Rebel Squadrons Code of Conduct
Created and Maintained by the Council of Justice
with the Approval of the Fleet Commander
Introduction
The Rebel Squadrons is a club that values honesty, integrity, equanimity and respect. All members will be expected to act in accordance with these values. Members should behave in a manner that respects other members at all times. In general, any action designed to intentionally offend or harass another member in the club should be avoided. This Code of Conduct will include a list of specifically prohibited acts as well as a list of sanctions at the disposal of the Council of Justice, but neither list should be considered to be comprehensive. Actions that are not in accord with a policy of respectful interaction will be subject to investigation and sanction regardless of whether they are on this list or not.
Specifically Prohibited Acts
The Bylaws, in section 5.9, already provide a brief list of specifically prohibited acts. For clarity, they are repeated here:
"Members must refrain from ever engaging in non-fictional acts of aggression or antagonism against any other online organization, for any reason. 'Espionage,' 'spying,' 'hacking' of websites, and 'infiltration' of rival clubs is entirely unacceptable.
Finally, members must refrain from creating a hostile or unwelcoming environment for any other member through their actions or communications. Given the diverse background of the Rebel Squadrons, all members must respect and mutually tolerate the differences of others in the organization."
The last quoted paragraph, requiring that members refrain from creating a hostile or unwelcoming environment, entails a number of specifically prohibited acts:
Abuse is the use of abusive or offensive language when referring to another member.
Discrimination is the refusal of services or advancement or the singling out for unfair treatment because of a particular quality or trait.
Harassment is continual abuse over a period of time, which seeks to isolate a member with abusive or offensive language.
Additional specifically prohibited acts that are subject to sanction are the following:
Cheating is the falsification of results to change the rightful outcome of any competition, internal or external.
Dereliction of Duty is neglect, or significant and/or repeated failure to carry out the responsibilities of a command position.
Abuse of Authority is the use of command privilege in a way not intended by the Bylaws or specifically to abuse or harass another member.
Possible Sanctions for Violations
The Council of Justice retains the right to issue sanctions commensurate with the violation. Therefore there will be no prescribed sanction or punishment for an individual violation. Punishments will be decided on a case-by-case basis and will be assigned to be commensurate with the severity of the violation. While most first time offenses will result in warnings, the Council of Justice retains the right to issue any level of sanction for any violation depending on the circumstances.
Some possible sanctions are as follows:
Warning: The Council of Justice issues a warning to the violator, informing them of their violation and warning them against similar action in the future.
Communications Ban: The Council of Justice may issue communications bans to violators to prohibit them from interacting with other members in official RS communication mediums. The Council of Justice reserves the right to determine the extent and duration of a ban. A ban may be for only one particular medium, such as a single IRC channel, for one medium in general, such as all RS IRC channels, or even for all RS communication mediums entirely, including IRC and the RS website.
Demotion: The Council of Justice may demote a member either one rank or several ranks for violating the Code of Conduct if the case is severe enough to warrant such action.
Removal from Office*: The Council of Justice reserves the right to remove a member from an office or position of authority.
Expulsion*: The ultimate penalty the Council of Justice may levy is permanent expulsion from the Rebel Squadrons. As stated in section 5.6 of the Bylaws, this decision by the Council of Justice may be appealed to High Command, which may reverse a penalty of expulsion by a 75% majority and the concurrence of the Fleet Commander.
*Because of the severe nature of these sanctions, the Council of Justice recommends that they be reserved for the Fleet Commander and the CoJ itself. All other sanctions may be applied by all positions in the Chain of Command as appropriate.
Golden Rule
This Code of Conduct is merely meant to provide some basic guidelines and does not exhaust all possible violations or all possible sanctions. In general, members are encouraged to have fun with each other and refrain from any action that is mocking or disrespectful of other members. If members are having fun with their friends and treating others the way they wish to be treated themselves, they will most likely never have to worry about sanctions from the Council of Justice.