NationStates Jolt Archive

The head of the Department of Justice confronted you with new information about the infamous case of John Widmer, convicted four years ago of murdering his wife. He has irrefutable evidence that Widmer was, in fact, at a casino playing the slots when his wife was murdered. Now that Widmer is cleared, the courts are struggling with how to handle a potentially high-profile release from prison.

The Debate

1. "Surely, we're not going to admit we're wrong here, are we?" inquires @@RANDOMNAME@@, the DoJ's second-in-command. "The fact of the matter is, if he were guilty and we found him innocent, we wouldn't get a second chance to convict him, so why does he get a second chance to prove his so-called innocence? In the best interests of @@NAME@@, we must carry out his sentence as it was written, and we must ban all media outlets from breaking this story to the public. Locking up innocent people is a small price to pay for having the people's trust, and we can just cook up some evidence to convince everyone he's guilty and those protesters on our lawn are lone nuts."
[effect]all court verdicts are final no matter how wrong they are

2. "No justice, no peace!" shouts an angry group of protesters, many of whom are Widmer's extended family. "John Widmer's been in prison for too long, and we know he's innocent, so set him free!" Continuing on is @@RANDOMNAME@@, Mr. Widmer's cousin. "Now that you've taken four years of his life from him, the government's job is to make it up to him in the best way possible. We require a settlement payout of a few hundred thousand @@CURRENCY@@s and, say, free rent in a nice downtown apartment for life. Free utilities, too. He deserves it for having his name ruined.
[effect]wrongly convicted citizens get nice settlements from the government

3. "No, no, no, no, wrong!" demands an angry @@RANDOMNAME@@ from one of your higher bureaucracies; you can't remember which one. "The fact is, Mr. Widmer's name is soiled forever. That's unfortunate, but it's a reality we have to live with. And can the government really afford a bunch of handouts to people whose sole virtue is being innocent of a crime? No, we need to do something different. I propose we transfer John to a nice civil service job and give him a new name and identity. He might have been wronged, but he's still a citizen and still has a duty. We'll just make that duty a little easier to accomplish. That and we won't have to answer a bunch of questions from those jerks from the Times again."
[effect]wrongfully convicted citizens are 'replaced' with boring, productive civil servants

I've added validity to the issue. The idea looks promising. ;)
I've also added the [stats], although the mod(s) who code the issue will perfect them.



The head of the Department of Justice has confronted you with new information about the infamous case of John Widmer, convicted four years ago of murdering his wife. He has irrefutable evidence that Widmer was, in fact, at a casino playing the slots when his wife was murdered. Now that Widmer is cleared, the courts are struggling with how to handle a potentially high-profile release from prison.

Validity: in order to receive this issue, nations must have prisons, and gambling must be legal.

The Debate

1. "Surely, we're not going to admit we're wrong here, are we?" inquires @@RANDOMNAME@@, the Department of Justice's second-in-command. "The fact of the matter is, if he were guilty and we found him innocent, we wouldn't get a second chance to convict him, so why does he get a second chance to prove his so-called 'innocence'? In the best interests of @@NAME@@, we must carry out his sentence as it was written, and we must ban all media outlets from breaking this story to the public. Locking up innocent citizens is a small price to pay for having the people's trust, and we can just cook up some evidence to convince everyone he's guilty and that those protesters on our lawn are lone nuts."
[effect]all court verdicts are final no matter how wrong they are
[stats] apathy increases, civil rights decrease

2. "No justice, no peace!" shouts an angry group of protesters, many of whom are Widmer's extended family. "John Widmer's been in prison for too long, and we know he's innocent, so set him free!" Continuing on is @@RANDOMNAME@@, Mr. Widmer's cousin. "Now that you've taken four years of his life from him, the government's job is to make it up to him in the best way possible. We require a settlement payout of a few hundred thousand @@CURRENCY@@s and, say, free rent in a nice downtown apartment for life. Free utilities, too. He deserves it for having his name ruined.
[effect]wrongly convicted citizens get nice settlements from the government
[stats] apathy decreases, tax rate increases (to cover the settlements)

3. "No, no, no, no, wrong!" demands an angry @@RANDOMNAME@@ from one of your higher bureaucracies; you can't remember which one. "The fact is, Widmer's name is soiled forever. That's unfortunate, but it's a reality we have to live with. And can the government really afford a bunch of handouts to people whose sole virtue is being innocent of a crime? No, we need to do something different. I propose we transfer Mr. Widmer to a nice civil service job and give him a new name and identity. He might have been wronged, but he's still a citizen and still has a duty; we'll just make that duty a little easier to accomplish. That and we won't have to answer a bunch of questions from those jerks from the Times again."
[effect]wrongfully convicted citizens are 'replaced' with boring, productive civil servants

I rarely bother with stats, but maybe I should...and you're right, nations that don't have prisons are not likely to have this issue.

