CIVIL RIGHTS AMENDMENTS

SECTION 1. TITLE

This measure shall be known and may be cited as the Civil Rights Amendments.

SECTION 2. PURPOSE AND INTENT

It is the intent of the people of the State of California in enacting this measure to correct certain defects in the Constitution of the State of California concerning civil rights.

THEREFORE, THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 3. AMENDMENTS

Article 1, Section 3, is hereby amended to read as follows:

The people have the right to instruct their representatives, petition government for redress of grievances, and peaceably assemble, without penalty therefor.

(a) No person shall be denied the right to prosecute any petition in any court on its merits, and in particular, on the basis of prior petitions or his performance in pursuing such.

(b) No person shall be denied the right to prosecute a claim against any official or office of government on the basis of any practice or doctrine, such as "sovereign immunity". Only the people are sovereign and immune, when met in convention, referendum, or election, and not public officials, agents, or assets.

(c) Any person shall have standing in any court, either in a separate action or in part of another proceeding, for declaratory or injunctive relief, or both, from any statute, regulation, administrative order, repeal, or other official act on the grounds that it is unconstitutional, unlawful, or inapplicable, without having to first become a defendant under such act, and without a presumption that such act is lawful or applicable.

(d) For any petition for possession or custody, for declaratory or injunctive relief, for disablement for incompetency, or for compensatory, damage, or punitive relief involving value equal or greater than 866.67 troy ounces of standard silver, the petitioner shall have the right to have a decision by a randomly-selected jury of twelve, upon the following votes:

(1) For possession of property or custody of a minor, at least six members, with the president of the court casting a vote if there is a tie.

(2) For declaratory or injunctive relief, at least eight members.

(3) For compensatory or damage relief, at least ten members.

(4) For disablement for incompetency or punitive relief, all twelve members.

Article 1, Section 9, is hereby amended to read as follows:

A bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts may not be adopted.

(a) Any legislative or executive act which has the effect of

disabling the rights, privileges, or immunities of any person or persons, other than by prescribing general constraints on court decisions, the sentence to be imposed on persons convicted of a crime, defining the disabilities of minority, or providing for uniform regulation or taxation, is to be considered a bill of attainder and is prohibited by this section.

(b) Any disablement of a right, privilege, or immunity of a person convicted of a crime or a party to a civil action, which is not made explicit in that person's sentence or the final order of the court, is null and void.

(c) Due process rights may not be disabled.

(d) The only disabilities of rights which may be imposed by legislation are the disabilities of minority, which shall terminate at age 18, unless earlier terminated or reduced, or unless extended beyond that age, or further restricted, by a county or higher court, but for such extension the subject shall have the right to a unanimous verdict of a randomly-selected jury of twelve.

Article 1, Section 10, is hereby amended to read as follows:

Witnesses may not be unreasonably detained, nor a person imprisoned in a civil action for debt or tort.

(a) The Militia is any and all natural persons in their capacity as defenders of society, any members thereof, and its Constitution, from any threat.

(b) The mandatory militia is that part of the Militia subject to penalties, defined by law, for failure to respond to a call-up by any credible person aware of an imminent threat to public safety, and may exclude persons whose official duties take precedence over their militia duties, who are unfit for duty, or whose rights needed to perform their militia duties have been disabled by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Article 1, Section 13, is hereby amended to read as follows:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, private communications, and effects against unreasonable seizures and searches may not be violated; and a warrant may not issue except on probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons and things to be seized.

(a) A warrant being served shall cite the criminal or competency statute which authorizes it, and bear an original signature of a judge or magistrate of competent jurisdiction, and such warrant shall be presented to any persons present for their examination before the search may proceed or seizure may remove the persons or things from the premises, excepting only cases in which there is a clear and imminent danger to the life of an innocent person.

(b) All persons participating in the execution of a warrant must be identified and listed in writing in the warrant, or in an appendix thereto signed by the principal person authorized to execute the warrant, and they must carry appropriate identification, including badges, photo identification cards, or other visible insignia that can enable any witness with normal eyesight to identify any of them at a distance of twenty meters. However, this does not exclude the participation of witnesses not themselves executing the warrant.

(c) There shall be a publicly published toll-free telephone number which any person may call at any time, day or night, and present an access code provided by the person executing the warrant, to verify the warrant and the identities of the persons authorized to execute it. Any person present must be permitted to call such telephone number to conduct such verification before the premises can be searched or the persons or things removed, unless no telephone service is available nearby, and such telephone service shall not be interrupted or disabled by any public official or agent.

