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| 3 | %% This example list has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in correct alphabetical order by title. |
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| 6 | In a world where DeathIsCheap and [[RealityWarper magic can alter reality]], legal proceedings can be knocked for a loop. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | A {{necromancer}}, instead of raising a CavalryOfTheDead, might [[CutLexLuthorACheck find legitimate work]] as a consultant dealing with [[WillAndInheritanceTropes probate cases]] or solving murders. Maybe the JediMindTrick or magical illusions can be used for JuryAndWitnessTampering. Can TheNthDoctor be held liable for crimes committed by their previous incarnations? Do the police need a search warrant to use {{telepathy}}? Does [[BackFromTheDead resurrection]] invalidate a conviction and death sentence, and do resurrectees have the right to reclaim property inherited or salvaged from them? And if your marriage is considered dissolved when you die, but you're brought back to life, are you still married to your spouse, or [[NotReallyMarriedPlot do you have to do the wedding and the paperwork all over again?]] How do [[JailBaitWait age-of-consent]] laws (and other laws meant to protect minors) work if you're ReallySevenHundredYearsOld? Are [[SpaceStation space colonies]] ''really'' colonies (and if so, do they belong to nations or to Earth in general?), or are they (or could they be) sovereign nations unto themselves? |
| 9 | |
| 10 | {{Supertrope}} to: |
| 11 | * InhumanableAlienRights, where the civil rights of nonhuman characters, as opposed to humans, are in question. |
| 12 | * RevivalLoophole and LegallyDead, where [[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated being declared dead when you actually weren't]], or being resurrected, causes legal trouble. |
| 13 | * MakeTheDogTestify, where a talking (or otherwise sapient) animal's testimony is crucial to the case. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | SisterTrope to FantasticReligiousWeirdness, where religions and religious practices interact oddly with SpeculativeFiction elements. Compare NoAdequatePunishment where a case is so novel that no one has had the forethought of what justice would look like. See also UndeadTaxExemption, where such problems are handwaved away, and LoonyLaws, where the law makes no sense even in the setting. |
| 16 | ---- |
| 17 | !!Examples: |
| 18 | |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 22 | * People in ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' can [[DealWithTheDevil enter in contracts with devils]] where they offer aspects of themselves (like their [[CastFromLifespan lifespan]] or body parts). Presumably since it runs on ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, government officials can offer up the lives of ''any of their own people'', without their consent or even knowledge. [[spoiler:The US President ends up offering the Gun Devil a year of every American's life to kill Makima. Makima herself has a deal with the Prime Minister of Japan where the injuries she received from any attack [[LiquidAssets are transferred]] to a random Japanese person.]] |
| 23 | * ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'': Celty rides around on a jet-black motorcycle with no lights or plates, but she insists it's fine because he's actually a [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers magic]] [[MyHorseIsAMotorbike horse]]. In the second season, the cops decide that's not good enough and start chasing her down whenever she shows up. After arguing back and forth for a while, Celty points out that the law does have a specific exception written in for horses, so she doesn't need to have lights or plates. The cops counter that she still needs to obey the posted speed limit, which she doesn't. |
| 24 | * ''Literature/LogHorizon'': The Round Table Conference try to set up a legal code for the people now trapped in an RPGMechanicsVerse. It's mentioned, for instance, that since Adventurers will respawn with no permanent harm done when killed, murdering an Adventurer is a far less serious crime than in their original world, on about the same level as assault and battery. Theft of property and [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil enslavement]] are considered the more serious crimes in comparison. |
| 25 | * In ''Manga/MonsterMusume'', the "Extraspecies Cultural Exchange Act" has a provision that makes it illegal for a human to harm an extraspecies person or vice-versa (though the latter part is usually ignored for the sake of {{Slapstick}} against our unfortunate protagonist). This, of course, brings up issues with law enforcement, as human police officers are prohibited from arresting extraspecies criminals. M.O.N., a small, but specialized team of extraspecies officers created for the specific purpose of making extraspecies arrests, is effectively an ObviousRulePatch. |
| 26 | * ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': |
| 27 | ** The opening narration notes that governments have had a hard time reworking laws for the sudden appearance of [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Quirks]], which now appear in [[EveryoneIsASuper 80% of all people]]. Superheroes seem to have originally been self-employed vigilantes who became legalized and regulated because of broad public support, but unregistered heroes are still illegal. It's illegal to use your Quirk to harm another, ''[[CrimeOfSelfDefense even in self defence]]'', unless you have a hero license. This is presented as both extremely restrictive (particularly when Izuku and his friends technically broke the law to capture [[HeroKiller Stain]]) but necessary to prevent chaos. |
