fandomhigh | Practical Civics, Friday, September 13, 2019 [3rd period]

"Welcome back, everyone," Steve said with a smile. "We're not quite as annoyed with the Senate this week."

Out came the chart of the three branches of government again. "Today," he said, "we're talking a bit about the court system."

"Like we said last week, each branch is meant to balance the other so no one branch gains too much power," Tony said. Then sighed. "Ideally."

"We'll have a larger conversation about the criminal justice system and how it penalizes poor people for being poor later," Steve said. "Today we're focused on how the courts--especially those where the judges are appointed to a lifetime appointment without needing to be reelected--are supposed to serve as impartial arbiters of justice."

"Appointed, mind you, by elected officials," Tony added. "Who clearly have no bias at all."

"That was sarcasm," Steve added unnecessarily. "So conservative Presidents appoint conservative judges, liberal Presidents appoint liberal judges and theoretically they balance each other out. There have been some court cases over the years that have been considered landmark--they represent a giant societal step either forward or backwards. Dred Scott, for instance, which extended slavery. Or Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated America's schools."

"Roe v. Wade, which gave women the right to choose safe, legal abortions," Tony said. "These court cases have long lasting and very real consequences once they are decided on. They become the law of the land. And when certain people are allowed to pick the people whole issue these rulings, it can be..."

"Disastrous," Steve finished for him. "Dred Scott in 1857 declared that African Americans were not really citizens, even if they weren't slaves, and set the country on a collision course for the Civil War less than 10 years later. But court decisions can also be immensely freeing--the Supreme Court's decision that legalized marriage to same sex partners nationwide was something I would never have even dreamed could happen in my lifetime."

Steve passed out some ~~handwavey~~ papers on various landmark US Supreme Court decisions. "Read these and tell us how the court system--if you have one--works in your dimension," he concluded. "Have they addressed these issues?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Feeling judgey!

Tisarwat

Janet Kim

Evie

Lana Beniko

They actually stayed on topic today! Good job, guys!

Evie had been quiet and looking anywhere but at the teachers for most of the lecture. She wasn't sure what to make of the fact that there was actually a balance and rules for government in this place. After all, back home it was all about the King makes the rules even to punish kids who had committed no crimes besides being born.

For being so invested in the idea of the way this governemnt was run, Tisarwat couldn't help feeling like her instructors were still rather disparaging of it. But she listened carefully, hoping to be able to understand it better, or at least to comprehend the perspective from which they were being taught.

And once she had the papers and started browsing through the examples, she sort of had to shake her head alittle over the idea that half of these were even issues to consider substantial, but, at the same time, she just really needed to remember just how uncivilized this world was and stop being so surprised it was such a mess.

Like most worlds just left to their own devices, really...

Lana was curious about this world's history with slavery, given the Empire's views on it. She was increasingly of the opinion that probably neither of them had it completely right, but she was definitely getting Opinions of her own.

How does justice work in your dimension? Do you have courts?

Tisarwat took some time to sort out her thoughts before offering up an answer, especially with everything that had been happening in the past few months.

"The Radch is incredibly vast," she said, "so, for the most part, we do leave planets to handle their own affairs, but with guidance and in the presence of proper Ambassadors, military presence if necessary. After all, it's important to respect the various cultures that exist in civilized spacr. So smaller, domestic issues are handled by a deligation of their own people; it's really only matters of extreme criminality or when something is blatantly against Radchaai standards where a higher authority must get involved. Of course, since Radch space is so vast, it's easy to see why it's important for the Lord of the Radch to have so many entities," she may have shifted a little uncomfortably there, dropping her eyes, fully aware of it and hoping to pass it off as just a nervousness to be speaking so frankly, "to ensure that Radchaai law is still being followed and respected, that everything is still being followed according to the Treaty."

Steve nodded. "So how does the system work? Local, national, planetary...then galactic? How bad a crime or big a problem does it need to be to get kicked off of the planet?"

Tisarwat gave a small, wry smile. "That depends," she said. "How important it is the planet where it occurred to the Radch as a whole? Or to our allies?"

She was only...partly joking.

"Overall, though, if it poses a serious deteriment to the way things are supposed to function, it will be given more consideration than little petty squables about..." She made a small gesture, "...the price of tea on Athoek or the distribution of residence space on a station."

Just to pull out a few recent examples.

Evie had told herself that she wasn't going to say anything, still worried someone was waiting for her to mess up. But when the teacher asked that question, she answered almost in spite of herself.

"There is no court," she said quietly, looking around worriedly before she swallowed and turned back to the teacher. "King Beast is the ultimate law and it doesn't matter if you committed no crime. You are punished by imprisonment for being born to villains who committed crimes long before you were even born."

"King...Beast," Steve repeated slowly. "That sounds super fair already."

"I guess it was supposed to teach everyone a lesson about villains and crime? But, well, I think it went too far for him to bring people back from the dead just to trap them on an island that doesn't always have enough resources and then when kids are born keeps them there just because of who their parents might have been."

"The Empire has courts," Lana said. "There's at least one in each populated center. The city or planet's governor sees as many cases as possible, especially the more severe ones; others may be left to administrators. If it's particularly severe or a tricky case, they can refer it to the Sith." She shrugged. "Or sometimes a Sith Lord will take an interest on their own. The whole system is headed by the Dark Council, though they don't hear most cases on their own."

You didn't really want to be part of a case that they heard.

Steve is still not talking about the gremlin bite from Monday.

Ugh, long week is long.

Practical Civics, Friday, September 13, 2019 [3rd period]

Sign in 9/13

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Listen to the lecture!

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Discuss!

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Talk to Steve and Tony

OOC