fandomhigh | Concepts of Justice and The Law [Period 4, Class #9, Mar 9]

"Justice," Alex began, "is frequently depicted as a pair of balancing scales. If you've been paying attention so far this semester, you probably can see how that would be appropriate. A lot of the fundamentals of justice are, at heart, an elaborate balancing act. When the lines have to be drawn, what do you privilege? Where do you err, in the gray areas? That's something we've been discussing, in one form or another, nearly every week."

"This week, we're going straight to the heart of the matter." Alex pointed to the blackboard, which had a few sentences written on it.

FOURTHLY, all presumptive evidence of felony should be admitted cautiously: for the law holds, that it is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.

"This is known as Blackstone's Formulation," Alex said, "although the principle behind it is much older. Sir John Fortescue said much the same a few centuries earlier. The idea here is that, all else being equal, it is better for a judicial system to acquit ten guilty people than to convict one innocent person.

"Obviously, the ideal would be to convict every guilty person and to never convict anyone who was innocent. But that's not realistic. Some accused will confess. Some crimes, you will have clear and undeniable evidence. The rest of the time? You have a great deal of evidence pointing towards that person, while he or she swears innocence.

"It is each society's decision, what to prioritize in that moment. Not all follow Blackstone. Otto von Bismarck said the opposite: better to imprison ten innocent men than to let one guilty go free. Bismarck's country would presumably have less crime, but I'll say, I still wouldn't want to live there.

"If society decides that it's better to acquit the innocent than convict the guilty, then the burden of proof is on the prosecutors. The government has to prove, within a reasonable doubt, that this person is guilty. Reasonable doubt doesn't mean no doubt at all. If aliens might have abducted this person and replaced him with a body double, that's certainly an alternate theory of the crime, but it's hardly a plausible one."

At least, for places that weren't Fandom.

"No one is found innocent in a court of law: the verdicts are Guilty or Not Guilty, and sometimes the latter means 'we're not sure.' If you're not convinced, as a jury member, you should vote Not Guilty. Put the burden on the prosecutors. Make us do our job.

"By contrast, if you're living in Bismarck's world, you have to prove your innocence, if you're charged with a crime. Proving a negative is difficult. Find a good alibi, find a good attorney, and good luck."

Alex clasped her hands together, in front of herself. "So. That's this week's topic. Reasonable doubt, and balancing those scales. Do you follow Blackstone, or Bismarck?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Take notes. Pass notes. Write down that sentence on the board. Be happy that she took out the long-S's that looked like Fs.

Joan took some notes, though she wasn't sure how she felt about the sentence on the board.

Roy took notes, and thought about how glad he was that Ms. Cabot seemed to not be crazy any more.

Dinah threw a paper airplane at Roy. Across one wing was written: BC left me an IOU for pizza money!

Roy snatched the paper airplane out of midair, read the note, and wrote across the other wing, Do you want me to pay you back? before winging it back toward Dinah. Possibly aiming for her head, because he was easily amused.

Dinah ducked, then snagged the airplane, grinning, read it, snickered, and wrote: I want pizza! Not $$$! And winged it at him, with a loop-di-loop that was totally accidental.

So you want me to buy you pizza? Roy tried. What do you want on it? He tossed it back at her, apparently without looking.

'Apparently.' Sure. That's why it landed perfectly on her desk.

Mushrooms and sausage and peppers and pepperoni and extra cheese!

Or she could've just written 'everything' and saved space on the airplane.

She autographed my poster!

That would be because Roy had skillz.

Can do. PS I have no idea what you're talking about.

Dinah grinned smugly. Long story. Bring pizza.

Also: Teeny Dinah?

Roy thought many, many curse words, none of which were appropriate for the classroom and some of which were not in English.

You remember that?

Yup! The airplane was getting crowded, but there was still enough space to write: Call your Dinah, dude. She misses you.

Or somebody did. It got confusing.

Re: During the Lecture - JST09

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Kurt took notes, thought deeply about the sentence on the board, and decided that Chancellor Bismarck was kind of a jerk.

After the way George had spent the end of last week, this whole topic seemed more funny than it ought. And he wondered how Miss Cabot would consider stealin' things t'prevent others from using them worse.

So he spent much of the time wondering how Beka would be answerin' the questions.

Karla glanced over, giving George a look. It was a look that said, Is that you? Because if it isn't you, the you-that-it-is will probably get punched in the head.

It was a complicated look.

George noticed the look and gave her a look back. It was a look that said WTF?

It was not a complicated look.

After a moment, Karla just sighed, shook her head, and looked away.

He frowned and scribbled a quick note before sliding it over to her desk.

What is it, lass?

Karla wrote, erased, and wrote again, before sliding the note back.

Just checking to make sure you weren't still that ass from the weekend.

He frowned at the paper, not entirely sure why she seemed upset, but as it went, t'wasn't something he could argue with.

Err, sorry?

I'm not mad at you, Karla wrote. Just the male you thought you were this weekend. He was the last straw after the kidnapping, the vampire, and everything else. But it wasn't your fault.

What kidnapping? was the response.

Of course it wasn't him. He was very, very aware of that.

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Sometimes, Karla felt profoundly uncomfortable in this class--usually when it highlighted the vast differences between this world and hers. It wasn't that she didn't have an opinion, it was more that the entire system was alien to her.

So she was taking notes and thinking hard.

Momoko was taking notes. The idea on the blackboard made sense, and she was actually looking forward to the discussion today.

Sam was very glad to be back here this week, with notes to focus on to make him feel like a proper geek again.