The Constitution and By-Laws of the Seton Debate Club

[AugustAquinas]

The Seton Debate Club, henceforth noted as the "SDC," is to be governed in accord with the following rules and laws which are binding on all members. These by-laws are hereby acknowledged as the legitimate rule of the SDC.

Forums

Section 1. The forum "Acropolis" is set aside for those public announcements from the Administrator.
Section 2. The forum "The Senate" is set aside for the request and suggesting of Debate Events between individuals or Teams, outside of regularly scheduled Debate Grandslams, or even suggesting topics for debate in the Debate Grandslams.
Section 3. The category "Debate Events" is set aside for the posting of individual Debate Events, Team Debate Events, Casual Debates, and Debate Grandslams.
Section 4. The category "Team Discussions" is set aside for the private discussion of the individual teams. Votes for Team Captains, internal hierarchies, and Debate Event strategies may be discussed here.

Debate Events

Section 1. Each Debate Event shall consist of three phases: a suitable amount of time to prepare a debate topic, including the competing teams or individuals, the Debate Event, and finally, the Vote. Each phase will be discussed separately.
Section 2. The time before a debate shall be taken by preparation. Each competitor, individuals or teams, shall agree on a debate topic. The particular debate moderator shall assign who will take which position, and who will present the first opening statement. The competing parties will agree on the number of arguments to be posted. If between teams, the time between the preparations have been finalized and the Debate Event begun shall be at least three days, but a week is recommended for the Team Members to prepare their argument. For individuals, the time shall be at least one day, but no more than a week. These preparations for non-sponsored Debate Events may be discussed in public. However, these requirements, including the topic, the number of replies from each competitor, etc. must be posted before the Debate Event has begun.
Section 3. The Debate Event shall take place only after satisfying the preparations requirements outlined above. No arguments shall be posted more than a week after the previous. If a competitor fails to post their argument within a week of their opponent's last reply, then they forfeit the debate. While a Debate Event is ongoing, all members who are not either of the competitor's Team Captains may not post in the Official Debate Event forum.
Section 4. After the Debate Event's reply limit has been reached, a poll is set up to determine the winner of the debate.
Section 5. Debate Event posts must be the poster's(ie, Team Captain or individual's) own words. Debaters may use sources, but they must be given proper credit. Copied material or that which is not the poster's work without proper credit will be disqualified and the Debate Event automatically lost. Team Captains may use the gathered material of their Team, and may reference Team Discussions, but using the exact words of a Teammate without proper credit is also considered plagiarism.

Teams

Section 1. Members shall be sorted into one of four groups, called Blue Team, Red Team, Green Team, and Purple Team. These teams should be as nearly equal as possible. If there should be an odd number, then the odd member should be given time to chose a team for him/herself. No member may be a member of two Teams. Members may not switch Teams more than once a month.
Section 2. For every Team Debate Event, each competing team should elect a Team Captain if they do not currently have one who shall formulate their team's arguments into a single cohesive argument. The Team Captain is the only member allowed to post on a debate topic. This requirement is withheld when the Team Captain is unexplainably absent and cannot post. In this case, the Team may elect a new Team Captain. If, however, that cannot be done, the Team Member who posts in the Captains absence becomes the default Team Captain for the rest of the Debate Event. However, the Team who lost their Captain will have one less reply in the Debate.
Section 3. Team Captains, once elected, retain their status until the particular Team votes him out, unless the Team Rules decide otherwise.
Section 4. Members who have remained a Team Member in a single Team for at least two years may, with his Team's majority consent, be appointed the Permanent Team Captain. This position shall not be taken away from him/her unless the wellbeing of the SDC demands it or if the Team votes at least a 2/3 majority in favor of deposing the Permnent Team Captain. The Permanent Team Captain may also resign.
Section 5. Team Members may debate each other individually.
Section 6. Each Team shall have an appointed Moderator. The Moderator may not participate in the Team Debate Events. The Team Moderator may not be a member of any Team. He/she shall be totally neutral.
Section 7. Teams should write their own Rules, which govern the particular groups. However, the Team Rules may not be in conflict with these laws. These Team Ruls must be acknowledged by a 2/3 vote of the Team and approved by the administrator.

Grandslam Debate Events

Section 1. Grandslam Debate Events are scheduled, administrator-run Debate Events which face off the four Teams. Two teams debate one question while another two teams debate another topic. When the winner  of each Debate has been decided, the two winning Teams face off in the final Debate Event. The winner is crowned Grandslam Champion.

Fair Voting

Section 1. No person who has contributed to a Debate Event may vote on its outcome. No person who was a Team Member of a contender during a Debate Event may vote on its outcome. Only non-related individuals may vote. In individual Debate Events, the individual debaters may not vote.
Sections 2. Trying to coerce or otherwise influence a vote other than the text of the Debate Event arguments is not allowed.

Member Conduct

Section 1. Members shall be respectful of others and refrain from using rude language.
Section 2. Swearing, cussing, bigotry, prejudice of any kind is absolutely not tolerated.
Section 3. Members must follow correct rules of debate, using correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. They must remain respectful and may not insult their opponent.

Punishments

Section 1. If a member is found to be in violation of these rules, he may be warned. However, after three warnings, his account will be suspended for a week.
Section 3. If a member has had three suspensions, his account may be temporarily banned. After at least one month he may return. However, if the member receives two warnings after this has taken place, his account will be permanently banned.
Section 4. These punishments are flexible; the Administrator and the moderators may elect to withhold a warning or suspension at their own discretion. A person may be banned without warning if their offense was seriously grave enough.
Section 5. Team Rules may not award their own punishments with regards to warnings. The largest punishment a Team may invoke against a member is to kick them out of the Team. The Team Moderator shall be the arbiter of the execution of the Team Rules.

Ammendments

Section 1. These rules may be amended first by the approval of the administrator, and by a 2/3 vote of the members.