The STP Constitution: The 2010 Baseball League

By Thomas Jefferson and Spezzal Teams Playa

WE THE PEOPLE of the Sports Talk Pool, in order to form a more perfect union, do ordain this Constitution. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate shall be composed of a Senator from each Division. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have been 6 months a citizen of the Sports Talk Pool. The Commish shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided. All bills shall originate in the House of Representatives. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes law, be presented to the Commish. If he approves he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objections to the House of Representatives who shall proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration 2/3 of the House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent to the Senate by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by 2/3 of that House, it shall become law. The Congress shall have power to regulate commerce among the teams by voting against trades or drops. A majority vote in the Senate, or 7 total votes, shall result in an automatic veto. Executive power shall be vested in the Commish. He shall be responsible for weekly waiver resets. In case of removal of the Commish from Office due to resignation or inability to discharge the powers and duties of said Office, the same shall devolve on the President pro tempore and such officer shall act accordingly until the disability be removed and shall take the following oath: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of Commish and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution”. The Commish shall have power to grant pardons. The Congress, whenever 2/3 of both Houses shall deem it necessary or on the application of 3 Divisions, shall propose Amendments

1st Amendment: Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble (excluding collusion) and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

2nd Amendment:A well regulated government, being necessary to the security of a free league, and the right of the people to keep and bear opinions, shall not be infringed

3rd Amendment:No official shall, in time of peace nor in time of war, manipulate the roster of another, but in a manner to be prescribed by law

4th Amendment:The right of the people to be secure in their players, teams and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated. No warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause and particularly describing the players or teams to be seized

5th Amendment:No person shall be held to answer for a crime unless on indictment, nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled to be a witness against himself

6th Amendment:In all prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by jury and to be informed of the nature of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have process for obtaining witnesses in his favor and to have assistance of counsel

7th Amendment:No fact tried by jury shall be re-examined than according to the rules of the common law

8th Amendment:Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted

9th Amendment:The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to disparage others retained by the people

10th Amendment:The powers not delegated by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it, are reserved by the Commish

11th Amendment:Judicial power shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law commenced against the Commish

12th Amendment:The Senators shall vote for President pro tempore and shall not vote for himself. If no person has a plurality, then from the persons having the most votes, the House of Representatives shall choose by ballot

13th Amendment:Neither slavery nor involuntary team forfeiture, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the Sports Talk Pool

14th Amendment:All persons naturalized are citizens of the Sports Talk Pool

15th Amendment:The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied on account of race

16th Amendment:The Congress shall have power to lay penalties

17th Amendment:When vacancies happen in the Senate, the Representatives of such Division shall issue writs of election

18th Amendment:The manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited

19th Amendment:The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied on account of sex

20th Amendment:The members shall submit a blog post at least once every calendar month and such requirement shall begin at 12:01 AM ET on the 1st day of April

21st Amendment:The 18th amendment is hereby repealed

22nd Amendment:No person shall be elected President pro tempore more than once

23rd Amendment:The Commish shall retain voting rights equal to the Representatives

24th Amendment:The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied by reason of failure to adhere to mandatory weekly attendance

25th Amendment:The right of citizens to be updated via this blog, on any further Amendments, shall not be denied

The STP Constitution: The 2009 Baseball League

Article 1 – Objectives


1.1 To better reflect MLB rules and to encourage activity from teams near the bottom of the standings, the waiver priority will be reset weekly, on Mondays, between noon Eastern and midnight Pacific, beginning after Week 1 and ending after Week 24. Priority will be assigned to teams based on reverse order in the standings

1.2 All teams shall be named, identical in style, with a geographical place name followed by a nickname. All components of a team’s name shall begin with a capital letter, followed by lower case letters. The Commish must approve all names, as he sees fit, so as to maintain a uniform standard across the league. Failure to comply may result in suspension of the manager’s right to manage his team, or even expulsion

1.3 Before the draft, a poll will be conducted to determine whether the draft order shall be somehow preset, or if Yahoo should randomize it at the draft

