More Questions on Imperial Law

[Will_Treaty_2 (Andrew Blake)]

NOTE: I have been… limited in my access to the website, writing this mostly in the text processor on my computer, going off of solely what I can recall of Mr. Young’s responses and my own original questions. Nevertheless, I will respond as well as I can to his responses, in an attempt to try to clarify. If I am referencing something from either of those incorrectly, please call me out on it.

Also, possibly response 1/?

Regarding the first set of questions (with regards to Misprision of a Felony) as a whole: The first and third of these in particular, but also for the first set as a whole, I was primarily considering in the context of a would-be outside applicant for citizenship within the Empire, wherein it either comes up during examination(?) for their worthiness to become a citizen, or at some other point prior to officially (and legally) obtaining citizenship. I cannot check at the moment, but I seem to recall it mentioned that most, if not all, crimes (felonies and misdemeanors) that the would-be outside applicant is convicted of would be (at least potentially, though that also depends on how cautious/exacting the people handling your case are) disqualifying of an applicant, not even for citizenship, but for entering the Empire at all. See Welcome to the Empire, but also Section Three of the Imperial Charter. The exception, of course, being those that they do not recognize as being crimes.

Does it so follow that the same may apply to those crimes which the Empire recognizes as such, even if the outside applicant’s original polity either does not consider to be crimes, or that the polity merely never prosecuted or charged the applicant for? See An Earthling’s Guide to Not Criming as well as, again, Section Three of the Imperial Charter. Whether the latter is out of ignorance/not knowing, due to insufficient resources, due to corruption, or for any number of other reasons. After all, it does not change the fact that the relevant (in)action is a crime, and that the applicant did, in fact, precisely that. The person in question can make reparations for it, to be sure, and the Curia does accept different levels of intent as reasons to increase or decrease the reparations thereof. Still, the person who did it will always have done it.

• Thus, it is unclear whether their past actions in this case could- or would- be held as a black mark against them in the present. After all, even making one’s misdeeds right, or even being forgiven for them, does not change the fact that the person did, at one point, do them.
• For the second and third scenarios, some might also consider their resolve/willpower to be lacking for doing so. Alternatively, it might be considered to be a failing or a fault, or sign thereof, on the applicant’s part, a (metaphorical) weakness of the spine, or knees, or both. After all, what self-respecting Imperial would ever bend in the face of threats or coercion? Not a single one, at least not if they can avoid it, is my understanding of the situation.
  • Would they, after all, have any reason not to hold any prospective citizen to the same unwavering standards as they would themselves?
• I’m not sure that even the most critical, exacting or… would unforgiving be the correct term- one who holds any and every failing as a permanent black mark against the person in question, no matter how much/how many times over said person may attempt to offer recompense/reparations? of Imperials would- or even could- find any personal fault in them under the first set of conditions, save insofar as they did, in fact, still fail to report the offense in question.

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So far as misprision of felony is concerned: were you competent enough to identify the thing you saw as a crime and to make a report? The court will adjudicate that based on the usual thresholds .

Regarding the first question out of the first set (Whether mental or emotional immaturity- that is to say, specifically lack of development- could or would absolve one of guilt in respect to Misprision of a Felony): my assumption was that this was a violation or failure which occurred at some unspecified earlier point in time, most likely before the being in question had ever entered the Empire. I do not know whether the expectation that anything will be done to make right the offense plays any role with regard to the applicant’s guilt or innocence of the Misprision of Felony; I suspect not.

• There is also a potential subset of this, where the applicant did not, at the time, know or understand that the offense in question was such, or that it was, in fact, not normal at all. Such a situation would no doubt be infuriating to many Imperials, particularly if the applicant was the victim of the offense or offenses in question. It does not change, however, the fact that the offense was not reported, whether to the proper authorities or at all.

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Unlike some police forces, the Watch Constabulary is not made up of incompetents, and even more to the point, unlike anywhere hopelessly barbaric enough to pass Castle Rock v. Gonzales or Warren v. District of Columbia, actually do have an enforceable duty to protect the public . Not merely as an abstraction, either, but as specific individuals.

If you report a crime, you will be protected from its perpetrator to whatever extent is necessary, beginning immediately.

As for the second question of the first set (whether threat of harm which would be incurred by an attempt to report the felony would absolve one of guilt), my first thought, originally, was someone who was in close proximity to the offenders, but who was not at the moment seen as a threat to their efforts. A family member, perhaps, or even a former colleague experiencing a change of heart, and seeking to bring their former fellow criminals to justice.

• Admittedly, with the latter example it could be argued that, as reporting on their former allies does not absolve them of their own role in the crime, they are still getting exactly what they deserve. After all, their fellow perpetrators will no doubt meet similar fates soon enough. Thus, balance is maintained, and justice is ultimately upheld for all of the offenders.
• Let us however, for this scenario, assume that the reporter is not involved- whether directly or indirectly, whether willingly or otherwise, with the offenses committed by these perpetrators. Let us, likewise, also assume that the reporter is not in a position where they can feasibly hinder, incapacitate, capture, or eliminate the perpetrator or perpetrators in question. Either without suffering incapacitating injury or body-death (or, in some cases, even thought-death), or at all.
• If they are close at hand to the perpetrators in question, it is not inconceivable that they could find out- or otherwise determine- that they have been sold out before they are actually taken into custody. Furthermore, in some subset of these cases, the simple act of transmitting a report of the crimes committed would be sufficient to implicate the reporter in being the one to sell them out, so to speak.

