of firearms.
C. No manufacturer or vendor of arms shall be held liable for crimes committed by the users of such arms.
Section 9. Right to Life for the Unborn.
For purposes of this Constitution, the unborn child shall be considered a ‘person’ whose right to life shall not be abrogated without due process of law.
Section 10. Freedom from Government Discrimination.
Neither the Kingdom of Cascadia nor any Commonwealth shall use race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, or religion as a criterion either for discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any student or prospective student in public education, any employee or prospective employee in public employment, or any individual or firm in the awarding of public contracts.
Section 11. Freedom from Involuntary Servitude.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, including compulsory national service, shall exist at any time within the Kingdom of Cascadia, except as punishment for a crime of which the party shall have been duly convicted. During periods when a declaration of war or emergency is in effect, provisions of this section may be suspended for a period of one year to allow conscription for military service, if authorised by a vote of Parliament. [This section changed by Second Amendment.]
ARTICLE IV: CITIZENSHIP
Section 1. Citizenship Upon Adoption of this Constitution.
All persons born, or naturalised and resident at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, in the former sections of the United States of America and Canada forming this confederation, or of any community which may be admitted to this confederation at the time of admittance, are citizens of Cascadia and of the Commonwealth in which they reside.
Section 2. Citizenship in the Future.
Following the adoption of this Constitution, new grants of citizenship shall be limited to children born of, or adopted by, a family containing at least one parent of Cascadian citizenship, or to individuals naturalised by law.
Section 3. Voting Rights.
A. All citizens of the Kingdom of Cascadia who are over the age of 21 and can demonstrate understanding of the Constitution and government of the confederation shall have the right to vote in Parliamentary elections, unless that person be a public or civil servant, or any individual whose primary source of income is confederation or Commonwealth government.
B. The restrictions on voting eligibility in Title A of this Section shall not apply to members of Parliament, nor to those of Commonwealth legislative bodies, nor to members of the military, or to the public safety officers of the Kingdom or of any Commonwealth.
C. Notwithstanding the provisions of Title B of this Section, no public employee or public servant, save members of Parliament or of Commonwealth legislative bodies, shall be permitted to engage in any form of partisan political activity or advocacy.
D. The Commonwealths retain the right to set the qualifications of electors for Commonwealth or sub-Commonwealth elections in their jurisdictions.
