No Man Left Behind Act

The No Man Left Behind Act (Protocol 59367) was a draft law enforced by the Capitol of Wildwood. The law was to add more forces to the Wave Watchers, which was not mandatory & had less men out in the ocean than ever at the time of the bill signing. The law enforced that the Wave Watchers shifts were mandatory for every man in the districts & every person was to have a census & records of their names & addresses were made & they were assigned to any of the shifts at least once a day. The bill passed with the Water Safety Act (Protocol 59368) & was signed on January 12, 24Y with an expiration of 7 years, on January 1, 31Y, 7 years after the day before the bill entered deliberation.

Clauses/Amendments

 * Only men are required to account this shift, women are too delicate for military engagement
 * The districts shall uphold any number of times in a shift a day or week & it is their decision on the number of men out in the water. But it shall be the Capitol's power of enforcing this act, any man who doesn't report for duty at their selected time will be taken to the shore by the police & forced into the water
 * Should the citizens fail to report for duty, they shall be fined &/or arrested. First offenses result in warnings, second offenses result in warnings & fines, third offenses will be an arrest & a possible trial at district court level. If a fourth offense is committed, the trial will be district level. If appealed, it goes to the national courts.
 * If too many men are present in districts to account for the number out in the water for one day, they may be assigned to fill in a specific vacancy at a scheduled shift.
 * If unhappy with the shift length or the water levels of the district, the citizens may request transport to another district. If money in the government is in jeopardy, the trip may only account for a district that is poorer or of similar wealth (ex. someone from District 6 may travel to Districts 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12. It could be possible of going to District 5 & maybe even 4. A person from District 12 may not be permitted to be transported to a wealthier district [i.e. every other district] & a person from District 1 can travel to any district they choose)

Exceptions

 * If the citizen is ill with a disease (not a simple cold), they may be excused from dutys
 * If the citizen has committed a crime...
 * If the crime is of district level, the citizen will be disqualifyed from that district's roster & must go to any of the poorer districts
 * If the crime is of national level, the citizen will be disqualfyed from the roster entirely & will receive an increase bill in taxes to cover for the vacancy
 * The only citizens that do not have the requirement are women
 * Any man who doesn't own property or pay the tax money for that property (i.e. Tom Riddle)
 * Any person who is on temporary leave in the Big City off of Wildwood, shall be forced to make up shifts by remaining in the water to account for the lost time (a person in District 7 who leaves for 18 hours would have to stay out in water for a whole 24 hours to maintain balance in the schedule & must account 30 hours in the shift if necessary to remove the shift of the day)

Deliberation
The bill entered legislative deliberation on January 2, 24Y. The Democrats & Republicans won a solid majority to uphold the bill's signage, having a third opposing the bill. The bill passed without hesitation.

Signing
President Harold Smith signed the bill on January 12, 24Y, just ten days while Congress was still in session. Even if Smith had not signed it or had vetoed it, the bill would still have became a law anyway.

Case
The Supreme Court of the Capitol immediately heard a case in the following weeks regarding this law's constitutionality. Norton v. Capitol became the national headlines. In the trial, James Edward Norton testifyed the unconstitutional withdrawal of freedom to choose. In the end, the court upheld the law as of the conscription required for the Wave Watcher lines.

Nortons
James Edward Norton, the father of Thelma "Trixie" Norton & later father-in-law of Edward Simpson, sued Districts 5 & 7 alongside his wife in defense of the people unwilling to serve. When Norton refused to show up for duty in 5, the police fined him & forced him into the ocean. Norton then moved away from District 5, leaving his fines behind with them all unpaid. Moving to District 7, he built up a life to protect himself from the Wave Watchers. His wife registered only a woman & a daughter living in the house, leaving Norton out of the water. Meanwhile, District 5 ordered an investigation & soon discovered they'd moved through the Capitol & headed into District 7. District 5 notifyed 7 & 7 ordered Norton to pay his fines & get into the water or face imprisonment. Norton was incarcerated for draft evasion. His wife sued the districts $5,000 for the charges, eventually leading the case up to the Capitol.

As a law
Just like the case, Norton v. Capitol, many refused to be subjected to the law. However, some evaded the law by faking illness, moving out of Wildwood & getting evicted. John Lemon, a bus driver from District 7, ranted that he never wants to go out in the ocean, yet no matter how many times he stays home & does his job all day, the police arrive to take him to the beach.

Renewal
The bill entered the Capitol building of the Capitol on the year of 30Y. The bill guaranteed that unless it was deliberated & re-signed by the President before January 1 of the following year, it would expire & the Wave Watchers would no longer become mandatory. During this, news pundits gained support against or for the bill by campaigning it & President Smith announced that under no circumstances will he veto the bill, which led the pundits to focus on deliberation, insisting support to stop the bill in Congress before it reaches the presidential desk.

Deliberation
Congress began sessions to renew the bill & over the course of the year, they met several times. On November 29, the Speaker of the House George Johnson announced on TV that the Congress will meet one last time in December to deliberate.

Failure
On December 8, Congress met for the final time to attach amendments. However, the final result ended up being a third of support for the bill, rendering it impassable. The bill's renewal attempt was scrapped & the law was set to expire on January 1, 31Y, which was just 1 day behind 6 years from the day the bill was crafted.