SJ4130 Superheroes and the Justice System--Assignment 1

[Erika]

What challenges would the justice system face in a world with super powers, heroes and villains? How do officials maintain the balance between protecting the public and upholding individual rights and liberties? How do heroes enter into the system by which crimes are investigated and criminals arrested, tried and sentenced?

This is a short answer assignment.

[rypperd0c]

The addition of Super Heroes and Villains would have to be met with the implementation of Super Laws. These would be laws, or modifiers to existing laws, that come into power when defined "super" conditions were in play. An example of this could be seen in a bar fight.

villain (drunk jerk) won't take 'no' for an answer. He harasses woman at the bar. Hero (bar patron) sees what is happening when villain tries to force woman in the parking lot after closing. Hero steps in. A drunken fight breaks out, and villain ends up on the ground, dead. It seems cut and dry on the surface, but now lets look at the modifiers that could come into play...

Villain had pulled a knife escalating the danger, and the hero responded in kind
Hero pulled a knife but the villain did not
no weapons were used, but the hero is training to be a mixed martial arts pro fighter

In the last two situations the Hero can now be charged for use of a lethal weapon.

The "super" laws would, for example raise the seriousness of an offense base on the super abilities used in the commission of a crime.

Subject (1) strikes Subject (2) = Assault (1) has enhanced strength (can lift 3x human average) now it is aggravated assault. (1) has 'Super' strength (x10 average human) now it becomes assault with a Deadly Weapon. ((yes I know this is an over simplification))

Depending on the villain, his or her powers, and the seriousness of the offense, law enforcement would have to have authorization to use supplemental means of detainment.. Super Strength, but not resisting arrest, routine procedures... Assaulting officers, frequently trying to escape.. either mechanical restraints strong enough to counter subject's strength, or chemical restraint in the form of sedation (tranquilizers.)

Grade: 90485 Points

[Erika]

The idea that a martial artist's hands/feet are considered lethal weapons is largely urban legend. If you punch someone to death, you don't get charged with a different crime depending on whether or not you were trained in punching. What matters is your intent to do harm, and whether or not you are acting in self-defense.

Now, your training might have an effect on how your actions are perceived. If you try to say that you didn't mean to kill Mr Drunky McGroperson, police, prosecutors, or jurors might feel that you ought to have known that axe-kicking someone in the forehead would kill them.

The laws around self defense and duty to retreat are many and varied, but I would want to see an actual statute before I believed that someone could be convicted of a more serious crime because they had been in a dojo for a couple of years as opposed to just lifting weights at the gym.

Super strength, on the other hand...yeah, there's a definite difference there.

[Twitch]

Aug 7, 2014 21:00:52 GMT -5 Erika said:

The idea that a martial artist's hands/feet are considered lethal weapons is largely urban legend. If you punch someone to death, you don't get charged with a different crime depending on whether or not you were trained in punching. What matters is your intent to do harm, and whether or not you are acting in self-defense.

Now, your training might have an effect on how your actions are perceived. If you try to say that you didn't mean to kill Mr Drunky McGroperson, police, prosecutors, or jurors might feel that you ought to have known that axe-kicking someone in the forehead would kill them.

The laws around self defense and duty to retreat are many and varied, but I would want to see an actual statute before I believed that someone could be convicted of a more serious crime because they had been in a dojo for a couple of years as opposed to just lifting weights at the gym.

Super strength, on the other hand...yeah, there's a definite difference there.

There's another twist. What if up until that moment, the person didn't know they had super-strength or other powers, but the attack 'awoke' them. How do you handle that situation? 

[Erika]

You mean like if you're just chillaxing with your bff and then you suddenly get powers and kill him accidentally? Like that? And say you're a kid at the time. Then what? Especially if you're poor with no family support cuz, say, you're an orphan. Eh? Ehhhhhhh?

[Twitch]

It would be a legal nightmare. You'd have to prove your motive, prior knowledge (none of which are even possible to back with logic/science), and pray that your past history wasn't too gritty. It could easily boil down to how the judge/jury's prejudices swing.

[Twitch]

In a world of super abilities, the justice system would be complex. Let's take things from an American prosecutor's view. Mr. Edgeworth must prove guilt beyond 'reasonable doubt' to a jury. Now while, while all cases have emotional competent that can draw out the jury's cowboy justice (example, ruling in favor of the old granny because she really needs money instead of the court's arguments) doing things properly will be hard.

