Concepts of Justice and The Law [Period 4, Class #1, Jan 5]

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

At the start of class, there was a tall blonde woman leaning against the teacher's desk. She was wearing a business suit, and amusing herself by idly flicking through a file she had brought with her. When the clock struck 1, she cleared her throat and began.

"Welcome to Concepts of Justice and the Law," she said, tossing the file onto the desk. "If that's not the class you signed up for, you're in the wrong room. My name is Alexandra Cabot, and you can call me Alex. I'm an assistant district attorney for the state of New York. If those words don't mean anything to you, fear not, all will be explained.

"The dictionary would tell you that 'justice' means righteousness, moral principles determining conduct, and the maintenance or administration therein. Essentially, justice is about fairness. For the purposes of this class, justice refers to the process of ensuring that laws are upheld and order is maintained.

"Society needs rules. One might be, 'don't shoot your neighbor in the face and steal his stereo.' Otherwise, everyone with a nice stereo would sleep with one eye glued open. So when someone breaks the law, society has to apply consequences. In the American system, police officers arrest a suspect, who then receives a trial. The prosecutor -- someone such as myself -- makes the case, while the defense argues the suspect's innocence. The judge makes sure everyone plays fair, and then a jury of twelve average citizens decides his fate.

"That's the crash-course, for any of you who aren't from the United States. You certainly don't have to be, and I'll admit, I'm hoping we have a good mixture of backgrounds for this class. My goal is for us to talk about some of these basic cornerstones of law and justice. What should be illegal? How should morality and the law intersect, if they're going to do so? How should laws be enforced? What rules should we set down, and how, then, do we apply those black-and-white rules to a reality that's a million shades of gray? I want us to argue, I want us to disagree, and I want us all to re-think the way we look at some of the rules we take for granted."

"Before we start, there are two important matters to get out of the way. First: this class could get messy. I'm all right with that. Conversations can get heated, tempers might flare. Personal attacks, however, will get you detention, so keep it civil. Secondly: this class might hit some sensitive issues. I mentioned before that I was a prosecutor: my cases were sexually-based offenses, such as rape, rape-homicide, and child molestation. It's not a pretty job, but someone has to speak for the victims, so I do. If you want to discuss the uglier side of human nature in this room, feel free to do so. If something in class makes you uncomfortable, you may leave, without further explanation."

"But, before I get ahead of myself." She pointed to a random student. "Introductions. Tell me your name, why you picked this class, and what law enforcement and justice is like where you're from."

Comments

Sign In - JST01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

With hot-ass glasses, if you've got 'em. If not, go for something that's part of your signature look.

Re: Sign In - JST01

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah Lance (earrings, necklace, jacket)

During the Lecture - JST01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

Talk, write things down, pass notes. Wonder how Alex stayed sane in her previous job.

Re: During the Lecture - JST01

[therewaslife]

Bod didn't take many notes. He'd never taken that many notes previously, choosing instead just to listen and let things stay with him that way. Paper would be destroyed easier than his mind.

The class subject, even described very basically, seemed complicated. He'd never had to think about things like this, having relied on the safety of the graveyard to protect him from scary things. The outside world, he was finding, was a complex place filled with sharp edges and dark places.

Re: During the Lecture - JST01

[weetuskenraider]

Oh, Tahiri was so not looking in Leia's direction today. At all. It would just lead to making more of the breaking-down-sandcrawler noise and did she really need that? Really?

Re: During the Lecture - JST01

[bamf-tastic.livejournal.com]

Against all his expectations, Kurt found himself fascinated and taking notes.

Re: During the Lecture - JST01

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

Chuck was attempting to keep to himself during class today. One, he had to at least pretend he was a little annoyed with Sam due to the whole Dan thing even though he wasn't. It was a pride thing.

And, two, he could feel you judging him, little blonde girl who hates shoes and kid who has UST with that emo kid.

Re: During the Lecture - JST01

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

Joan jotted down a few notes, but this was all pretty familiar territory thanks to her dad.

Re: During the Lecture - JST01

[bigbadgunn.livejournal.com]

Gunn wasn't quite sure how he got signed up for this class.

He was pretty sure that someone out there had a strange sense of humor.

Re: During the Lecture - JST01

[heromaniac]

Momoko was bouncing with excitement. She was in one of the classes she had actually chosen! How could she resists a class on justice?!

She took notes from the moment professor Cabot had started to speak, but hearing the types of crime that the professor had worked with before made her glad she just fought with monsters.

Introductions - JST01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

Name, reason for taking the class, and a very brief explanation of how laws work where you're from, similar to her quick overview of the American system. E.g.: "the king decides, and then beheads people" or "we vote on issues as a commune."

Re: Introductions - JST01

[endsthegame]

"I'm Ender Wiggin," Ender supplied, "Full name Andrew. I spent most of my life in a military environment, and I'm currently working with a new settlement somewhere else - I'm in this class to get a good grip on the essence of law in hopes it might be of some contribution to the infrastructure over there."

Everything came back down to the colonies. "As for where I'm from, the planet itself doesn't operate much different from this Earth, but the school I went to functioned under martial law."

Re: Introductions - JST01

[ihaveniceteeth.livejournal.com]

"Gwen Cooper. I'm here because my guardian thinks he's funny and there wasn't a sex ed course this semester," Gwen said. "I'm from Wales, and though we can pass some of our own civil legislation these days we're still using the same criminal law as England. From what I understand it's more similar than not to the American version, especially as far as common law goes."

