Legal History and Current Status of Preternaturals
Preternaturals have been known to the government of the United States from the outset, as even before the colonies declared independence, the vampires who intended to establish themselves in control of the lands of the New World formed an alliance with the governments of the colonies, supporting them in their conflicts with the indigenous peoples. However, there were no formal laws or treaties until the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1789, and the people remained unaware of the preternatural presence.
At this time, the United States Senate ratified in secret the Treaty of Northern Liberties, signed at Northern Liberties, Pennsylvania. This treaty specified that in gratitude for the invaluable assistance provided by the Vampiric Nations to the United States in the War for Independence, the United States formally recognized the independent and concurrent sovereignty of those Vampiric Nations, while the Vampiric Nations recognized the same. Both governments would retain full sovereignty over their respective and mutually exclusive affairs, all vampires would receive full immunity from prosecution for the crimes of assault and murder regarding their need to feed, and all officers of the United States would be exempt from vampiric feeding. That is, the vampires agreed not to feed on officers of the United States.
The United States maintained no formal relationship with shifters until President James K. Polk reached out to formally recognize the efforts of American shifter groups who contributed to the US victory in the Mexican – American War and to the War for Texas Independence. At this time, the Senate ratified the inclusion of three large groups of shifters composed of Wolves, Bears, and Cougars as signatories to the Treaty of Northern Liberties. At this time, the government remained unaware of the existence of Cats, as they committed to remain hidden even from the human governments.
Preternaturals refused to participate directly in the United States Civil War, but it became apparent to Washington during this time that Southern shifter groups were heavily active in the Underground Railroad and continued to support efforts to free slaves from their captivity. Shifters never engaged in formal relations with the Confederate government. While feigning neutrality, several vampire monarchs in the South secretly influenced the Confederate government, helping to stymie their efforts. This was partly to honor the 1789 treaty and partly to avoid the necessity of disrupting their working relationship with the humans in favor of a group that held them in contempt.
In the year 1917, Congress passed the Preternatural Registration and Accountability Act (PRAA) as a secret adjunct to the Immigration Act of 1917, which required all preternatural citizens, resident aliens, and visitors to the United States to register with the Public Health Service. This requirement would be updated upon the foundation of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953. The electronic "Preternatural Identification and Tracking Information System" (PITIS) was then implemented in 1987. This system was created to contain the names, addresses, dates of birth, and social security numbers of all preternaturals along with a finger prints, iris scans, and a DNA sample - all intended to provide for prosecution of preternaturals who commit assaults (including infection and assault with intent to infect), murders, etc.
In the year 1989, the Supreme Court ruled in a secret suit brought by vampiric monarch, Harmon v. Kinkaid, that sections of the PRAA, including the registration requirements added in the 1987 amendment, were in violation of the Treaty of Northern Liberties and an unconstitutional exercise of Federal power. After the provision was struck down, several States adopted similar programs, but only registered preternaturals voluntarily or those who were convicted of a crime. This decision confirmed that preternaturals were not considered United States citizens by law in any context in which their status was known.
The Preternatural Sovereignty Amendment
This, the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 2017 amid the Great Reveal during the president’s State of the Union address. Though a similar amendment was proposed in the House of Representatives in 1992, it was defeated in the Senate - under the auspice of maintenance of State sovereignty. The amendment was revived in 2016 in order to secure preternatural support against the coming conflict with the Asian vampires.
“For the purposes of this amendment, the term group shall apply to all self-administering, voluntary groupings of preternatural citizens. In order to assure self-rule, all preternaturals will be subject to the laws, rules, and regulations of their own groups while under their jurisdiction for all interactions with like preternaturals of the same group in lieu of the laws of the United States and their State of residence. They shall, however, be subject to all applicable Federal and State laws governing interactions between preternaturals and humans or between preternaturals not of the the same group. State courts may arbitrate disputes among preternaturals not of the same group and between preternaturals and humans, but they shall have no jurisdiction over disputes among like preternaturals of the same group. All preternaturals born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
After the Reveal
Preternaturals convicted of violent crimes are required to place signs in the yards of their residences identifying them as violent preternaturals and register in databases similar to sex offenders in most States. This is the most often cited cause of "going stealth" among preternaturals, a term that is derived from the colloquialism, "off the radar," that means the preternatural ceases to interact with human society as much as possible in order to avoid the stigma associated with the label.
