Civil & Human Rights in Everett
Human rights and civil rights in the Union of Everett are outlined and defended in the Constitution. Several watchdog groups known for rating nations around the world and their history of human rights and current law regarding the rights of their citizens have rated Everetti civil and human rights high. According to Freedom in the World, an annual report by US based think-tank Freedom House, which rates political rights and civil liberties, in 2011, the Union of Everett was ranked "Free". According to the annual Privacy International index of 2012, the country was ranked "safe and secure", scoring 4.5 out of 5 privacy points, when it came to citizens' privacy.
Legal Framework
Human and civil rights in the Union of Everett are outlined primarily in the Constitution. With its framework similar to the United States Constitution, the Union of Everett contains a Bill of Rights, which, containing 18 total amendments as of 2012, enforces and protects the rights of citizens of the nation. A 2010 law, the Civil & Human Rights Security Act, details extensively the interpreted rights of citizens based on the Constitution and additionally defends and protects the Constitution of the Union of Everett from ever being legally allowed to be suspended or abolished through martial law.
Equality
Comparing to its predecessor, the Union of Everett's first Presidential administration has made reforming the rights of all citizens a priority. Within the first couple years since independence in 2003, the federal government passed a variety of laws which ensured the equal treatment of citizens and protect their rights from violations based on bias.
Sex & Gender
Citizens of the Union of Everett are guaranteed total and complete equality in all aspects of life as per federal law and the Constitution, regardless of sex. Men and women and those who identify and both, neither or one or the other, including hermaphrodites, transgender, transsexual and asexual people, retain the equal rights under all laws. It is illegal by federal law to discriminate against a citizen or foreign national on the basis of sex or gender in any situation of public accommodations including restaurants, eateries, hotel lodging, housing, healthcare, shopping centers, public attractions, federal lands, public lands, state lands, public transportation, financial businesses and finances, medical centers, rentals, airlines, public festivities, government and public offices, among many others. It is unlawful for any reason, for a person to be denied the right to work or attain employment based on sex or gender bias. It is a federal crime for a public official or public servant, including law enforcement, fire department services or rescue personnel, the military, hospital staff, paramedics, postal workers, public utilities workers, schools and faculty and government offices including court houses, jails, prisons or social services agencies to deny, mistreat or fail to provide fair and equal treatment and access to public services for any reason based on sex or gender bias.
Women in the Union of Everett have retrieved a variety of increased rights and protections since the transition from U.S. control. Women in the nation are protected by federal laws which mandate equal pay for equal work as a male co-worker, women's labor rights regarding pregnancy and the illegality of firing a female employee based on their pregnancy status. It is illegal to commit an act of unwanted sexual harassment (which includes comments, jokes, teasing, physical contact or extortion). In instances of rape, women are far more protected under Everetti federal law than US federal laws, with bans on judicial systems allowing "secondary victimization of rape cases", in which the defendant offender attempts to claim the victim had "asked for it" or a variety of similar legal arguments in defenses. Everetti women are allowed to serve on the front lines in military combat and serve in law enforcement. Anti-female discrimination is most often noted in far-right Christian organizations in the western and southern states, in most cases, regarding rape and abortion. Through 2012, one dozen state representatives have been impeached after commenting offensive remarks about rape in support of the neighboring United States' 2012 elections Republican Party.
LGBT legislation has been a major priority of the government in recent years, providing full equality to gay, lesbian and transsexual citizens. It is illegal for any biased reason or purpose to deny LGBT citizens equal rights including in housing, employment, healthcare, public accommodations, government services, military service, law enforcement service, holding of public office, judicial rights, marriage, adoption, organ or blood donation, education and public services including in finances, credit, renting, travel, transportation, lodging, postal service or volunteerism. LGBT Everetti, regardless of their legally protected status under federal laws, still come under frequent discrimination, in violation of the law by public officials, including courts, police, hospitals, housing and employment situations. An approximate 400 lawsuits are filed against a variety rights violations annually nationwide, costing discriminatory businesses millions of dollars in federal fines and the loss of some two to three dozen public service jobs due to mandatory firing of abusive officials, most often, law enforcement officers. The Department of Justice spearheaded, along with President Spencer in 2006, the illegality of utilizing "secondary victimization of hate crime cases" in courts, often used against LGBT victims of hate violence as a criminal defense. Often referred by defense attorneys as "Gay-Panic Defense" (in cases involving a gay or lesbian victim) and "Trans-Panic Defense" (in cases involving a transsexual victim), the federal government bans the attempt of using a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity as a validity to committing a violent crime against them.
Racial & Ethnic
In the Union of Everett, people are protected from discrimination and bias on the basis of race, ethnicity, language, creed, color, accent and nationality by a series of strict laws. Several laws ensure total equality between different peoples, which bar anyone, government, business, public place, organization, religious organization and others from discriminating or prohibiting equal freedoms and treatment on those basis. The national, predominantly white by only a slim majority, contains nearly every form and race of human being, through immigration from all over the world, since the beginning of the colonization of the Americas. Three major racial groups exist in the country, those being White/European/Caucasians, Africans and Hispanic/Latin/Spanish creeds. Everetti federal laws strictly prohibit racism under several federal statutes. While all are equally protected under the law, racism still plays a large part of social issues in the Union, continuing from the previous social situations in the United States.