(d) Any person involved in executing a warrant must take all reasonable precautions to avoid injury to any person, destruction of evidence, and damage to property, and shall be held personally liable for any unnecessary injury, destruction, or damage that may occur, both civilly and criminally, for failure to exercise such precautions.

(e) Any person acting as an agent for a bail bondsman who attempts to detain a fugitive must carry a warrant for the arrest of that person and comply with all of the above provisions.

(f) No person shall be civilly or criminally prosecuted for resisting arrest, including the use of deadly force, or for any injury or property damage caused by such resistance, against any person executing a warrant who does not comply with the above provisions.

Article 1. Section 14, is hereby amended to read as follows:

Felonies or offenses punishable by incarceration for more than three months or a fine equal or greater in value to 866.67 troy ounces of standard silver shall be prosecuted as provided by law only upon indictment by a grand jury.

Article 1, Section 17, is hereby amended to read as follows:

Cruel or unusual punishment may not be inflicted or excessive fines imposed.

(a) Assets may not be forfeited but for payment of a specific fine, nor may assets be forfeited which have not been proven to belong exclusively to the person convicted of the crime, nor in excess of what may be reasonably expected to bring the amount of the fine in a public sale, at which any claimant or his representative shall have the right to bid, and all proceeds in excess of the fine from such sale shall be refunded to the owner.

(b) Proceedings in rem may be conducted only against items with no apparent owner, after a good faith effort to identify an owner has been made, by public notice, for a period of one year, and any such proceeding not satisfying this requirement shall be reversed and the assets or compensation in the value of the assets refunded to the apparent owner.

(c) Any assets seized and not forfeited shall be returned undamaged to the owner if the owner is not tried or convicted of a crime for which a fine is part of the sentence, and the owner shall be compensated for any loss or damage that may occur. Such compensation shall be paid out of the budget of the law enforcement agency which conducted the seizure, and the burden of proof shall rest on the State that any claim for compensation is without merit.

(d) All fines in excess of reasonable court costs shall go to the general fund and not to any agency involved in the seizure or arrest, nor may any such agency or agents thereof accept any share of the proceeds of a forfeiture or reward from any other agency of any jurisdiction.

Article 1, Section 23, is hereby amended to read as follows:

One or more grand juries shall be drawn and summoned at least once a year, for the entire state, in each county, or as required, in subdivisions of countries, selected at random, respectively, from among the residents of the state, county, or subdivision of the county, who are citizens of the United States of America or its territories, and who meet a minimum standard of academic performance or achievement established by statute.

(a) Each grand jury shall initially consist of twenty-three (23) persons, who shall make all decisions by a vote of twelve of the grand jurors present, with a quorum of 19.

(b) The grand jury shall have sole authority to adopt their own rules of procedure, to select petitions to be considered, to include or exclude any person other than its members from any proceeding, to subpoena witnesses, to decide whether or not to disclose any part of its proceedings at any time, to decide where and when to meet, and to decide when to adjourn.

(c) The grand jury shall receive all petitions from any person directly, although court staff may sort and categorize petitions, and upon approval of the court, petitions may be appended with comments.

(d) The filing fee for petitions to the grand jury shall not exceed the value equivalent to 17.33 troy ounces of standard silver, and the fee may be waived in forma pauperis.

(e) Criminal prosecution by private parties other than public prosecutors shall not be impeded, other than by consolidating several such actions against the same accused for the same offense into a single action, and by the requirement of indictment by a grand jury.

(1) In the event that two or more parties seek to try the same accused on the same offenses, or petition for overlapping disabilities of the same defendant, or petition in different jurisdictions, the choice of which, if any, is to prosecute, and in what jurisdiction, shall be made by the grand jury having the most local jurisdiction that encompasses all contending jurisdictions, by returning an indictment for the petition selected, if any, and returning no bill for the other petitions, but if such prosecutor shall be private, he shall be compensated from public funds on the same basis as a public prosecutor for services and expenses.

(2) In the event that the accused shall be a public official or agent, the prosecutor may, upon demand, have the judge in the case selected at random, by the indicting grand jury, from among persons who have represented parties at trial in at least four cases in the same jurisdiction during the previous two years, which person shall be compensated at the same rate on the same terms as a regular judge, for the duration of the days of trial.

(f) All of the branches, departments, and offices of government, both state and local, shall be reviewed by a grand jury or members thereof not less than twice a year, at random times, on-site and in real time, and as often as complaints may require.