| 28 | ** ''Manga/MyHeroAcademiaVigilantes'': It's mentioned that it's actually illegal to use a Quirk in public under ''any'' circumstances unless you have a Hero License. That being said, while in theory it's extremely restrictive, in practice it's only brought up in the worst cases. No one cares that Koichi uses his Quirk to slide around the ground all the time; one hard-line cop gives him a bit of a talking-to, but that's the worst of it. It's only when Quirks cause a disruption that the police get involved. Likewise, the pro heroes repeatedly let obvious cases of self-defense slide. |
| 29 | ** ''Vigilantes'' also has trouble with the "instant villains." They are ordinary people who took a drug that boosts their Quirks to unmanageable levels, often with some mind-affecting drugs mixed in to make them behave irrationally. Despite them going on rampages, there's not much the police can do to legally prosecute them, as the drug itself is technically not illegal. It gets worse when people start getting dosed without their knowledge or consent. The heroes have to treat them as both villains to be stopped and bystanders to be saved at the same time. |
| 30 | ** People with extreme Quirk mutations are treated as having a disability. Kirihito and Ikajiro, after being modified by Villain Factory, can't get normal jobs or indeed even ''fit'' in a normal building. They get welfare from the government, which their friends use to build a cafe big enough to handle people like them. |
| 31 | ** Some of the worst and most dangerous criminals in the world are kept permanently imprisoned because, with their Quirks, there is not actually a way to humanely execute them. |
| 32 | * In ''Manga/TheWitchAndTheBeast'', necromancy is treated like an advanced medical or science discipline rather than obscure magic. Nations have individual laws on whether its practice is legal and additional regulations on how it is performed. Actually raising a zombie requires extensive legal discussions and permissions between the necromancer and the zombie-to-be or their next of kin. This informed consent is especially important for the zombie due to the amount of control the necromaner will hold over their health and sanity, not to mention the long-term implications of sacrificing their chance at {{reincarnation}}. |
| 33 | * The whole concept of ''Anime/WizardBarristers'' is lawyers who defend and prosecute magical criminals. |
| 34 | [[/folder]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 37 | * ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': |
| 38 | ** In one storyline, attorney Vincent Oleck is defending a mobster who had murdered someone in front of dozens of witnesses used a "superhero defense", pointing out known cases of crimes actually committed the accused's {{evil twin}} from [[AlternateUniverse another dimension]], supposedly dead people [[UnexplainedRecovery getting up and walking away]] none the worse for wear, etc. Between the [[RefugeInAudacity sheer audacity]] of the argument and a mood of public guilt over [[spoiler: the recent [[MiscarriageOfJustice wrongful execution]] of the Silver Agent]], it worked. The case also became a landmark in American legal praxis, and led to changes in how cases with metahuman involvement were handled. Lampshaded later when Oleck states that there is no way that defense would fly in the comic's present day. |
| 39 | ** Another story looks at legal services in Shadow Hill, the city's supernatural district. Ghosts can be called up to settle their disputed wills; when a magician discovers their spells are contracts with higher powers, they can get a lawyer to figure out the terms; and vampires and other quasi-immortals can hire professional Renfields to help with their financial holdings, transferring the holdings to the Renfield when they die (or appear to), and the Renfield transferring the holdings back to them (minus a commission for the service) when they show up with a new identity. |
| 40 | ** In "Where the Action Is", super-heroine Nightingale angrily confronts publisher Manny Monkton for insinuating that she is in a lesbian relationship with her sidekick Sunbird. He blows off the complaint, noting that she can't sue him without revealing her SecretIdentity. |
| 41 | * In ''ComicBook/BillAndTedsExcellentComicBook'', the boys are put on trial by the [[TimePolice Chronological Order]]. Their representative argues that their changes to the timeline [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast were always supposed to happen]] and that stopping Bill and Ted's adventures would do more damage to the timeline. |
| 42 | * ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'' compared people having superpowers to people having firearms: registration and training was a must to prevent trouble (because of a penchant of mass destruction that followed), and so the SuperhumanRegistrationAct came to pass.[[note]]Apparently overlooked was the fact that neither registration nor training actually ''is'' required to own firearms in the United States and attempts to impose such laws on a national level have always failed. Perhaps because the lead writer was Creator/MarkMillar, who lives in Scotland where such restrictions are very much in place and apparently has very little knowledge of UsefulNotes/AmericanGunPolitics.[[/note]] The situation became much more complicated when people in the government decided to use it as a reason to unleash the DayOfTheJackboot upon innocent Americans. [[ComicBook/CivilWarII Its continuation]] was mostly fueled by a discussion whether applying the PreCrimeArrest was unconstitutional or not (doubly so when the visions that led to said arrests were proven to be unreliable). |