Racist groups, which often target African Americans and Hispanic immigrants still exist, though on an underground level of function. The Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, White Pride Skinheads & White Supremacist movements, among other racist groups, have been heavily effected by legislation, which prohibits public activities pertaining to hatred based on race. Several notable racist groups, on multiple sides of the spectrum, from the KKK and Neo-Nazis to the Nation of Islam African movement and the Jewish Defence League, have all been designated as either domestic terrorist groups or hate groups, which bar them from public rallies, public assemblies and could face strict punishments or fines for crimes committed against others based on violence. Hate Crime laws exist under federal code, which increases a general criminal act against another on the basis of racial or other differences, to a higher punishment and sentence than a normal crime not based on bias.
Race based crime is not limited to common criminals in areas of the Union of Everett. In areas of the southern regions and mid-west, it is common for local government officials, most often law enforcement, to be more likely to be racist against non-whites, a problem still prevalent, ongoing since the days of slavery and Confederate pride in the U.S. Civil War days. Law enforcement in the south are often investigated by federal agencies, many lose their jobs for actions unlawfully related to racism. In areas of Tennessee, anti-Islamic sentiment is strong, forcing the federal government on few occasions to strike down state laws pertaining to Islam and Arabs. Federal agents and Customs & Border Patrol agencies along to Texas border with the U.S. in Louisiana, have on several occasions been engaged in stand-offs with Texan law enforcement during what was named the Tenaha Police Corruption Scandal. During this time, federal agents authorized African Americans to cross into the Louisiana border, entering the Union of Everett, after being pursued by Tenaha, Texas police and county Sheriffs, who profiled black drivers with unlawful vehicle stops, searches, property seizures and false criminal charges and accusations.
The Union of Everett's federal government has been accused by its own racial and religious prejudice in regards to airport security procedures targeting foreign nationals from Arab and Middle Eastern nations when attempting to board airliners heading into the Union or planes which make temporary refueling stops within the country. Claiming its is a specified form of extremist profiling, the federal government authorizes airport security to screen and pat-down search citizens of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Somalia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Sudan. The federal government also retains the Department of Homeland Security the authority to refuse a citizen of those nations from entering the Union of Everett, based on the airport agents personal profiling decision on mannerisms, behavior, attitude or other reasons. For a period between 2004 and 2012, the federal government barred males from those nations from entering the Union of Everett. The President in 2013 allowed the ban to expire, allowing for higher freedom of movement for those foreign nationals into and out of the nation.
Disability
Persons with disabilities are protected under federal law from discrimination in several forms. Disabled persons unfortunately, due to their disability, may or may not be eligible for certain protections, such as the right to employment, in which their safety or inability to engage in specific work duties may make working conditions hazardous for themselves or co-workers and employers.
The federal government guarantees the right of disabled persons access to government social services to provide aid or assistance during the period of disability, including permanent, life-long disability. Disability is defined under the law as any form of mental, emotional, psychiatric or physical handicap or ailment which impedes the normal function of a human being. The elderly upon reaching the age of 65, are automatically designated as a class of disabled, allowing senior citizens access to special care and protections if desired, even if no disabilities exist at the time. Services the disabled are lawfully entitled to including food stamps, government medical coverage, unemployment payments, social security disability payments, supplemental security payments, access to specialized traffic exemptions such as handicap parking or access, use of housing or care facilities and automatic rights protecting them from negligence, harm, hate crimes, offenses or other crimes against them.
It is illegal under the law for health insurers and HMOs to deny coverage or payments for medical expenses based on conditions resulting from, caused by, or related to their disability. It is illegal to deny a patient from acquiring health insurance because of a pre-existing medical condition of any form. It is unlawful, due to a persons age or disability, for medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, surgeons and paramedics, to delay aid or medical treatment based on the fact the patient is elderly or disabled unless any signed and authorized do-not-resuscitate orders. It is unlawful for a home or facility in which the elderly or disabled are cared for by staff to be abused, neglected, mistreated or suffer from malpractice or poor conditions. It is also illegal for a care facility to refuse to provide emergency treatment or care to a patient. The death of a patient who was refused care unlawfully is a felony criminal offense.
Federal law regulates the disabled on several levels in regards to the rights of a disabled person. An emotionally, psychiatrically or mentally disabled person may legally under court order be denied the right to bear arms, voiding their Second Amendment rights in the event a person has been deemed unstable, potentially violent, suicidal or homicidal. Proof and evidence of this must be provided for the court to lawfully designate a person as mentally unable to possess a firearm. A disabled person may not lawfully sue an employer for refusal to hire an applicant on the basis of disability if the disabled applicant is physically or mentally unable to perform the duties of the position applied for. Examples of this may include a wheelchair bound individual seeking employment in heavy and laborious construction or a schizophrenia patient applying to join a police force.
Age
The Union of Everett Constitution affords certain rights to citizens on the basis of age. Under the Constitution, a large portion of Bill of Rights amendments cover minors under the age of 18 years. Constitutional protections of minors include the first amendment, which prohibits the government, authorities and others from violating the ability of those 17 and younger freedom of speech, expression, peaceable protest and assembly, religious practice or non-practice, press and privacy (from government intrusion). Minors are protected just as lawful adults under the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth amendments, protecting the rights of warranted searches and seizures, protection from unlawful arrest, the right to trial by jury, representation in court, protection from excessive fines, bail and cruel or unusual punishment, and the right to remain silent and not incriminate oneself. Minors are provided government protected rights to equal treatment under the laws including the right to a free education, fair and quality health care and protection from neglect or abuse.