Re: Introductions - JST01

[therewaslife]

"I'm Nobody Owens." Introductions seemed to call for full names even if he was certain the teacher already knew. His tutors back in the graveyard had known, he had no reason to doubt that talent carried over to this school "It's my real name and my parents didn't hate me. I go by Bod, though. I'm from England and spent most of my life there until coming here."

Silas had obtained his passport (with the name Nobody Owens proudly emblazoned inside) and Bod had intended to use it, to not make the struggle fruitless.

"And--" Bod stopped, slowly piecing together how to explain the way things worked in the graveyard. It wasn't typical English law. Things were governed differently because the laws in questions were being applied to ghosts. "--when there was a need for law, they were discussed as a group and voted on. Simple, really. The majority ruled though the minority was always given the opportunity to be heard."

Re: Introductions - JST01

[likes_scoundrels]

"I'm Leia Organa," Leia stated. "I'm taking this class because I'm passionate about justice and law -- fairly applied law. Where I'm from, law is decided by the Emperor, who has made a mockery of democracy and justice since he seized power. The Imperial Senate has been reduced to only an advisory capacity, since Palpatine can and does overrule any law they attempt to pass."

Re: Introductions - JST01

[bitten_notshy]

"I'm Jack Priest," he said. "Taking the course because I'm interested in legal work someday. My guardian is a detective and it's always fascinated me."

"And my world's law's are very similar to those in Britain a hundred years ago, I suppose, but we also have special detectives called Detective Crown Investigators who take care of supernatural cases."

Re: Introductions - JST01

[weetuskenraider]

This was going to be sticky, wasn't it? It was pretty much doomed to stickiness by inevitability.

"Tahiri Veila," she began, and paused; she got the feeling she wouldn't be able to get away with being vague around Alex, which meant that even if nobody had let on to Leia that the Jedi might have been nonexistent but they got better in the future it was going to happen sooner or later. Still, glossing over the war might be a good idea. "Jedi Knight. Part of our job is mediating disputes, and while legal systems back home vary depending on the planet and whatever region of the galaxy you happen to be in at the time --" and sometimes the day of the week -- "it never hurts to have a really solid grasp on the basic concepts. Pretty much the opposite."

Re: Introductions - JST01

[bamf-tastic.livejournal.com]

"My name is Kurt Wagner, and I was just in New York, so... Pretty much the same laws. I come from Germany, and... I guess it's similar there? There aren't juries, but I think the rest is the same?"

Kurt shrugged. "And I'm here because... Well, sometimes justice has to happen outside the law, right? So I thought it would be nice to have some ideas about how to keep it just."

Re: Introductions - JST01

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"I am Hinata Hyuuga," she said taking it slowly so she wouldn't stutter much. "A-Ano, I took this class because I thought it would be interesting to see how other people view justice."

A careful pause as she tried to decide how to explain it. "In my village, you obey the Hokage. Civilians have some sort of council but we do not at the moment have an organized police force."

Re: Introductions - JST01

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"Jennifer Walters. I'm here because, well, I'm hoping to be a lawyer someday. As for laws, well, I'm from America too. And I don't think I can improve on the basic overview Alex gave us," she said. Yes, she was sucking up a little.

Re: Introductions - JST01

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

It took a while for Chuck to come up with an answer to Alex's question that wasn't 'I'm taking this class because Sam will do my work for me'.

"I'm Chuck Bass," he said. "I'm taking this class because I figure the law and I could probably mesh better together and learning more about it is a step towards that. And I'm from New York City so I imagine my laws are the same as yours."

Re: Introductions - JST01

[exspeedydotcom]

"I'm Roy Harper, I'm taking this class because I have an interest in the law, and I'm from America so it's pretty much the same? Except we have, uh, a lot of costumed superheroes who deal with supervillains and stuff."

((In the criminal justice system of Gotham City the people are represented by three separate, yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime, the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders, and the goddamn Batman.))

Discussion: What Is or Isn't A Crime - JST01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

"Today's subject is going to be a deceptively easy question," Alex continued, once the intros were out of the way. "What constitutes a crime? We're going to talk about what's illegal, in your culture, including those things which you think shouldn't be, and why. And we're going to talk about things that you think should always be against the law, provided you can enforce it.

"I'll start. I think the taking of another life should always be illegal. I believe that the gray areas are best handled openly, in public, and not by someone taking the law into his or her own hands."

Explain something you think should always be illegal, or something that is illegal that you think shouldn't be, or ping in to argue with Alex's case. Or just ask her what gray areas she's even referring to, for that matter.

Re: Discussion: What Is or Isn't A Crime - JST01

[ihaveniceteeth.livejournal.com]

"What if the person you kill can come back to life afterwards, and you know that they'll come back before you kill them?" Gwen asked, definitely not thinking of anyone in particular. "Purely for argument's sake."

Talk to Alex - JST01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

She's around after class, if you want to ask about the gray areas, explain more about your culture, or ask about the TA position*.

(*IC, that is. The TAs have been decided OOC, with my thanks for those who volunteered.)

Re: Talk to Alex - JST01

[glacial_queen]

"Professor Cabot?" Karla asked, after class ended. "I was hoping I could talk to you a moment?"

OOC - JST01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

First class, woo! I'm probably crashing soon for the night, but I'll be back to grab pings when I resurface. Have some smokin' hot Stephanie March in the meantime.

Re: OOC - JST01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

... Sleep didn't happen, so I'm grabbing pings now, but once I crash, I'll be down for the count. Insomniacs unite!