It is illegal to discriminate against preternaturals on the basis of their preternatural status in regard to employment, housing, loans, etc, and preternaturals are not required to disclose their status in most cases. Hospital employees must, however, in most cases disclose their status to their employer in order to aid in the prevention of infection. Despite these rules, discrimination against preternaturals is rampant in most cities and States where humans form the majority. Though not all humans fear preternaturals, many do, and this fear fuels the discrimination and sometimes violence in the fairly large minority of States where preternatural rights are not of the utmost concern to their citizens.
Though the murder of preternaturals is illegal in all States, some do not enforce this law very strictly, and in others, vigilante justice is a legal method of dealing with preternaturals who overstep the bounds of the law. It is illegal in all 50 States for vampires to feed on humans without consent, but laws prohibiting feeding on humans all together have already been struck down by the Federal courts as violations of the Treaty of Northern Liberties. It is also illegal in all 50 States to infect a human without his or her consent, and a preternatural may be imprisoned for doing so, or for attempting to do so. If the victim dies, the preternatural is subject to the death penalty. Preternaturals convicted of murder are nearly always executed - in some States, quite a bit more expeditiously than the normal appeals process for humans would allow. Though this kind of expedited execution has already come under attack by human rights advocates, the Supreme Court has not yet had time to take the cases.
Custody of Minor Preternaturals
Any minor preternatural child who becomes a ward of the state will be preferentially placed with the closest remaining family member who is willing to take guardianship of the minor child. If no family member is available, the child will be placed with the nearest shifter group of their species. If no group is available, or none is willing to take custody of the child, the child will be placed in a state-approved foster home for preternatural children, or in a group home for preternatural children, at the local court's discretion.
Adoptions are under the jurisdiction of each state's Department of Human Services. Preternatural children are to be preferentially placed with individuals or families from their own species.
At this time, the United States Senate ratified in secret the Treaty of Northern Liberties, signed at Northern Liberties, Pennsylvania. This treaty specified that in gratitude for the invaluable assistance provided by the Vampiric Nations to the United States in the War for Independence, the United States formally recognized the independent and concurrent sovereignty of those Vampiric Nations, while the Vampiric Nations recognized the same. Both governments would retain full sovereignty over their respective and mutually exclusive affairs, all vampires would receive full immunity from prosecution for the crimes of assault and murder regarding their need to feed, and all officers of the United States would be exempt from vampiric feeding. That is, the vampires agreed not to feed on officers of the United States.
The United States maintained no formal relationship with shifters until President James K. Polk reached out to formally recognize the efforts of American shifter groups who contributed to the US victory in the Mexican – American War and to the War for Texas Independence. At this time, the Senate ratified the inclusion of three large groups of shifters composed of Wolves, Bears, and Cougars as signatories to the Treaty of Northern Liberties. At this time, the government remained unaware of the existence of Cats, as they committed to remain hidden even from the human governments.
Preternaturals refused to participate directly in the United States Civil War, but it became apparent to Washington during this time that Southern shifter groups were heavily active in the Underground Railroad and continued to support efforts to free slaves from their captivity. Shifters never engaged in formal relations with the Confederate government. While feigning neutrality, several vampire monarchs in the South secretly influenced the Confederate government, helping to stymie their efforts. This was partly to honor the 1789 treaty and partly to avoid the necessity of disrupting their working relationship with the humans in favor of a group that held them in contempt.