1.4 Nobody shall be allowed to enter 2 teams in the league. Any findings of collusion will result in the immediate expulsion of both managers

1.5 All managers shall allow their e-mail addresses to be seen by other managers to discourage the same person from entering 2 teams in the league

1.6 All managers are required to do everything within reason to win each Matchup. It is not permitted to lose a Matchup by their benching players

1.7 Attendance is mandatory. If a team becomes dormant, the Commish reserves the right to expel the manager

1.8 The Commish shall not assume control over a team except when reversing illegal transactions. All reversals shall revert the roster and lineup to the exact state in which it existed, before the transaction was made

1.9 In the event that this is not possible, due to an uninjured player on the DL, the Commish will set the team’s lineup, one time only, by dressing the highest ranked uninjured players, as per the Yahoo season-to-date rankings after the season has begun, or as per the 2008 rankings if it occurs before the season. The 5 lowest-ranked injured players shall be placed on the DL, if that the team owns more than 5 injured players

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Article 2 – Transactions


2.1 A manager shall be permitted to make trades during the draft provided the Commish agrees to the trade. Trades will be processed immediately after the draft

2.2 Any player, within reason, may be dropped, as the limited Can’t Cut List has been deactivated to accommodate season-ending injuries

2.3 If a manager deems an opponent’s dropped player to be too valuable, he may file a grievance on the Message Board, entitled OBJECTION, with the reasons for his grievance outlined within the body of the message. If 7 OBJECTIONs to a dropped player are filed within 7 days of the drop, the transaction shall be immediately reversed by the Commish, as well as all related transactions

2.4 If the 7-day period elapses with between 1 and 6 OBJECTIONs having been filed, the Commish shall render a judgement on the validity of the grievance(s), and may decide to reverse the drop and all related transactions

2.5 All trades will be processed immediately upon the acceptance of the receiving party, as the trade protest mechanism has been deactivated

2.6 As a component of a trade involving at least one player moving in either direction, an exchange of waiver priorities may be included. Both parties must stipulate the terms of a waiver priority exchange within 7 days of the trade. These terms may include a one-time exchange, a limited time weekly exchange, a limited-time perpetual exchange, a permanent weekly exchange or a permanent perpetual arrangement. The arrangement can be either absolute, or conditional upon the future waiver priorities of the parties involved. The exchange may be enacted immediately or at a later date, as specified by both parties

2.7 If a manager deems a trade to be unfair, he may file a grievance on the Message Board, entitled PROTEST, with the reasons for his grievance outlined within the body of the message. If 7 PROTESTs against a trade are filed within 7 days of the trade, the transaction shall be immediately reversed by the Commish, as well as all related transactions

2.8 If the 7-day period elapses with between 1 and 6 PROTESTs having been filed, the Commish shall render a judgement on the validity of the grievance(s), and may decide to reverse the trade and all related transactions

2.9 In the event a disgruntled manager either benches his players or drops them all, the Commish reserves the right to bypass the 7-day period and reverse the illegal transactions. A manager deemed by the Commish to be disgruntled shall be given 7 days to defend his actions, though he will be forbidden to manage his team. After the 7-day period has elapsed, the Commish reserves the right to declare the team dormant. Should an illegal transaction be performed unbeknownst to the Commish, and affect the outcome of a Matchup, the Commish reserves the right to manipulate lineups to achieve the rightful scoring outcome

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Article 3 – Judgements


3.1 The Commish shall be responsible for the conduct of the game and for maintaining order throughout the season

3.2 He is authorized and required to enforce all of these rules and to enforce the prescribed penalties

3.3 He is authorized to rule on any point not specifically covered by these rules

3.4 He is authorized to make changes to this list at any given time

3.5 He is authorized to expel, or otherwise punish, any manager for unsportsmanlike conduct

3.6 He is authorized to order a manager to do, or to refrain from doing, anything that affects the administering of the rules

3.7 His decisions that involve the use of his judgement are final

3.8 If there is reasonable doubt that his decision abides by the rules, any manager may appeal any decision

3.9 If a decision is appealed, the Commish may call for a vote, while retaining the authority to override the result

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