(1) Grand juries may divide into teams or individual members for such reviews and investigations, who shall report back to the grand jury as a whole.

(2) The members of such grand juries shall have unlimited access to all operations of government, other than jury deliberations, to which they are assigned by the grand jury as a whole, and may carry and use such recording or other investigative tools as the grand jury may direct, or bring such experts as they may deem useful for interpreting what they are reviewing.

(3) The review of judicial processes, including sessions between judges and lawyers, court administration other than jury selection, and criminal and penal procedures, shall occur not less than once every two months.

(4) The grand jury or such designated members thereof shall review all jury selection processes on site and in real time, excepting only the selection of the first grand jury after an interruption of such review, to insure that no jury stacking occurs.

(5) Grand jurors shall have the power to interview any person in private during such reviews who they may suspect may have a complaint or evidence of misconduct in any department of government, and no such person may be questioned thereafter about the content of such an interview.

(g) A petition of 1000, or ten percent, whichever is less, of the residents of the county, or subdivision thereof, shall be sufficient to call a special grand jury to consider any subject prescribed by the petition, and to have any indictments brought by such grand jury prosecuted by a person or persons named by the petition.

(h) Additional grand juries shall be convened as required so that they may have at least four hours to consider each case presented to them on its merits.

Article 1, Section 32, is hereby added to the California Constitution to read:

No legislative or judicial authority may be delegated; and no executive authority may be delegated to any person not accountable to the people of California under this Constitution and acts of the Legislature pursuant thereto; and no right, privilege, immunity, or service available to citizens of the United States and residents of California shall be denied or restricted by any agent or employee of the State of California or any political subdivision thereof contingent upon any act of an official or agent of another state, territory, or nation, or of the national government, including any form of identification or identifying numbers or other information or documentation.

(a) If any person claiming legal authority for any act should fail, upon demand, to provide proof of such authority, before completing the act, such failure shall be conclusive that no such authority exists, or if it existed, that it has ceased to exist.

(b) For any official act of a government agent, proof of authority must consist of an unbroken logical chain of authority leading back to the Constitution, including copies of statutes enacted. Legal codes and court opinions are not the law, but only evidence of the law. Official acts, including legislative acts, shall not be presumed to be constitutional or lawful, but must be proven to be so.

(c) Regulations issued by any department of the Executive Branch or independent agency shall apply only to agents of that department, and not to civilians or personnel of other departments. Only statutes or ordinances may be applied to civilians or personnel of other departments.

(d) No authority is needed for a militia call-up other than awareness of a threat to public safety or the need to prepare for such.

All references to the State Bar of California in this Constitution are repealed and shall be deleted.

Article 6, Section 9, is hereby amended to read as follows:

No law may require the licensing of any profession or occupation, or membership in any organization, and in particular, no person shall be required to be licensed or a member of any organization to be permitted to practice law in the State of California.

(a) The Legislature shall have power to constitute by law "practice commissions" for each profession or occupation, consisting of not less than five nor more than fifteen members, at least a majority of whom shall not be active members of the profession or occupation, appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate, with vacancies to be filled by appointment by the Governor until the next session of the Legislature.

(b) A practice commission shall have power to investigate and appoint a prosecutor to prosecute, at public expense, a practitioner who has committed an offense or act of abuse, usurpation, negligence, incompetence, or violation of the regulations of the practice established by law, and disable the right of such practitioner to practice that profession for compensation.

(c) The Legislature shall have power to establish and maintain a central public registry of all such disablements which may be accessed by any person at no cost.

Article 6, Section 13, is hereby amended to read as follows:

No judgment shall be set aside, or new trial granted, in any cause, on the ground of misdirection of the jury, or of the improper admission or rejection of evidence, or for any error as to any matter of pleading, or for any error as to any matter of procedure, unless, after an examination of the entire cause, including the evidence, the court shall find that:

(a) The error complained of has resulted in a miscarriage of justice; or

(b) In a jury trial, one or more of the following situations has occurred:

(1) The prospective jurors in voir dire have been required to answer more than 25 questions about anything other than name, citizenship, residence within the political subdivision or judicial district, knowledge of the English language, whether their disabilities of minority are removed, disablements of rights by a court of the United States or any State, personal knowledge of or affiliation with the persons, organizations, or events in the case, or factors that might impose an undue hardship on themselves or their dependents or that may affect their ability to render an impartial verdict.