| 43 | * In the Franchise/{{DCU}} any confessions given by suspects under the effects of Franchise/WonderWoman's lasso of truth are not admissible in court, unless the suspect themselves requests it, and even then the jury is meant not to treat any such statements as more inherently true than any other, though the public's perception and knowledge of the lasso tend to undermine this. Such statements are considered coerced. |
| 44 | * In ''Comicbook/{{PS238}},'' [[spoiler:Tyler]] gets cloned, and his parents adopt the new "twin." Apparently, there's enough legal precedent for this sort of thing that "Toby" gets added to the system and enrolled in school without much hassle. |
| 45 | * When an immortal man dies in ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'''s "Brief Lives" arc, his son worries about what to do with all his hidden riches and fake identities throughout the years. |
| 46 | * Jennifer Walters aka ComicBook/SheHulk is a professional lawyer when not superheroing, and the Dan Slott and Charles Soule runs on her solo title, in particular, concentrated on weird legal issues such as somebody suing for compensation because they didn't like the results of their accidental SuperheroOrigin, or ComicBook/DoctorDoom's son claiming political asylum after a fight with his dad. |
| 47 | * ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': In the backstory, vigilantism was legalized at some point to make costumed heroes (none of whom had actual superpowers until [[RealityWarper Dr. Manhattan]]) legal crime-fighters. However, in TheSeventies a major police strike and nationwide protests led to the passage of the Keene Act, which repealed their legalization. |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 51 | * ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy'': In the chaos of the appearance of Quirks, so many people tried to run around pretending to be comic book superheroes (namely, ComicBook/SpiderMan) that [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope comic book companies went cease-and-desist-crazy]]. All Might casually grumbles at one point that his "Silver Age" costume became a casualty of [[SupermanSubstitute DC Comics]] and Izuku Midoriya (who gets powers from, and outright blessing from, [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse Spider-Man himself]]) gets an attempted strong-arm from Marvel Comics lawyers ([[TakeThat humanoid vultures]]). |
| 52 | * In ''FanFic/DumbledoresArmyAndTheYearOfDarkness'', Aurors are saddled with a wonderfully [[WallOfText verbose]] version of the [[YouDoNotHaveToSayAnything British police caution]] in order to plug in the extra legal loopholes that being magical might present. Legal buffs might care to notice that in the Wizarding version, the right to remain silent (which is front and center in the Caution and Miranda) is the ''second-to-last'' thing mentioned. Also please note that unlike the caution, this one is to be recited upon arrest (or when the suspect wakes up from all the stunning spells), not interrogation. It reads as follows: |
| 53 | --> It is my duty that you be made aware of your standing under the Provision of Magical Rights and Liberties. You have been apprehended by officers of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement while engaging in activities reasonably believed to be criminal in nature, and there is intent to hold you in violation of the law. Your wand has been confiscated and may not be returned to you unless you are exonerated of charges by the Wizengamot or equivalent legal due process. Officers of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement may use physical or magical force against you, including such as may cause permanent harm, injury, illness, incapacitation, or death if and only to the degree as is necessary to retain you in custody and to safeguard their own welfare as well as that of others. Any statement or incantation you may say or perform, including via non-verbal means may be used as evidence in a criminal proceeding. You are considered to be innocent until such time as guilt is reasonably proven, however your apprehension in situ is considered temporary grounds upon which you have waived your right to liberty at this time. You have the right to refuse to answer questions, however any false or misleading answers given will result in additional criminal charges. If you believe yourself to be operating under a curse, hex, jinx, or otherwise engaging in your current activities under magical coercion, you may indicate as such at any time. Additional rights and exclusions under wizarding law will be explained to you fully and completely as relevant. Do you understand these rights and exclusions? |
| 54 | * ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}'' is a series of ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' fics that takes place in TheUnmasquedWorld, so it has plenty of this: |
| 55 | ** A news programme in ''Lost World'' mentions someone whose life sentence for murdering his elderly neighbour was overturned because it turned out he was a Controller at the time. |
| 56 | ** ''Total Recall'' is about Esplin's trial. Since courts on Earth have never had to deal with cases of possession before, the defence were able to throw out his former host Alloran's testimony because they considered it self-incrimination, just like in canon. There's also the Vicky Austin argument, which incriminates ex-hosts for not FightingFromTheInside hard enough, named after a Controller who committed suicide on live television. |