Anything else you want to add to the issue?

Good issue in my view.

Is there another option that should be added? Any ideas? If not, I'll probably submit it soon.

I've got an idea for a fourth option.



The head of the Department of Justice has confronted you with new information about the infamous case of John Widmer, convicted four years ago of murdering his wife. He has irrefutable evidence that Widmer was, in fact, at a casino playing the slots when his wife was murdered. Now that Widmer is cleared, the courts are struggling with how to handle a potentially high-profile release from prison.

Validity: in order to receive this issue, nations must have prisons, and gambling must be legal.

The Debate

[option]"Surely, we're not going to admit we're wrong here, are we?" inquires @@RANDOMNAME@@, the Department of Justice's second-in-command. "The fact of the matter is, if he were guilty and we found him innocent, we wouldn't get a second chance to convict him, so why does he get a second chance to prove his so-called 'innocence'? In the best interests of @@NAME@@, we must carry out his sentence as it was written, and we must ban all media outlets from breaking this story to the public. Locking up innocent citizens is a small price to pay for having the people's trust, and we can just cook up some evidence to convince everyone he's guilty and that those protesters on our lawn are lone nuts."
[effect]all court verdicts are final no matter how wrong they are
[stats] apathy increases, civil rights decrease

[option]"No justice, no peace!" shouts an angry group of protesters, many of whom are Widmer's extended family. "John Widmer's been in prison for too long, and we know he's innocent, so set him free!" Continuing on is @@RANDOMNAME@@, Mr. Widmer's cousin. "Now that you've taken four years of his life from him, the government's job is to make it up to him in the best way possible. We require a settlement payout of a few hundred thousand @@CURRENCY@@s and, say, free rent in a nice downtown apartment for life. Free utilities, too. He deserves it for having his name ruined.
[effect]wrongly convicted citizens get nice settlements from the government
[stats] apathy decreases, tax rate increases (to cover the settlements)

[option]"No, no, no, no, wrong!" demands an angry @@RANDOMNAME@@ from one of your higher bureaucracies; you can't remember which one. "The fact is, Widmer's name is soiled forever. That's unfortunate, but it's a reality we have to live with. And can the government really afford a bunch of handouts to people whose sole virtue is being innocent of a crime? No, we need to do something different. I propose we transfer Mr. Widmer to a nice civil service job and give him a new name and identity. He might have been wronged, but he's still a citizen and still has a duty; we'll just make that duty a little easier to accomplish. That and we won't have to answer a bunch of questions from those jerks from the Times again."
[effect]wrongfully convicted citizens are 'replaced' with boring, productive civil servants

[option] “Hey, I’ve got a crazy idea!” exclaims psychologist @RANDOMNAME@, “Why don’t we just abolish laws that prevent people from committing crimes? Yes, you heard me, we should legalize crime!” As a group of friendly looking men in white approach him from behind, he continues, “The only reason criminals do what they do is because they love the thrill of being chased by the authorities! Legalize crime, and they won’t have anything to run from, and thus won’t commit felonies. It’s brilliant, I tell you, BRILLIANT!”
[effect] police watch helplessly as ‘innocent’ citizens loot each other’s houses
[stats] crime rates go up wildly, civil rights increase

i guess that if its sent to prison for murdetr then it should also be required for the isssue that the nation does not have the death penalty.

i guess that if its sent to prison for murdetr then it should also be required for the isssue that the nation does not have the death penalty.
Not nessicarily, he could be in prison waiting for the sentance to be carried out.

Not nessicarily, he could be in prison waiting for the sentance to be carried out.

That was my thought; people wait for years to be put to death because of the appeals process. Aside from that, if a prisoner is already put to death within the first four years, the appeals process does precisely jack squat to help them out.

Not nessicarily, he could be in prison waiting for the sentance to be carried out.

Absolutely correct. It may take years before the prisoner is put to death.

I think it's ready for submission.

It's been submitted. Some stats were added.

Alright. Let's hope it gets submitted!