First there's the matter of proving that a person has powers that facilitated the crime in question. How do you prove that Professor X. stole the blueprints designs and not a mundane corporate spy? Heck, how can you prove MagicMan's voodoo doll of the victim actually put a curse on the poor guy/girl? Even if you prove that Professor X. is a mind-reader, or that magic is real and M.M. practices it, can you prove it was them?

Remember, defendants can lie about abilities or simply plead the 5th. You'll need documentation, expert witnesses in every field imaginable, and all sort of warrants to run specialized tests to prove that they could do those things. It will take FOREVER. Add a secret identity into the mix and you now have to prove the person in a purple leotard is the same person sitting at the bench. If you get all this - congratulations , you've established Pros. X and M.M. have the means to commit the crime.

However, since Edgeworth is an honest prosecutor, he still needs motive and opportunity. In a world of supers, there could always be someone who has a similar power set. Flash and Professor Zoom. Green Arrow and Hawk-eye. Pyro of X-Men and Johnny of F.F. Edgeworth will need character witnesses, past history, psychological evaluations, alibis, documentation of the defendants actions... This trial is getting complex. How do you prove Nightcrawler 'bamp'ed over to kill the Pres when he left his girl-friend in the theater for five minutes? He may have just been getting popcorn.

Juries and officials will have to decide whether clearing having the means to commit a super crime is justifiable for limiting an individual's freedom. Will they take a 'better-safe-than-sorry' approach? Or is risking Joker back on the streets one of the prices the nation must pay to be free? I fear that current events of super-terror and crime will swing the view into 'better-safe-than-sorry.' People like safety more than 'liberty for all.'

Now in this world of supers, why not just let a mind-reader, like Prof. X, dig around in their heads and get the truth? Well, privacy issues aside, how do we know that Prof. X is not fabricating evidence? Documented 'super-cops' could help in preventing crimes, because they can collect evidence; but what do you do when Spider-Man leaves a webbed up Kingpin outside the station with a flash-drive and a note? Mr. Edgeworth is in for a long night and is missing a key-witness.
 
Getting justice became a longer and more complicated process. Thanks to Superman

Grade: 3 Law and Order "DUN-duns"

[Kashiro]

The most obvious challenge is secret identities. This also means that masked heroes/heroes with secret identities can't really testify on the stand, unless they are really, really recognisable. So, trying heroes and villains would be very difficult, as to reveal one's secret identity would mean to destroy any chance they have of ever having anything resembling a normal life, ever again. So, the courts would have to invent a way to house criminals without revealing their identity, or even their face. This faces many, many logistical problems and questions on how to work around it. Now, the biggest issue with this is you can't really know if you have the actual villain behind bars, or just a really good patsy, which is the first conflict with the public as you cannot guarantee public security without a risk to the secrecy behind superheroes/villains. The problem with THIS, is that if villains know that they're going to be unmasked, it's no longer going to be a short vacation from villainy and more like a corner which they can't emerge from. So, it's going to be backing a scared rat into a corner, and not good for anyone in the long term. One solution for this is to have the popular, small-time villains go to regular jail then break out a few days later, and have the really bad villains go somewhere else that they can't escape from (See: Worm's Birdcage). Now, I'm citing Worm's Birdcage, as its 'unwritten rules' set a decent standard for most hero/villain interactions with the law. However, one problem with the Birdcage is, due to the number of powers that can escape at a single moment's lapse of concentration by the AI that manages it, there is no chance ever of being acquitted or removed from it. It's a life-sentence you cannot remove yourself from. Now, this is a problem as we know that every system, absolutely any system has holes and problems and can reach the wrong verdict, especially if someone behind the scenes is influencing the decision. And, as the decision can't be reversed, there is a major problem that any master schemer will win by default, or at least attain one of their goals. Now, all this means that the interaction between heroes, villains and the justice system is going to be very...odd to say the least - Especially if you factor in vigilantes with a taste for blood. Even worse is the fact that because superheroes/villains are very recognisable, it will be difficult to put together a jury which hasn't heard of them, since if they know of them they have pre-conceived ideals about the accused and thus be biased. So, what's the solution? Well, to put it simply, there isn't one. And short of everyone just flat-out bribing the court to just get the charge taken off, there's no way to keep heroes/villains and the justice system separate, either.