The age required to attain the right to vote is 18 years, although teen rights groups have requested the ability to lower the voting age to 16. A minor has the right to consent to sexual activity with another person within a four year buffer in age difference. Therefore, a 14 year old by lawfully consent to activities with an 18 year old, a 15 year old with a 19 year old, a 16 year old with a 20 year old and a 17 year old with a 21 year old. Minors as well have the protection from laws which target two consenting minors engaging in activities with each other, voiding state level age of consent law, which often resulted in prosecution of two teens who engaged in sex, even if both parties consented.
Minors do not have lawful right to consume alcohol or use tobacco or marijuana products until the age of 21 or possess firearms until the age of 18. The federal government authorizes under certain circumstances the ability of a minor to consume alcohol for religious purposes of no more than a single sip of wine or in the states of Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Labrador and New Brunswick, the right to consume wines and low-alcohol content substances is authorized at the age of 16 with parental consent and supervision. It is illegal entirely for minors to consume tobacco products. Marijuana use is lawful for medical purposes in minors of any age. A minor has the right to use a firearm with parental supervision at the age of 14 at lawful shooting ranges and facilities or during hunting with legal guardians. It is lawful for minors to attend firearms safety classes at any age and lawful for a minor as young at 12 years to fire weapons at shooting range facilities with parental supervision.
Freedoms
Freedoms within the Union of Everett are specified within the First Amendment of the Constitution. The first amendment states, "There shall be no law respecting an establishment of official religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press or of expression; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, or to petition the government for a redress of grievances or the right to privacy. No law shall violate the basic rights of life, liberty, equality, justice, property and the pursuit of happiness." Under this amendment, all Everetti citizens, and legally visiting foreign nationals, retain the rights guaranteed.
Speech
Under the new Constitution of the new Union, laws regarding speech came under fire by the new government. During the previous three years leading up to independence, the United States federal government under the George W. Bush administration had launched an all out assault of Constitutional freedoms, among the several, speech came under fire by the Department of Homeland Security. In 2004, the Union of Everett had reestablished freedom of speech as nearly inviolable, stating that it shall not be a crime for one to speak freely without threat of violence, retaliation or punishment. Exceptions exist under federal law, in which public outbursts of offensive speech, such as deliberate discriminatory harassment of persons based on unfounded bias, including hate speech and threats of death, harm or other forms of verbal abuse was deemed publicly inappropriate. In most cases, such actions can result in a fine citation from law enforcement or a verbal warning. In some instances, persons have been arrested for disorderly conduct in public and disturbing the peace if continued verbal abuse continues after law enforcement warning. Under federal code, Obscenity general covers racial epithets, sexual harassment, hate speech and other forms of discriminatory harassment and religious based hate speech and threats, most often regarding antisemitism. Federal laws regarding speech also tend to include slander and libel, which are defined as deliberate speech about another person which are blatant lies and falsifications. Freedom of speech is also defined under the law as not including threats of death or harm against others, threats of violence and inducing a public panic, in cases, like screaming "fire" in a crowded public location, when there is no fire, or "bomb" on an aircraft, when there is no bomb.
Protest & Assembly
In the Union of Everett, the right to peaceably assemble and protest is a inviolable right defended by the Constitution. Unlike the former United States, federal law in Everett authorizes the right of the people to form a peaceful assembly for the purpose of protest, in a public location or publicly owned land, or upon state or federal land, without the requiring of attaining a permit to do so. It is unlawful under federal law, for law enforcement or any other government authority, to declare a protest unlawful or to disperse a peaceful demonstration. The federal government code strictly states that no protest shall be denied by local authorities or any other, as long as the protest remains peaceful, that weapons are not involved, that threats of violence are not included and that protesters do not attempt to block or disrupt flow of traffic or public walkways or access ways. Law enforcement retain the right to ensure the security of protests, by monitoring them and making sure public access to the area remains open, so both the protest may continue and non-protesters may access the area, especially in urban areas. In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security often monitored protests and entered protesters into federal terrorism databases. In the Union of Everett, the right to protest, the right to dissidence, the right to redress of grievances and the right to speak out against the government are not unlawful and no repercussions shall occur for anyone speaking out against the authorities. Everett's Department of Homeland Security maintains no database of dissidents or lists of protesters or other political movements. However, the Union of Everett does and has broken up protests, all of which violated laws against rioting, threats of violence, Obscenity and disorderly conduct. Most of these have been religious protests, who the authorities claimed had openly threatened harm or death against minority groups or harassed individuals. Nazi groups are also often targeted for violent hate speech and threats of death and terrorism.
Religion
Religious freedom in the Union of Everett is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The specification in the Constitution states that the governments of the nation, on a federal level, state, county, municipal or otherwise, may not instate a national religion, nor impede on the rights of the citizens to believe in and practice their religion. The First Amendment was specifically interpreted as not giving religion any authority in government, declaring an extreme separation of church and state.
