fandomhigh | Criminal Justice, Friday, Period 1

There were no big dramatic flourishes today. Well, relatively speaking. Batman was still standing at a podium at the front of the room, which was pretty dramatic in its own way.

"Our society is built on rules. Laws. Some can be malleable. Others are rigid. In general, they have been created to protect the people within the society," Batman explained. "But then you get the people who shun these rules. The ones who, for right or for wrong, step outside of society. Thieves. Murderers. Yes, vigilantes."

"You are here because you're interested in the breaking of these societal rules and how society deals with people who break them," Batman said. "Or because you had an extra class requirement and picked at random. Either way, I expect you to keep up with the class or transfer to another class as soon as I'm done speaking."

"Traditionally, we consider our justice system to involve the police who investigate crimes and serve to protect the people, as well the district attorneys who try to prosecute criminals to keep them from hurting anyone else. I think this is a limited view," Batman suggested. "Concerned citizens easily make up a third group. The role of this group can vary. Some, like me, take the law into their own hands to make up the gap in power between the criminal and the cop. Some are snitches, who live deep within the criminal element but are willing to feed useful information to those who would oppose crime. Some come from the fields of mental health or social work and are just trying to help criminals turn away from the lives they find themselves in."

"This class will be split among the police, the attorneys, and the concerned citizens," Batman said. "For today, though, you should be reasonably familiar with how the first class of a semester goes. I want your name, your grade, and what your interest in criminal justice is. Are you working towards being a police officer or working in a courtroom? Are you looking to hep as a vigilante, or a non-vilainous criminal psychiatrist? Be specific."

"I'll start," Batman said. "I'm Batman. I've worked as a vigilante for over a decade. For most of that time, I've had a healthy relationship with the police, investigating crimes in ways they can't, taking on the kinds of criminals for which they can't prepare. At times, an aggressive DA or a brief change in police philosophy will cause the police to directly oppose me and my methods. That has proven to be temporary over time, and never hurts my relationship with the best the police force has to offer."

"Now you," Batman said, Batman said, staring down a random volunteer.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes, I stand with "CHUNG CHUNG." REACT!

Atton Rand

Korra

Victor Mancha

Chaz Villette

Minako Aino

CHUNG CHUNG.

I mean.

Maddie Berry

Billy Kaplan

Karina Lyle

Alexandra Jones

Listen to the guy who is essentially a one-man CSI: Gotham City.

Name, grade, your interest in criminal justice.

"Atton Rand, senior," Atton said. And if he was completely honest, he was mostly here to learn how to avoid the law, not, uh, be it. But hey: "My universe is currently at war, and there are a lot of war criminals walking around. I developed an interest in helping the authorities taking them in."

Technically true. It was just the definition of 'war criminals' they might have an argument about.

"Korra, I'm a senior, and I figure it'd be useful knowing how the law works."

Korra maybe wanted to impress Lin, just a little.

"Victor Mancha, senior," Victor said. "I'm from a world with a lot of people like you, and I admire what they do."

Over the last year, he'd gotten more cautious about mentioning having powers or fighting crime in front of people who didn't know yet. Not that he thought it was news to Batman, but he still didn't need to bring it up first.

"Chaz Villette, Sophomore, and uh." Chaz starred at the desk hoping for an answer that didn't include avoiding the cops. "I like having useful information." He finally finished lamely.

"Maddie Berry, I'm a senior, and..." Well, this was awkward. "It might still be something I want to do someday?"

"I'm Billy Kaplan, I'm a senior, and my interest is in stopping supervillains. My world kind of has a lot of them," he admitted, "and the police don't really know what to do when it comes to fighting them, even now."

"Hi, I'm Karina Lyle," she said simply, once it was her turn. "I'm a junior."

And. Er.

"And I guess I'm interested," because she was a Hero, "because it's important for people to feel safe and knowing all the options there are to help people are useful to that end, especially when it comes to the law."

Which was true, though it left out a lot.

"Hey, I'm Alex, junior," she said, choosing her next words very carefully. "I'm really interested in justice."

Or basically seeking vengeance.

Right before class ended, Batman announced, "If anyone is interested in being my TA, please see me before you leave."

Victor shuffled up to Batman after class. "So," he asked. "Is that TA gig still open?"

"So far, yes," Batman said. Instead of small-talking it and asking if Victor was interested in the job, he jumped straight to, "Why are you interested in it?"

Victor shrugged as he considered his answer. "I kind of know a lot about the ... concerned citizen stuff?" he said. "But the rest of it, the actual cops and lawyers and all of that -- I'm not an expert, but I'd really like to know more. Plus, I'm super-responsible and I learn fast, so I know I'd be good at it."

"Can you take orders?" Batman asked. "Are you prepared to deal with class instructions that could come at literally any time?"

"The 'at any time' part is no problem. I don't need that much sleep," Victor noted. "And orders are fine, unless you're telling me to kick puppies or something evil like that."

Edited 2013-09-07 01:10 (UTC)

"What if they were demonstrably evil puppies?" Batman asked. It had to be a joke, but it sounded like it was a completely serious question.

"I'd want to capture them to see if I could figure out what kind of conditioning made them evil," Victor said, also speaking as though the scenario were totally serious. "Plus, they're young. Maybe they could be rehabilitated."

"Seems reasonable. You have the job. Don't disappoint me," Batman said.

"I'll do my best," Victor said with a slight grin. "Thanks, Batman."

Been a while since I've had a pointy-headed superhero teaching this class.

Criminal Justice, Friday, Period 1

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Listen to the Lecture

Introductions

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OOC