(2) The jury has been required to take an oath or affirmation to do anything but "uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State".

(3) The jury has not been informed of its power and duty to judge both the law and the facts in the case.

(4) The defense has been prevented from informing the jury of its power and duty to judge both the law and the facts in the case, or threatened or penalized in any way for doing so.

(5) All issues of law, including jurisdiction, applicability,

and constitutional compliance, of admission of defense evidence, and of judicial, prosecutorial, or law enforcement misconduct, have not been argued in the presence of the jury, and the jury has not been provided with at least one copy of all pleadings in the case, including amicus curiae briefs and proposed jury instructions from all parties, and a copy of the constitutions of the State of California and the United States and all applicable laws and precedents.

(6) The jury has not been afforded the opportunity to ask any questions they may have of any person, including any additional witnesses and evidence they may require, excepting only evidence illegally obtained.

(7) The jury has not been afforded the use of any documentation they may request, including the resources of an adequate law library, and competent assistance in their legal research.

(8) Any person has been excluded from the jury on the basis of his or her knowledge of the law, familiarity with legal reform advocacy literature, or involvement in legal reform advocacy activities.

(9) Any juror has been removed from an empaneled jury based on votes made or vote intentions announced, or if any juror has been asked to report votes made or vote intentions announced, by any other juror.

(c) In a criminal or competency case, or any case in which the State or any governmental body petitions to disable the rights, privileges, or immunities of the defendant, one or more of the following situations has occurred:

(1) The prosecution has failed to prove that the court has jurisdiction, that the charges are authorized by statute and applicable to the case, that the offender was physically within the territorial jurisdiction of the state, political subdivision, and district at the moment the offense occurred, and that the statutes are authorized by the Constitution.

(2) The accused has not had adequate counsel or representation of his own choice, not limited to legal professionals.

(3) The rights or immunities, and privileges, of the accused have been recognized less inclusively or more restrictively than those recognized by the Constitution for the United States and amendments thereto, substituting "State" for "United States", "Legislature" for "Congress", or "Governor" for "President", as appropriate to make such recognitions applicable to the State, as individual rights.

(4) The accused or any witness against him has been induced to make any plea or testimony based on any reward or penalty, or threats of prosecution of, or offers of lenity to, himself or others.

(5) A complete and accurate permanent public record has not been made of all proceedings in the case, beginning with arraignment, including interrogations, negotiations, and discussions among the accused, his accusers, attorneys, and judges in the case, excepting only private communications between attorney and client.

(6) The accused has been previously tried on the same offense in a jury trial in which a mistrial was declared because the jury could not agree.

(7) The accused has been charged with an offense of violating a disablement of a right not explicitly disabled in a sentencing order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or had a penalty imposed which exceeds such explicit disablement.

(8) The rights of the accused, particularly those recognized in Article 1 Section 13 hereof, have been violated.

(9) A general verdict, that is, a verdict of "guilt proven" or "guilt not proven", was not rendered by a unanimous vote of a jury of twelve, selected at random from among residents of the jurisdiction who are citizens of the United States of America or its territories, with no more than fifty percent excluded in voir dire.

(10) The accused, upon conviction, has not had the opportunity to argue for a less restrictive disablement of his rights, privileges, or immunities in a sentencing hearing, in which the prosecution shall have the burden of proving the lawfulness and justice of a more restrictive disablement.

(d) In any case, if the defendant has been denied the right to possession and use of a complete record at no cost to him, or to make or have made audiovisual recordings, of any proceedings, including proceedings outside of court, involving the case, or to make such recordings part of the public record and release it to the public, subject only to the security of witnesses and jurors.

(e) In the appeal of any case, appellant has been denied the right to petition without penalty or disablement, to counsel of his choice, not limited to legal professionals, to appear in propria persona, or to be denied any due process rights recognized for appellants in the courts of the United States.

SECTION 4. SELF-EXECUTION AND SEVERABILITY

These amendments shall be self-executing. If any provision of these amendments or their application to any person or circumstances is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of these Amendments which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of these Amendments are severable.

SECTION 5. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER MEASURES

To the extent that any other measures on the same subject shall be on the ballot at the same election, it is the intent of the voters that this measure be deemed, to the maximum extent possible, not to be in conflict with such other measures, but rather that this measure should be harmonized with such other measures. For this purpose, the numbering of the provisions of these Amendments may be renumbered to achieve such harmonization.

http://www.constitution.org/pol/us/ca/initcivil.htm