Under varied federal codes, the government regulates religious activities through federal benefits and rights given to groups abiding by federal laws. These include the right to access of tax-exemption for non-profit organizations, including churches and religious organizations. Under federal code, religious organizations are barred from participation in politics if they wish to keep their tax-exempt status. It is also illegal for churches to collect taxes from its members nor require anyone to follow religious law if it violates personal liberties or federal laws. With nearly 76% of the nation's population stating they follow a religious belief, according to the 2012 census, the Constitution guarantees the right of everyone to believe and practice any religious belief of their choice or to not believe in or follow any religious belief at all. Exceptions exist under law, including Islamic Honor Killings being a Felony offense as Murder and religious groups promoting hate speech, harassment or threats of death against minorities (which may include statements that some people may go to hell or will be killed). Unlike in several western nations in Europe, federal law bans the taxation of non-religious persons for their non-belief or participation in religious activities.
Religious freedom is extended to minors, those under the age of 18, who retain the right to believe or not believe or follow or not follow any religious belief or practice. Under federal law, it is unlawful to disown, put up for adoption or remove from the house, any minor, on the basis of religious beliefs. According to a Department of Health & Human Services report in 2011, approximately 16% of Everetti homeless minors reported having been forcefully and illegally removed from their homes or fled from violence by their parents or guardians for being atheist, homosexual or for other various reasons related to religious discrimination.
Part of the National Do-Not-Call Registry includes the ban on religious organizations from calling, emailing or sending through the postal service, unwanted solicitation for all numbers submitted by phone line owners to the registry. It is unlawful for religious organizations to trespass unwanted on private property or to solicit businesses without consent of the business owner.
Expression
The Union of Everett's first amendment of the Constitution includes the protection of the right to "express" oneself. Expression includes protections from violation of the ability of a citizen to choose including employment, education, style, opinion, clothing, arts, among other forms of personal choice and preference. The government holds no specific authority to force upon a person to engage in certain employment, attend certain education courses, to wear any specific clothing, including uniforms outside of military or federal employment nor mandates opinions to believe or agree nor disagree with any issue. Expression also protects the rights of consenting adults, theater production, art, literature, music, movies and personalization of property and effects including homes, vehicles, clothing, businesses and other private property from aesthetic regulation.
Privacy
The Union of Everett guarantees some of the highest levels of privacy in the world. The Constitution specifies the right to privacy in the First Amendment of the Constitution. Federal laws detail what privacy is defined as, including the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
The First Amendment protection of privacy includes protections stated under the Privacy Security Act and Defend My 'Nets Act. Citizens are protected from unlawful or unwanted intrusion on their lives by the media, other private citizens, the government and law enforcement.
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution requires the authorities, for any reason, to acquire a warrant, from a judge, based on provided reasonable cause or evidence, to intrude on a citizen's privacy, including their personal property, homes, businesses, vehicles, electronic devices, internet profiles, emails, phone records, databases, mail, phone calls, recordings, videos, hard drives, media storage devices, social media, instant messaging services or data, text messages, financial records, land or property and personal belongings. Legal rights of intrusion by law enforcement or under citizen's arrest law, allows intrusion in the event of emergency, including during ongoing violent crimes or felony activities. Civilians and media have the right to intrude on the basis of preventing a crime, stopping an ongoing crime or pursuing a suspect of a crime following the incident.
The federal government allows private citizens automatic rights to personal properties including photo or video of themselves as "automatically copyright protected", which bans the unlawful use of such images or videos by anyone for any use which violates one's privacy. This may include under the laws commercials, advertising or other media, corporate or other use without direct consent. Federal law often negates and trumps many social media websites Terms of Service, which often requires a user to accept a Service agreement, which authorizes the sites to use photos, videos and information for their own use. Copyright laws ensure varying forms of privacy, including common citizens who desire the ability to protect their personal media.
Minors, those under the age of 18 years, are also fully protected under privacy law from law enforcement, authorities and the media. It is unlawful for media, including journalists and reporters, to harass, stalk, question, photograph or other, any minor without parental consent, and only under the consent of that minor to the parents, who would consent for the minor. The double level of protection ensures maximum security for children who may be victimized under Missing & Exploited Children laws. It is illegal for an adult, who has no relation to the parents or legal guardian of a minor, to photograph or video a minor, without parental consent. It is unlawful for school faculty to invade a student's privacy outside of school property, including on social media. It is also illegal for school faculty to conduct a physical pat-down or other search of a minor. The law authorizes only law enforcement to do so, only with parental consent and the legal parent or guardian present at the time. The minor has the right to their judicial rights and can therefore, to protect their privacy, declare the Fifth Amendment of non-self incrimination and request an attorney. As a result, a minor can legally protect them self from an unlawful strip search or invasive pat-down until a warrant is issued.
Association
Freedom of association is allowed under the First Amendment of the Constitution, which specifies "peaceable protest and assembly". No laws prohibit the ability of persons with similar interests to form clubs, organizations, associations, teams or other gatherings of any nature. Freedom of association allows groups to gather publicly and privately, to use public parks or facilities for gatherings, to set up protests without restriction and to organize charities, fairs, festivals or venues with permit on public land or without restriction or regulation on private land. Association is unregulated entirely on the internet as per the Defend My Nets' Act, which protects Internet Neutrality.
