Proposition 37

Proposition 37, also known as the Mage and Enchanter Registration Act of 2009, was a proposed ballot measure requiring the registration of magic users within Rhydin.

The Mage and Enchanter Registration Act
 Proposition 37 Text  

The text that follows is the official statutory language of the M.E.R.A., as submitted to the Assistant Attorney General of RhyDin in August 2009.

'''Section 1. Title.'''

This Act shall be known and may be cited as the “Mage and Enchanter Registration Act of 2009.” ''' Section 2. Findings and Declarations'''

I. The People of RhyDin hereby find and declare the following:

a. Failure to provide adequate law enforcement is a costly mistake. b. RhyDin’s law enforcement system has failed in its mission to ensure the safety of our streets from initial and repeat magic(al) offenders. c. Prisons, both state and federal, are ill equipped to adequately incarcerate violent criminals. d. Temporary punishment alone often fails to change criminal behavior, particularly when such behavior is equipped with irregulatable means of weaponry. e. RhyDin fails to deliver an adequate magic educational system that secures the safety of both magic and non-magic users with regard to arcane methods. f. Recent studies have indicated that the crime rate by and among magic-users has escalated 61 percent in the past three years. g. Of those magic-related crimes, 40 percent were committed by repeat offenders, while 11 percent were ruled accidental. h. Quintessence/Mana trade and exchange accounts for 55 percent of all export profit. i. Currently, only 13 percent of wild(e) magic/mana is considered regulated.

II. Regulation to Enhance Public Safety

a. Public safety is enhanced when parolees are documented and monitored following the termination of their incarceration. b. Public safety is enhanced when crimes are deterred, or criminals are promptly arrested following the commitment of a repeat offense. c. Public safety is enhanced when weapons dealers are required to run a background check on every firearm or armament purchase. d. Public safety is enhanced when every legal purchase of a weapon enrolls the purchaser on a federal roster. e. Public safety is enhanced when weapons training is sufficiently supervised by trained employees of the state. f. RhyDin can protect public safety, save indefinite amounts of money, and deter violent magic(k) acts by:

i. Encouraging the federal education of qualified magic-users. ii. Restricting the use of magic(k) to qualified users. iii. Mandating the licensing of any and all magic-users, thus enrolling those users on a federal watch list. iv. Treating violent magical acts with a zero-tolerance methodology. ''' Section 3. Purposes and Intents'''

The People hereby declare that the intents and purposes of this measure are to:

a. Prevent voluntary crime by documenting abilities and description during registration. b. Prevent accidental crime by punishing the usage of unregulated magic(s). c. Reduce time and money spent on criminal investigations (with regard to magic(k)) burdened with no significant suspects. d. Provide appropriate incentives and rewards to magic-user registration, and swiftly and justly encourage the unregistered to be licensed.

'''Section 4. New Government Duties'''

I. The Governor will recognize Proposition 37 as a mandate for the registration of any and all magic users presently living in RhyDin. II. The Government Code will amend to formally include the Mage and Enchanter Registration Act. III. The government will recognize and assign equipped federal employees capable of arcane modus to an enforcement division.

a. The M.E.R.A. will be enforced by no fewer than eleven hundred arcane-equipped employees; so to be named the Mage and Enchanter Registration Coalition. (M.E.R.C.) b. The M.E.R.C. will be led by a division deputy chief learned in matters of the arcane, and recommended by the Senate.

IV. The Governor, upon recommendation of the division chief, may appoint two undersecretaries to oversee the M.E.R.A, subject to Senate confirmation. V. Refusal to abide by the M.E.R.A. will be treated as a federal offense, and will be dealt with as such. VI. Repeated refusal will end in recommendation of that subject for incarceration or seclusion. VII. Unlicensed magic-users caught wielding magic will be immediately arrested and sentenced to no less than one year in federal prison, following mandatory registration.

'''Section 5. Meaning of Voting Yes/No'''

(A.) A YES vote on this measure means:

i. Consistent registration of all magic-users censused. ii. The institution of the M.E.R.C. to penalize the illegal use of magic(s). iii. Federally-funded programs to encourage efficient and adequate training in sorcery academies for registered users. iv. The implementation of monitory means for significantly forcible users of the arcane.

(B.) A NO vote on this measure means:

i. Magic(al) and arcane means will continue to be unregulated. ii. Local law enforcement will continue to house magic(al) criminals with non-magic(al). iii. Sorcery academies will continue to be funded by state means alone.

Voting Outcome
The measure was defeated by a margin of 82% to 17% (rounded).