Alternatively, any situation where, for instance, light-lag comes into play, it may be minutes or even hours before the perpetrators may be caught and taken into custody. Ships or habs out in the Deep Black would be the most obvious such example, but also isolated or remote locations on planets may fall under this as well.

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There aren’t local governments, either. The Empire isn’t a federal system - it’s the Imperial Service all the way down. (What looks like a local governance is the local supervisory authority in the form of the runér, their staff, and their advisory assembly. They are entitled to have local laws that do not conflict with global laws, per Section IV, Article I, but those are still carried out by the Service. And when Calmiríë says “frog”, they hop.)

For the third question of the first set… (whether failing to report a crime to a local/temporal government due to the aforementioned government either not being likely to act on the report, or being more likely to target the reporter for various reasons), I believe it was? The initial assumption of the first question is still potentially applicable for a prospective applicant for citizenship. They, after all, have not likely lived within the Empire for their whole lives.

• That being said, even for other Imperial citizens this could still come up, or at least for the more well-travelled among them. After all, not everywhere that they are likely to go is a part of the Empire, and not every locale is likely to fully share- or even respect- the worldview and opinions of an Imperial citizen.

• I will concede that, unless the government in question somehow does not recognize them as an Imperial Citizen, one can presume that they would judiciously avoid targeting any Imperial citizens if they would like their government/settlement/planet to remain in its current condition. After all, the response of the Empire to its citizens being targeted is both clear and well-known, and quite prompt and kinetically violent.

• Nevertheless, at least on occasion there arise sophs who are sufficiently stupid to think that targeting an Imperial citizen is, if not a good idea, then at least not more trouble than it is worth. They might even fare well enough to (most likely only temporarily, at least by their own actions) incapacitate the citizen in question. However, any such success in that regard would be rather short-lived. After all, in such situations I doubt that the average Imperial would consider being captured alive to be a preferable condition.

• The prospective citizen, on the other hand, does not have the implicit and explicit protection of the Empire of the Star cloaking them to protect them from reprisal. Most citizen-applicants, particularly those from less-civilized locales, would also tend to lack the means to survive body-loss/death, and/or the ability to extricate their mind-state to safety on (potentially very) short notice.

  • The example that came to mind [NOT NAMING NAMES OR LOCATIONS] was a person, part of a disadvantaged minority within their resident(?) society [NOT POINTING FINGERS], who is targeted, and made the victim of a hate crime, based on them being a part of the aforementioned minority [NO COMMENT ON CURRENT EVENTS]. They refrain from reporting the crime to the local authorities, in the interests of their own personal safety or the safety of their loved ones; either because the perpetrator or perpetrators are of a higher status in their society than their victim and thus would be favored [DELIBERATELY NOT CALLING OUT ANY SPECIFIC PEOPLE, PLS NO HATE] by the authorities (which might even include being informed that the victim reported the crime), or because they fear bringing attention to their membership in the aforementioned minority group may lead to an increase of targeting of themselves [NOT (INTENTIONALLY) ALLUDING TO ANY SPECIFIC RL EVENTS] and/or possibly their loved ones.

• Someone could absolutely make the case that any self-respecting soph ought to have done something, anything, to at the very least ensure that the perpetrators will/can never do anything of the sort ever again, if not also to ensure that such a slight does not go unanswered, without a commensurate response. After all, doing anything less than that would, at least by the standards of some, make them a coward at best, and an enabler at worst.

  • How prominent is the mindset of “Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees” or “Kill them all, or die trying” with respect to such situations? Granted, having resurrective immortality does fundamentally alter the calculus in that regard.

• That being said, there may be a variety of reasons why the aforementioned citizen-applicant would not attempt anything of the sort. Particularly if they lack any sort of bug-out mechanism should they be overpowered and captured.

• Contrariwise, at least some of the more well-travelled subset of Imperials, or at least those with a tendency for entering the sketchier parts of the galaxy, not only have that, but also have the ability to go, “Fuck you, I’m taking you all with me,” should things take a turn for the worst case scenario… huh, I wonder whether there are emergency bug-out transmitters with alternative power sources, or is it just AM or bust?

• That said, there almost certainly are historical examples of Imperials seeking out such vengeance, and likely some even going to truly extraordinary lengths to ensure that no such offense against them (or their loved ones) will go unpunished, which predate that technological innovation. I simply don’t know how representative of the mean such individuals would be.

  • Moreover, I don’t know whether or not, or to what degree, that level of determination to exact recompense would be expected of others- Imperial, potential Imperial-to-be, or otherwise. Nor am I certain as to whether- or to what degree- such a (perceived) failing would be held against someone.

For the second set, one of the major questions on the matter is if someone suspects that something is amiss, but after being told that everything is above-board by someone whom they have significant reason to trust, takes them at their word and does not press the matter further.

I am… not sure whether I am getting my point across, here? Actually, I might be straying far from where this started out.