Under federal laws, "peaceable protest and assembly" does not include public gatherings or gatherings within public view that features racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBT or gatherings of neo-Nazism, Nazism or hate groups. Associations of Nazi ideology, radical Islamic groups and other extremist organizations based on hate and bias with common violent tendencies or histories of violence against others are prohibited under federal law regulating domestic terrorism.
Although organizations exist within the Union with agendas targeting specific groups, such as anti-LGBT or anti-Islam right-wing Christian groups, the government frequently voids and revokes tax-exemption on such non-violent groups for violating anti-discrimination laws.
Movement
The Union of Everett allows citizens total freedom of movement around the country. No laws prohibit the travel of Everettis within Everetti territory, nor the right to move and reside in one municipality, county, state or territory to another. Citizens, even without passport or NID card, have the lawful right when returning to their homeland from travel abroad, who have lost identification, have the lawful right to re-enter through alternative processes of identification. Everetti citizens are allowed to travel abroad to any nation that permits foreign visitation, although current federal laws mandate that travel to several nations require a two stop third-party country to reach banned destinations, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.
Citizens seeking to travel to nations prohibited from direct air or sea travel to and from are listed on a Terrorism Countries Watchlist Act, which advises citizens travelling abroad of laws, current events and common dangers of several nations and restrict Everetti air transportation from flying to or from these nations. A citizen who seeks to fly or sail to a banned country must fly to a legal nation and acquire a second flight from the third-party country to the banned country. Although commonly described as a senseless red-tape procedure to get from location to location, the federal government has excused it as a travel sanction against nations known to abuse foreign tourists or their own citizens.
Banned countries include some prohibitions on travel by their citizens to the Union of Everett, depending on age, sex, religion, criminal records and citizen nationality. An adult, male, Muslim, from Saudi Arabia, for example, would be barred from traveling to the Union, while an adult female or male under the age of 12, would lawfully be allowed. However, an adult, male, Muslim, from Saudi Arabia, would lawfully be able to acquire refugee or asylum status by travelling to a third-party nation and seeking refuge in an Everetti consulate or embassy. The State Department explains the intentional nature of this, as a protest against Saudi Arabia's, for example, abuses against women, children, non-Muslims and homosexuals.
Citizens of the Union of Everett have the total lawful right to immigrate from the Union to another nation without prohibition, including banned countries. No law bars a citizen from leaving Everett to reside in and acquire citizenship in a foreign nation. Laws authorize the right of family members however, to protest moving to a nation known for human rights abuses, including the rights of children of parents to refuse travelling to or moving to a country which has a record of civil and human rights violations.
Certain laws under criminal justice statute prohibit movement of certain felony offenders who have been released on parole for certain violent offenses. Sex offenders are appointed by the local government to reside in specific locations and areas and are banned from travelling to, near or within certain public locations, including schools, public parks, theme or amusement parks, malls, day care centers, toy stores and women's centers. Sex offenders are also restricted from accessing certain websites on the internet, including social media commonly used by minors 17 years of age or younger, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Press & Media
The media in the Union of Everett and its rights have been changed in a variety of ways, for both the purposes of protecting individual citizens rights from intrusion and violations of their rights to privacy and to ensure media and press print, distribute and report truthful and accurate news to the citizens, if their agency is registered with the government as a non-fiction news reporting agency.
Current laws in the country outlaw deliberate and intentional falsifications of news reports on real events, including political related news, often which in the United States, was heavily unbalanced. Fox News owning company News Corp, lost a suit against the Everetti federal government in 2005, attempting to file suit against restrictions of freedoms of the press, to lie and alter the truth in reports. In the United States, it won in U.S. Supreme Courts however. As a result, Everetti based Fox News agencies and U.S. based Fox News agencies tend to controversially contradict each others reports on events, including the 2012 U.S. Presidential elections and ongoing coverage of global events. The federal government maintains a 49% ownership in Federal News Network (FNN), which is partially owned by CNN and its shareholders, which is reported by varied fact checking organizations as highly truthful in its reports and accurate in claims and facts.
Federal law bans the media from intruding on the lives of private individuals without legal consent or lawful right. Tabloids and many media agencies that focus on Hollywood and celebrity news are required to attain legal permission from persons they wish to post reports on, stated in federal statute of Media & Press Regulation 2010:Section VI:Gossip/Tabloid. It is illegal for tabloids to harass and engage private citizens, including celebrities, against the wishes of said celebrities, especially in the case of a celebrity requesting a reporter or paparazzi to leave them alone. Tabloids are barred from spreading false rumors, under the federal statute as "defamation and libel". It is illegal in the Union of Everett for a gossip tabloid to report on the private lives of celebrities under the age of 18. It is unlawful for a paparazzi or reporter to engage or harass a private citizen under the age of 18. It is illegal for a reporter to follow, stalk, harass or chase a private citizen without lawful reason. Under federal statutes regulating the media, press have the right to pursue or intrude on a private citizen for lawful reasons including actions to: prevent a criminal act, stop or intervene in a criminal act or to pursue a suspect of a criminal act for the purposes of aiding law enforcement. The Union of Everett defines a private citizen as any citizen or foreign national who is not an elected official of government.
