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fandomhigh2011-01-20 11:40 am
glasses-justice.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2011-01-20 11:40 am
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Nation Building and the Origin of Government, Period 5, Class 3, Thursday, 1-20
Today, class was meeting in the Danger Shop, which was only because Alex's students might want to speak with individuals themselves. and so I can play with NPC icons
"Last night was a busy one, in your country," she said, once everyone had filed in to a replica of their usual classroom. "You asked the patrol guards to keep their eyes open for any suspicious or questionable activity, and they found a fair amount. The official tally is on the blackboard."
The tally, on the blackboard, was in no particular order and read as follows:
• Two men engaged in a barfight; both were injured, one seriously.
• An alleged would-be burglar entered the home of a resident. The resident fired a gun at the presumed burglar. The presumed burglar is in critical condition.
• A homeless man stole several food items, at gunpoint, from a grocery store.
• A woman discovered her husband in bed with another woman, and stabbed him.
• A CEO hired an assassin to kill the CEO of the company's chief competitor; the hitman succeeded.
• Two adult siblings engaged in what both claim was consensual sex.
• A woman has been printing and mailing out a newsletter which insults you and spreads lies about your regime.
• A man gave a prostitute money in exchange for sexual favors.
"The patrol guards placed these people in separate cells. This is where the real fun starts. None of what happened last night was, technically speaking, illegal. We haven't instituted a formal rule of law yet. That doesn't mean we can't punish any or all of those people, if we see fit to do so, but it does remind us that we might want to put together some laws, and announce them to the populace at large. The populace won't automatically follow all of your rules, but it's nice for them to at least know what's against the law, and what punishment is assigned each crime.
"Leaving aside the issue of retroactive legality -- this is a thought experiment, so we can do that easily enough -- which of these people broke the law last night? What mitigating circumstances do we want to take into effect, when issuing punishment? And what exactly are we going to punish our citizens with? Death? Exile? Imprisonment?"
Alex nodded to the doorway on the side of the room. "We can summon anyone you like, for you to speak with, in case you'd like to get a clearer view of the facts of these cases. Next week, we're going to talk big picture, putting down rules and coming up with guidelines, instituting a police presence and determining the fate of criminals. This week? We're going to handle just these cases. Who broke the law, what law should we have in place to guard against that behavior, and what punishment should the guilty receive?"
"Last night was a busy one, in your country," she said, once everyone had filed in to a replica of their usual classroom. "You asked the patrol guards to keep their eyes open for any suspicious or questionable activity, and they found a fair amount. The official tally is on the blackboard."
The tally, on the blackboard, was in no particular order and read as follows:
• Two men engaged in a barfight; both were injured, one seriously.
• An alleged would-be burglar entered the home of a resident. The resident fired a gun at the presumed burglar. The presumed burglar is in critical condition.
• A homeless man stole several food items, at gunpoint, from a grocery store.
• A woman discovered her husband in bed with another woman, and stabbed him.
• A CEO hired an assassin to kill the CEO of the company's chief competitor; the hitman succeeded.
• Two adult siblings engaged in what both claim was consensual sex.
• A woman has been printing and mailing out a newsletter which insults you and spreads lies about your regime.
• A man gave a prostitute money in exchange for sexual favors.
"The patrol guards placed these people in separate cells. This is where the real fun starts. None of what happened last night was, technically speaking, illegal. We haven't instituted a formal rule of law yet. That doesn't mean we can't punish any or all of those people, if we see fit to do so, but it does remind us that we might want to put together some laws, and announce them to the populace at large. The populace won't automatically follow all of your rules, but it's nice for them to at least know what's against the law, and what punishment is assigned each crime.
"Leaving aside the issue of retroactive legality -- this is a thought experiment, so we can do that easily enough -- which of these people broke the law last night? What mitigating circumstances do we want to take into effect, when issuing punishment? And what exactly are we going to punish our citizens with? Death? Exile? Imprisonment?"
Alex nodded to the doorway on the side of the room. "We can summon anyone you like, for you to speak with, in case you'd like to get a clearer view of the facts of these cases. Next week, we're going to talk big picture, putting down rules and coming up with guidelines, instituting a police presence and determining the fate of criminals. This week? We're going to handle just these cases. Who broke the law, what law should we have in place to guard against that behavior, and what punishment should the guilty receive?"
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