Here is the new Jury Room sticky - How to Use the Jury Room. This would be the first post of the thread, and the list of Jury Pool members would be the second post. If everyone approves, this would replace the existing thread (which can be deleted) and would be posted under the Administrator i.d.
Jn
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THE JURY ROOM is used for Hearings.
This is a Read Only Forum. To post in the Jury Room, you must be enabled by an administrator. This will happen if you are called to a Hearing, are serving as a Juror or Loremaster, or have been asked to post as a witness.
If you are enabled to post in this forum, please behave responsibly and post only in that thread which concerns you. Posters who interfere with ongoing Hearings may be considered for banning.
If you feel you have something constructive to contribute to an ongoing Hearing, please contact one of the jurors by PM and they will call you as a witness if this seems appropriate and helpful.
HEARINGS
Hearings are convened by a current Administrator when a violation of the by-laws is observed by an administrator or reported by a member and confirmed to the satisfaction of two current Administrators.
An Administrator will contact the involved member(s) at least 24 hours before the Hearing is convened. If you have been called to a Hearing, it is in your interest to read Article 5 of the Governance and Administrative Procedures found in our Charter. This article contains your rights during a Hearing and the procedure that will be followed.
An Administrator will convene the Hearing by opening a thread in the Jury Room and stating the reason for the Hearing. If two administrators conferred on the hearing, both their names will appear in the first post.
The Administrator(s) will assemble a jury of six members and one alternate by selecting jurors from the pool in the order in which they entered. If you have been called to a Hearing, you have the right to contest two jurors. A sufficient number of jurors are selected by the Administrator(s) so each member involved may contest two of them. Members eligible for Jury Duty are listed in the second post of this thread.
Once the jury is assembled and their names are posted in the thread, you may give your side of the issue. The jury may ask questions and call witnesses, and you may request witnesses on your own behalf. The jury will decide when sufficient information has been considered, and they will notify you 24 hours before closing the Hearing. If you have anything else to add, you must do it at that time.
The jury is allowed to request that a Loremaster oversee the Hearing to ensure that proper procedure is followed. You also have access to the Loremaster as a resource regarding your rights under the Charter, but the Loremaster provides oversight only and does not serve as an advocate for any party.
The jury is allowed to deliberate in private, and will try to reach a decision within ten days. They will decide whether a violation of by-laws has occurred, and what the penalty should be. You will be notified of their decision by email 24 hours before they post their decision in the thread. When the Hearing is over, the thread will be locked and you may request that it be deleted. These threads are only deleted at the request of the member(s) involved.
Posters must abide by the decision of a jury.
If you have been asked to edit a post or remove a picture, you must comply within 24 hours. If any of your posting rights have been suspended temporarily or permanently, your permissions will be changed by an administrator within 24 hours.
You may, however, appeal the decision of the jury and/or the penalty imposed under certain circumstances. Please see Article 5, ¶8 for a list of your rights to appeal.
If you have been placed under an Immediate Ban, you must petition to have the ban reversed. It will not automatically terminate at a certain date. You may petition to reverse the ban after one month has passed by sending e-mail request from the address used to register to any Administrator. Administrators may wait an additional two months before convening a Hearing to reverse the ban, depending on the original offense.
For all other penalties, an expiry date is specified and your permissions will be automatically restored when the penalty expires. If this does not happen, contact the Mayor.
Discussions and decisions from a Hearing may be preserved in the Archive with the poster’s name deleted.
HEARINGS ON A BAN
If an Immediate Ban is imposed by the jury, the recommendation of the Jury is not final. The members at large will vote whether or not to ban a member for an unspecified duration. The vote will be held in the Business Forum for ten days.
If the vote of the membership is tied, the recommendation of the jury will hold.
If the recommendation to ban is overturned by a vote of the membership, the poster will be on three-month probation. If new bannable offenses are committed during that period, a new jury with six different members will be convened according to the same terms as above, but this time the decision of the jury will be final.
The Hearing thread will be deleted as soon as: (a) the poster has not been banned by the jury, or (b) the vote of the membership has concluded, or (c) a probation period has expired, whichever of these comes last.
For all temporary bans, the duration is specified and no vote of the membership is required.
HEARINGS TO REMOVE AN ADMINISTRATOR
Administrative powers are revoked for the duration of the hearing and the Administrator is restricted to the Jury Room.
The jury may only decide whether or not the offense in question has been committed. If they decide that it has, the Administrator will be removed from office. No other penalties are allowed.