Labor Rights
The right to employment is a federal level protection stated under several laws and federal codes. Citizens of the Union of Everett, are protected and ensured the several keys rights to employment under federal code, including specified rights of "the right to a living wage", which regulates federal minimum wage; "the right to safe working conditions", which ensures employees' safety in their place of employment through varied work hazard laws; "the right to freedom from harassment", which protects employees from sexual harassment, racial discrimination, bias, threats or extortion by employers against employees, protections from discrimination against women, specifically in regards to pregnancy and anti-discrimination in regards to gender, orientation, disability and religion.
Federal law also protects employees from unlawful intrusion on privacy by employers, either prospective or current employers of a citizen, by banning employers from spying on, intruding or attempting to access an employee's or applicant to become employed social media profiles, emails, instant messaging services, electronic devices, credit score, credit check services, debt status, banking information, private lives outside of work and or personal life information including but not limited to, martial status, dating activities, lifestyle, religious beliefs or associations, membership or association in clubs, organizations or other, political stances or orientations, sexual lives or activities, family life or members and or hobbies.
It is illegal for an employer to attempt to coerce through threats or intimidation an employee to vote in political elections for any specific candidate, party or for any specific cause.
Minimum wage in the Union of Everett is solely controlled by the federal government, which utilizes social economists each year to study and report to the federal government the lowest and minimal income, after taxes, if any, for a single adult to afford to live. Minimum wage increases each year as a result of the global economy and the neighboring United States and its own financial policies. As of 2012, minimum wage was designated $11.00 per hour. In 2013, minimum wage was recommended to rise to $11.50 per hour. Projected year 2014, expects minimum wage to increase to $11.75 per hour. States may have the authority to increase minimum wage to rates higher than the federal government, but many not decrease minimum wage lower.
The Union of Everett federal right to employment code contains a specific section regarding past employment history of employees which bans employers from discriminating against employees or applicants based on previous work history. The law most specifically protects people who have past histories of employment in adult entertainment and sex related work including pornography, nude modelling, adult entertainment in the form of stripping, burlesque, dancing or other. It is lawful for an employer to fire an employee for continuing to engage in adult sex work while employed under a non-sex related form of employment. Federal law does not protect illegal forms of sex work from employment discrimination, including prostitution.
Everetti federal law enforces labor protections. It is unlawful for a parent or legal guardian to force a minor under 17 years of age to work. It is unlawful to employ a minor under the age of 15 regardless of consent. A working minor under 18 cannot be legally obligated to work more than 24 hours per week. Employment of a minor cannot lawfully disrupt the ability to attend school. Anyone under the age of 18, cannot be legally employed in a bar, casino, adult related club or establishment, pornography, nude work or if working at a restaurant, cannot be allowed to serve patrons alcohol. Minors may be employed in a variety of positions not part of age labor restrictions under law, including positions in acting, theater, music, clothing modelling for children's wear and television commercials. Anyone under the age of 18, cannot be legally employed in hard labor, factories or authorized to use machinery or dangerous equipment.
Healthcare
The Union of Everett provides the ability for citizens to access fully covered Universal Healthcare options under the Department of Health & Human Services. Since 2010, Everett has ensured a 100% medical coverage rating of citizens. Although the federal government provides medical insurance coverage under federal Medicare programs, private insurance companies are still widely existent. Approximately a quarter of the national population is dependent on federal Medicare, making the health budget the largest portion of federal spending, while three quarters of the country are insured through private insurers.
Federal laws regulate the health industry intensely, mandating practices and policies for health care insurance providers, health care providers (like hospitals) and federal guidelines under control of the American Medical Association, American Dental Association and American Psychiatric Association and their associated federal commission's recommendations.
It is illegal in the Union for any form of health insurance program to deny a person access to health insurance coverage, including denial based on pre-existing conditions or forms of discriminatory profiling, such as coverage of pregnant women, parents who have children, disabled persons or discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Insurers are banned from cancelling a person's insurance on the basis of the insured attaining a condition. It is illegal for insurers to refuse to cover certain non-elective medical procedures. It is also unlawful for insurers to set up networks or refuse to cover bills from doctors who are "not covered under networks". Networking systems are illegal. It is federal law for all medical health providers to accept a patient's insurance, regardless of their insurance company and law for all companies to cover any doctor or health care providers costs as covered under the patient's plan.
The government regulates hospitals and other medical services. The laws ban medical care centers, doctors, providers or other from refusing any form of medical procedure or service based on personal ideological opinion. In 2011, the Union of Everett passed the No Biased Care Act, which bans doctors from refusing to provide a patient certain services based on the doctor's personal religious opinions, including a patient's right to access birth control, condoms, STD tests, emergency abortions, LGBT based medical care, transgender services, circumcisions, among other forms of care. A medical professional who intentionally refuses care or commits an act of malpractice due to bias, can permanently lose their medical license and face criminal charges.