In the year 1917, Congress passed the Preternatural Registration and Accountability Act (PRAA) as a secret adjunct to the Immigration Act of 1917, which required all preternatural citizens, resident aliens, and visitors to the United States to register with the Public Health Service. This requirement would be updated upon the foundation of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953. The electronic "Preternatural Identification and Tracking Information System" (PITIS) was then implemented in 1987. This system was created to contain the names, addresses, dates of birth, and social security numbers of all preternaturals along with a finger prints, iris scans, and a DNA sample - all intended to provide for prosecution of preternaturals who commit assaults (including infection and assault with intent to infect), murders, etc.
In the year 1989, the Supreme Court ruled in a secret suit brought by vampiric monarch, Harmon v. Kinkaid, that sections of the PRAA, including the registration requirements added in the 1987 amendment, were in violation of the Treaty of Northern Liberties and an unconstitutional exercise of Federal power. After the provision was struck down, several States adopted similar programs, but only registered preternaturals voluntarily or those who were convicted of a crime. This decision confirmed that preternaturals were not considered United States citizens by law in any context in which their status was known.
The Preternatural Sovereignty Amendment
This, the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 2017 amid the Great Reveal during the president’s State of the Union address. Though a similar amendment was proposed in the House of Representatives in 1992, it was defeated in the Senate - under the auspice of maintenance of State sovereignty. The amendment was revived in 2016 in order to secure preternatural support against the coming conflict with the Asian vampires.
“For the purposes of this amendment, the term group shall apply to all self-administering, voluntary groupings of preternatural citizens. In order to assure self-rule, all preternaturals will be subject to the laws, rules, and regulations of their own groups while under their jurisdiction for all interactions with like preternaturals of the same group in lieu of the laws of the United States and their State of residence. They shall, however, be subject to all applicable Federal and State laws governing interactions between preternaturals and humans or between preternaturals not of the the same group. State courts may arbitrate disputes among preternaturals not of the same group and between preternaturals and humans, but they shall have no jurisdiction over disputes among like preternaturals of the same group. All preternaturals born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
After the Reveal
Preternaturals convicted of violent crimes are required to place signs in the yards of their residences identifying them as violent preternaturals and register in databases similar to sex offenders in most States. This is the most often cited cause of "going stealth" among preternaturals, a term that is derived from the colloquialism, "off the radar," that means the preternatural ceases to interact with human society as much as possible in order to avoid the stigma associated with the label.
It is illegal to discriminate against preternaturals on the basis of their preternatural status in regard to employment, housing, loans, etc, and preternaturals are not required to disclose their status in most cases. Hospital employees must, however, in most cases disclose their status to their employer in order to aid in the prevention of infection. Despite these rules, discrimination against preternaturals is rampant in most cities and States where humans form the majority. Though not all humans fear preternaturals, many do, and this fear fuels the discrimination and sometimes violence in the fairly large minority of States where preternatural rights are not of the utmost concern to their citizens.
Though the murder of preternaturals is illegal in all States, some do not enforce this law very strictly, and in others, vigilante justice is a legal method of dealing with preternaturals who overstep the bounds of the law. It is illegal in all 50 States for vampires to feed on humans without consent, but laws prohibiting feeding on humans all together have already been struck down by the Federal courts as violations of the Treaty of Northern Liberties. It is also illegal in all 50 States to infect a human without his or her consent, and a preternatural may be imprisoned for doing so, or for attempting to do so. If the victim dies, the preternatural is subject to the death penalty. Preternaturals convicted of murder are nearly always executed - in some States, quite a bit more expeditiously than the normal appeals process for humans would allow. Though this kind of expedited execution has already come under attack by human rights advocates, the Supreme Court has not yet had time to take the cases.
Custody of Minor Preternaturals
Any minor preternatural child who becomes a ward of the state will be preferentially placed with the closest remaining family member who is willing to take guardianship of the minor child. If no family member is available, the child will be placed with the nearest shifter group of their species. If no group is available, or none is willing to take custody of the child, the child will be placed in a state-approved foster home for preternatural children, or in a group home for preternatural children, at the local court's discretion.
Adoptions are under the jurisdiction of each state's Department of Human Services. Preternatural children are to be preferentially placed with individuals or families from their own species.