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

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."

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"I'm Ben," not looking at Leia, not looking at Leia, "Skywalker, and I'm another Jedi from a little further along in the timeline than Tahiri. We're still charged with mediating disputes and being a voice for justice, though, so this class is pretty much going to be my job description for the rest of my life?"

Karla glanced at Leia. And then at Ben and back at Leia. And then remembered last night's broadcast.

It was very hard to maintain a straight face right now, but Karla was trying hard. It helped to keep her eyes focused entirely on her desk.

*Who is she?* she sent to Ben on a spear-thread. She figured he'd know who Karla was talking about.

Say hello to my aunt, Ben sighed, resting his head on his hand. That's Dad's twin sister. She hasn't met him yet. It's complicated.

*That's Jaina's mother?!?* Karla asked. Man, the not laughing just got so much harder. *How much does she know? How weird is it for you, hearing about her on radio?*

Oh, that might not ever stop being funny.

There isn't a word big enough to express how weird that is, Ben said, scribbling notes, and I don't think she knows much. Our family is going to make her head explode.

*I think I'll be her friend. Won't it be funny to have an Auntie Karla come visiting when you're just a baby?*

Even if Leia was from a completely different timeline, just knowing that there was a Ben out there with a Karla around was delightful.

*I promise to spoil you,* she added solemnly.

It was bad enough when Jaina's boyfriend babysat another me, Ben whined.

*Ben, please don't backtalk Auntie Karla,* she admonished. *It's just rude.*

She turned her attention to her notes, mostly because looking at Ben would probably be more than she could handle quietly right now.

*Kiss kiss.*

He may not have been looking, but Leia was listening. Though she was still in some shock after Ethics.

"Another Knight, then?" Alex asked. "You'll be dispatched to a situation and asked to make a ruling. How do you plan to account for differences in cultural norms, if these are entirely new societies that have their own customs?"

"We haven't found an entire new society in a few hundred years," Ben said with a smile. "The current work is mostly binding a few different galactic-wide governments into alliances."

"That's helpful," she beamed. "There go all my interesting questions about societies whose norms allow for spousal abuse. How are the alliances enforced?"

"Right now?" Ben made a face. "Duct tape and smiles."

"That ... sounds like diplomacy here," she said, flashing a sympathetic smile. "Is there a common enemy to bond against?"

"Not any more," Ben said, "which was what got them together originally. Now we're trying to keep up the alliance with a distinct lack of common ground." He worked through his Earth history, searching for a comparison. "It's a bit like if Russia and America tried to form an alliance after Hilter's death."

"Without one, you just descend into petty squabbling while everyone rebuilds," Alex sighed. "Unless you make a phantom threat into the Bogeyman and use that to scare people, but that has its own problems."

"Or pick a different group and blame them for everything," Ben said a little bitterly.

"Human nature's pretty ugly, isn't it?" Alex said, shaking her head. "Solutions can be worse than the problems, a lot of the time."

"Especially when we just keep repeating the same solutions that didn't work," Ben added.

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

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