Health care laws have been strictly reformed in the country, heavily regulating the pharmaceutical and psychiatric care industries. Under the Psychiatric Patient Protection Act, patients have rights to protect themselves from unnecessary or unlawful psychiatric detainment. Under federal law, a psychiatric patient may not be detained in a psychiatric facility for more than 48 hours without a warrant signed by a judge after provided evidence proving a patients need to be incarcerated in a psychiatric facility. A medical professional has the right to have a person incarcerated if they show signs of suicidal or homicidal behavior. A warrant will be required within 48 hours to keep a patient committed. Patients have the right to an attorney or representative if committed, even after a warrant served, allowing them to appeal in court and defend any claims of psychosis or any diagnosis given by a doctor. It is unlawful, even for a court justice, to forcefully commit a patient if there is no evidence of suicidal or homicidal behavior or danger to self or others. The federal government regulates psychiatric diagnoses. The United States DSM-VI and the Everetti DSM-VI psychiatric manuals and guidelines and significantly different in definitions of psychological disorder and required treatments. Compared with the neighboring United States, Everetti children are provided treatments to psychiatric disorders and diagnosed with disorders at a massively less frequency than the U.S.
The Everetti Federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval of drugs and pharmaceuticals are very strict. Half of the medications available on the market to be prescribed to patients in the United States are illegal in Everett due to side-effects, hazards and other dangers to health.
Education
The Union of Everett maintains federal laws which mandate primary schooling and education for minors to be free of any charge. Several laws protect the right of primary school age children and teens to attend grades K (kindergarten) through 12 (twelfth grade) to not have to pay any form of fees to attend. In light of a recent incident, in 2012, where a mother was charged with fraud and sued by a school district for thousands of dollars for having her son attend a school with the wrong address registered, the federal government passed a Department of Education mandate barring school districts from refusing or penalizing students and parents based on address or other information. The family had apparently been homeless and had no lawful address to register for the student and used a family member's address.
Federal laws protect students, staff and prospective students from discrimination when applying for or attending education facilities, including primary schools (Elementary, Junior High and Senior schools) or colleges, universities or other education campuses. Private religious schools can suffer loss of tax-exemption or government assistance if a school discriminates against a student, staff member or prospective student or staff for any reason protected under ENDA. Public campuses on the other hand, may suffer government fines, lawsuits or criminal charges against administrators for unlawful discriminatory practices.
The government, on several levels, including county, state and federal, provide grants and scholarships to students with exceptional grades and performance.
Department of Education mandates require public schools to allow students the ability to form clubs and organizations, protest against policies, to practice their religious beliefs individually or with other students who share similar beliefs, to bring and eat their own food and drinks, prohibition of schools from mandating uniforms or excessive clothing restrictions, to enforce federal anti-bullying laws and prohibit schools from invading the privacy of students off-campus. The Department of Health also prohibits schools from requiring immunization of students and staff and may not discriminate against students and staff who refuse immunizations for common diseases. The FDA requires schools to provide healthy breakfast and lunch options for students, which requires a DHHS nutrition outline for meals be followed to include fruits, vegetables, proteins, starches and dairy.
Justice System
Citizens of the Union of Everett and foreign nationals are protected under the Constitution and provided by it, rights to justice. Several Constitutional amendments in the Bill of Rights state the rights of citizens in law and the courts. Citizens have the right to a fair and unbiased trial by jury of civilians. Any suspect of a criminal action has the right to representation and the right of access or communication with an attorney at any time, including at any point while being interrogated or questioned. Citizens have the right to privacy. Law enforcement are required to obtain a warrant for any form of search or seizure of personal property, including homes, businesses, vehicles, electronic devices, papers, records and or communications. It is the right of a suspect to protection from abuse, torture or excessive fines. Citizens have the right to remain silent, including refusal to incriminate themselves. Priests, doctors, psychologists and married spouses are immune from forced testimony against the defendant. Citizens have the right to observe, record and photograph law enforcement activities, as long as the observer maintains a distance of at least 30 feet from officers engaged in duty and make no attempt to disrupt, distract, harass or otherwise interfere in the officer's duties. Law enforcement have no legal authority to disperse a peaceful assembly of protest. Law enforcement do retain the right to monitor and take action against law breakers or rioters.
Police officers have the right and authority to carry and utilize lethal and non-lethal weapons against criminal suspects as necessary. All law enforcement officials, including security officers, are armed with live ammunition firearms. Annually, police officers discharge their guns against violent or armed suspects an estimated 5,700 times (2011 FBI Report). Some 300 suspects have been killed by fatal gunshots fired by police in 2011. Police are authorized to use lethal force against suspects armed with a projectile weapon, including guns, Tasers and bows when the suspects refuse to cooperate by dropping their weapon. Police may use lethal force in any hostage situation and high speed pursuit.
Death Penalty
The Death Penalty in the nation is federally authorized for the most heinous of crimes. Legal in all states of the Union, the death penalty results in the execution of some 500 to 1,000 convicted murderers, rapists, child molesters, child pornographers and other violent criminals. A large portion of those convicted of a crime that would lead to a potential death penalty are heavily investigated to ensure accuracy of allegations. The Union of Everett ranks first in Death Penalty sentences being carried out worldwide. Many human rights groups condemn the high number of executions. Since the national policy of executing violent convicts began in 2006, a publicly registered 22,735 convicts have been executed for crimes of rape, murder, child molestation, sex slavery and terrorism.
