Constitution of Arabi

Constitution of the United Socialist States of Arabi
Constitution of the United Socialist States of Arabi
	Cover page of the constitution
Created	September 27, 1837
Presented	September 30, 1837
Ratified	May 16, 1838
Date effective	January 10, 1839
System	Constitutional socialist republic
Branches	3
Chambers	Bicameral
Executive	President
Judiciary	Supreme, Circuits, Districts
Federalism	Federation
Electoral college	Yes
Entrenchments	1
First legislature	January 10, 1839
First executive	January 10, 1839
First court	January 10, 1839
Amendments	17
Last amended	March 7, 2012

The Constitution of the United Socialist States of Arabi is the supreme law of the United Socialist States of Arabi. The Constitution, originally comprising of seven articles, delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches; the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress (Article One); the executive, consisting of the president (Article Two); and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts (Article Three). Articles Four, Five, and Six embody the concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments, the states in relationship to the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment. Article Seven established the procedure subsequently used by the states to ratify it.

Since the Constitution came into force in 1839, it has been amended 17 times. The first nine amendments were the original amendments made to the constitution within the first two years of its enactment and are considered to be the most prominent amendments to the constitution. The remaining eight amendments primarily deal with civil and social rights protections.

Ratified Amendments

No.	Subject	Ratification
No.	Subject	Submitted	Completed	Time span
1st	Prohibits Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the right to petition the government	October 10, 1839	September 8, 1841	1 year, 333 days
2nd	Protects the right to keep and bear arms	October 10, 1839	September 8, 1841	1 year, 333 days
3rd	Prohibits excessive fines and excessive bail, as well as cruel and unusual punishment, slavery, and involuntary servitude	October 10, 1839	September 8, 1841	1 year, 333 days
4th	Citizens who are accused of crimes are presumed innocent before guilty by a court of law or jury; citizens accused of a major crimes are to be held in federal detention centers until exonerated	October 10, 1839	September 8, 1841	1 year, 333 days
5th	Prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and sets out requirements for search warrants based on probable cause	October 10, 1839	September 8, 1841	1 year, 333 days
6th	Provides for the right to trial by jury in certain civil cases, according to common law	October 10, 1839	September 8, 1841	1 year, 333 days
7th	Protects rights not enumerated in the Constitution	October 10, 1839	September 8, 1841	1 year, 333 days
8th	Protects the right to a fair and speedy public trial by jury, including the rights to be notified of the accusations, to confront the accuser, to obtain witnessess and to retain counsel	October 10, 1839	September 8, 1841	1 year, 333 days
9th	Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on any reasoning other than not being 18 years or older	October 10, 1839	September 8, 1841	1 year, 333 days
10th	Establishes the direct election of the United Socialist States senators and United Socialist States representatives by popular vote	April 15, 1878	September 6, 1888	10 years, 144 days
11th	Allows any citizen the right to marriage regardless of race, gender, religion, or sexuality	July 30, 1976	May 17, 1977	291 days
12th	Allows citizens to purchase, distribute, and grow the cannabis plant	August 30, 1979	October 1, 1986	7 years, 93 days
13th	Instates the death penalty for crimes that are considered egregious, immoral, and abhorrent	March 19, 1954	March 18, 1988	33 years, 365 days
14th	Establishes that any citizen who reaches the age of eighteen will be automatically registered to vote in all elections	June 4, 1981	December 10, 1988	7 years, 189 days
15th	Requires all citizens who reach the age of eighteen to serve at minimum eighteen months in the Armed Forces	July 16, 1984	November 14, 1989	5 years, 121 days
16th	Establishes the number of seats apportioned in the House of Representatives	July 29, 2008	July 5, 2011	2 years, 341 days
17th	Requires the federal government to fund a Nation Space Program.	September 20, 1966	March 7, 2012	45 years, 169 days

Ratification data for each ratified amendment

State (in order of statehood)	1–9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
Y indicates that state ratified amendment
N indicates that state rejected amendment
— indicates that state did not complete action on amendment
^…indicates that amendment was ratified before state joined the Nation
New Cambridge	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y
New London	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
New Plymouth	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
New Bristol	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	—	Y	Y
Terranova	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Windsor	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	—	Y	Y
Dartmoor	Y	N	Y	—	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Walpole	Y	—	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Severn	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y
Burberry	Y	Y	—	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N
Saint George	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
Drakeland	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N
Owens	^…	^…	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N
Dellcourt	^…	^…	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y
Welwald	^…	^…	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Lochcoast	^…	^…	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
State (in order of statehood)	1–9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17

Unratified amendments

Pending

Title	Subject	Status
Volunteer Military Amendment	Would repeal the 15th amendment requiring all citzens upon reaching their 18th birthday serve a minimum of eighteen months of military service. This amendment would make the Arabin Armed Forces a volunteer only military for the first time since 1989.	Purposed in March 2016. Currenly ten states^[1] have ratified the amendment, two more states are needed for it to become the 18th Amendment. This amendment will expire on January 1, 2026 if not ratified by then.

Proposed amendments

19th century

Patrick Owens Amendment, proposed in 1849, would recognize June 20th as Patrick Owens Day.
An amendment outlawing all types of drugs and alcohol was proposed in 1851
Christian Amendment, was proposed in 1898, would have made Arabi a Christian state.

20th century

In 1902, Rep. Joseph Goodwin, proposed an amendment that would repeal the third amendment, due to his belief slavery should be legal.
Becker Amendment, proposed in 1936, would have limited the number of terms Senators and Representatives could serve, with 2 terms for Senators and 6 terms Representatives for a total of 12 years each.
Second Amendment Repeal, would eliminate the right to keep and bear arms, was proposed in 1950 after what once was the deadliest mass shooting that occurred in the neighboring country, the United States of America.
Right to life amendment, proposed in 1996, by Rep. Frederick Huffman, a former priest, would outlaw abortions and a woman's right to reproductive rights.
Official Language Amendment, would make the English language the official language of Arabi, was proposed in 1999 by Rep. Gerry St. John.

21st century

An amendment requiring the federal government to provide universal healthcare to every citizen of Arabi.
An amendment to repeal the 11th amendment, proposed in 2006 by Rep. Federick Huffman, would repeal the 11th amendment and replace it with an amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
Abolish the Electoral College Amendment, proposed in 2007 and would abolish the Arabin Electoral College and allow the citizens of Arabi to directly elect the president and vice president by popular vote.
An amendment to repeal the 15th amendment requiring citizens who reach the age of eighteen to serve a minimum of eighteen months and making the military volunteer only.