Methods of execution from 2008 to the present utilize the most humane available method. Between 2003 and 2007, executions included electrocution, gas chambers and lethal injection. Federal policy with the Department of Justice passed a new federal regulation in execution method, requiring all convicts who are executed to be executed through the process of an enclosed gas chamber in which the convict is killed via Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning. CO gas is notable for its properties of having no smell or taste and induces no painful effects on poisoned individuals. Convicts who are executed breathe in the gas without any suffering or pain and eventually become disoriented, dizzy and lightheaded before passing out unconscious and dying in their unconscious state due to the blood stream's deprivation of oxygen and the brain eventually dying as a result.
Prison System
The Everetti prison systems are solely controlled under the authority of the Department of Justice of the federal government. Under the Justice Department's rights, as per the Psychiatric Patient Protection Act, the DOJ also has authority over all psychiatric facilities that hold patients and citizens against their will or consent, including asylums, correctional institutions and mental treatment facilities. Prison mandates offer an "Inmate's Bills of Rights" under DOJ regulations. Unlike in the United States, prison inmates and ex-convicts, including felons, retain the right to vote in elections. Inmates are legally entitled to the rights of freedom of religion, the rights of the Fifth through Eighth Amendments, which include the right of contacting an attorney, right to remain silent, right to a representative and the right to protection from cruel and unusual treatment while incarcerated. Inmates have the right to three meals per day and medical treatment when ill. No prisoner shall be denied at least one hour of daylight per day in an outdoor setting and have the right to keep themselves healthy through exercise once a week minimum.
Everett's prison systems separate men and women in different prison and jailing facilities. Violent offenders are kept from non-violent inmates in prisons for each sex, eg: differing cell blocks for varied forms of crimes (violence vs. non-violence, felony vs. misdemeanor). LGBT citizens retain the right to protection of violence against them, including known sexual violence in many prisons containing violent inmates. Transsexual and transgender inmates are required to be separated from the main inmate population. No one under the age of 18 years old are legally allowed to be incarcerated in a facility also containing adult inmates.
Police Brutality
Reports of police brutality in the nation have increased. However, the federal government has increased the force of crackdowns on police brutality against citizens. Law enforcement in many areas of the nation have continued to violate the rights of minority groups. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was ordered in 2009 to begin annual recording of statistics regarding police violence against citizens, finding the amount of violent actions by police against civilians most often targeted African-Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, gays, transgender and Muslims and Arabs. Police brutality and violations of citizens rights are most often against transsexual men and women and African Americans. The federal government on several occasions, has by executive order from the President, taken into custody and charged law enforcement officials with violations of the law following incidents of extreme brutality. In 2010, during the G20 Summit protests in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, after police abused and shot peaceful college student protests on their campus grounds with tear gas and rubber bullets, federal agents arrested some three dozen city of Pittsburg police officers, charged with assault and battery through excessive force and violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution, the latter a federal crime. 12 police officers were later convicted of unlawful assault and illegal imprisonment of protesters and five found guilty of battery with a deadly weapon. Ongoing incidents of police brutality and unlawful violations of civil rights by law enforcers include reports of New York City police officers targeting transgender individuals for illegal arrests followed with tremendous amounts of alleged sexual abuse, misconduct and humiliation of detained individuals before releasing them. Some 30 NYPD officers have been arrested by federal agents on related charges in the past two years. On a federal level, the Transportation Security Administration of both the Departments of Homeland Security for the United States and the Union of Everett have come under fire by the Department of Justice in the Union of Everett as hundreds of reports have come out alleging TSA abuse of airline passengers and excessive and sometimes gross negligence of people going through security checkpoints through invasive patdowns, illegal detainment and groping of private areas, all of which are against stated DHS regulations. Compared with the United States, required college degrees and increased training for law enforcement officers and other officials in Everett show a significantly less amount of abuses.
Firearms
The right to own firearms is a Constitutional right and further protected under federal laws. Gun ownership is regulated under the federal government, in which the Department of Justice authorizes licenses and permits to gun owners. Compared to nearly every nation on Earth, the Union of Everett's ability for its citizens to acquire a firearm is fairly easy. Gun regulation reform has increased the availability of access to public and legal records of persons applying for and undergoing background checks. A fully digital system allows for enhanced access of federally licensed gun dealers to access vital background information and reports on applicants. Across the country, a person with a record designated "clean" may wait a total of 45 minutes for a total background check to clear, paperwork to be filled and signed and submitted to the federal firearms registry, an interim license to be printed and for the new gun owner to walk out of the store with his or her new firearm.
Everetti citizens have the right to purchase a far larger majority of weapons than Americans in the United States and cosmetic accessory bans do not exist under any law. Firearms are regulated in two classes, in which a person may purchase a semi-automatic or manually operated firearm with a standard license or undergo an interview with a DoJ representative and acquire an HDS license, allowing the applicant to acquire fully automatic weapons, by joining a Department of Defense Civilian Homeland Defense program. In Everett, citizens have the right to carry, possess, transit and purchase weapons within any state or territory of the Union, as all regulation is federalized. Concealed Carry Permits, are also authorized and CCW permits are valid in all states and territories. The government as allowed the states to choose whether CCW permit holders may carry concealed or openly, the only legal authority a state has over gun control. In Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Alaska, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, West Virginia, Vermont and Labrador, open carry of a CCW permitted weapon is legal, while the others require the firearms to be hidden on one's person.