| 57 | ** In ''Ghost in the Shell'', Steve mentions that there's now a Twenty-Eighth Amendment that forbids taking on someone else's physical form through morphing or [[PuppeteerParasite infestation]]. |
| 58 | ** {{Discussed}} in ''How I Live Now''. Cassie says it would be illegal for the bus company to not let Toby (who's covered in natural blades) on the bus; [[spoiler:Rachel]] is shocked to learn there are anti-discrimination laws for aliens. |
| 59 | * ''Fanfic/IntelligenceFactor'': Audino are sometimes put on trial for assisting Zoroark in Unova, even though they can't legally be prosecuted because they're not considered people. |
| 60 | * ''Fanfic/MyHeroPlaythrough'' has the Napier Doctrine, a UN resolution to allow member nations to pass laws allowing for trial in absentia, if the criminal's Quirk makes it dangerous to try them in person or remotely. It was named and created for this story's version of Comicbook/TheJoker, whose Quirk caused anyone who saw his face or heard his voice to become a laughing, murderous criminal for thirteen hours, even if they saw or heard a recording. The Doctrine does specify that such trials must still be fair, for example Japan's law under the doctrine says that the trial must be approved by the country's Supreme Court and states that if it is defended by a Public Defender, there must be at least two of them, one of senior rank, and they are offered bonuses for winning. [[spoiler: This is used to try Overhaul, since removing him from his extradimensional cell would be too dangerous.]] |
| 61 | * ''Fanfic/TantabusMarkII'': |
| 62 | ** It's Luna's job (and she creates the Tantabus to help her) to patrol the dreams of all ponies to protect them from nightmares and encourage good dreams. While helping a cop, the Tantabus realizes there's very little stopping them from just finding criminals through their dreams and giving the information to the police. Luna decides very firmly that this is a breach of privacy and outside their jurisdiction. Criminals actually using dream magic to commit crimes are another story, but there are like five of those per year. |
| 63 | ** Pharynx asks if Luna and Moondog patrol changeling dreams. Luna points out that this would, at best, be the cause of a diplomatic incident and a patronizing breach of another nation's sovereign defense. It also turns out that Pharynx is officially Lord Protector of the Changelings, which means that Moondog is very hesitant about interacting with him because even teaching him dream magic has serious diplomatic implications. Luna promotes Moondog to Duchess of Dreams to make things a bit easier for everyone. |
| 64 | * ''Fanfic/TheWarOfTheMasters'': |
| 65 | ** In ''Fanfic/AGoodCompromise'', Jolin Tabris, a Trill lawyer, is fighting a probate case against a joined Trill whose previous host illegally bequeathed half his estate to his next host. Tyria Sark suggests the symbiont is trying to take the case constitutional, and Jolin says he might cite legal precedent to get the will thrown out, namely the case from the last time the same symbiont tried this stunt. |
| 66 | ** The prologue of ''Fanfic/DontSayGoodbyeFarewell'' establishes in passing that you need either the subject's consent or a warrant to use {{telepath|y}}ic examination in a criminal investigation: in this case, of an officer whose home planet recently defected from the Federation to the Klingon Empire. Commander Janice Qua refuses and demands an attorney. |
| 67 | ** ''Fanfic/CreateYourOwnFate'' has a couple of {{Courtroom Episode}}s taking place in Bajoran courts. In the first case, the Bajoran justice system seems more willing than a real-life court to accept an InsanityDefense, probably because of the Occupation leaving a lot of {{Shellshocked Veteran}}s behind: once a PTSD break is proven, Sheri Walford has her charges reduced from assault and battery and assault on a law enforcement officer, down to misdemeanor assault,[[note]]not that a real-life court would ''necessarily'' be averse to showing lenience in a case like this; this is TruthInTelevision [[https://forums.armchairgeneral.com/forum/historical-events-eras/warfare-through-the-ages/the-ancient-era/45172-caesr-and-the-veteran-or-loyalty-and-courage reputedly]] going back to UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar[[/note]] and is sentenced to community service and mandatory psychiatric counseling. In the second case, [[spoiler:Kanril Eleya has her telepathic examiner replace the original witness on the stand after the examination proves the witness was perjuring herself]]. |
| 68 | ** ''Fanfic/{{Myrmidons}}'' again references the rule about needing a warrant for telepathic examination: after a rape accusation between a Starfleet officer and a Moabite enlisted Marine, Kanril Eleya mentions that the victim's statement will probably be ruled inadmissible because of differences between Starfleet and Moabite military law (the Moabites obtained the statement by using a telepath and a TruthSerum on the victim without a warrant), but also notes that this just means they have to find other evidence. [[spoiler:Sheri Walford [[DebateAndSwitch sidesteps it]] by [[JusticeByOtherLegalMeans finding circumstantial evidence linking the defendant to a cold case]], which Starfleet Security confirms. The defendant then pleads guilty to both crimes and is sentenced to a minimum ten years of psychiatric rehab.]] |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 72 | * The main thrust of ''Film/JupiterAscending'' is that the main character is an exact genetic duplicate of a deceased HumanAlien. As such, she is considered her "genetic reincarnation" and inherits all of her property...which includes the planet Earth. (There ''was'' a will made ahead of time, though.) |
| 73 | * The basis of the film ''Film/MinorityReport'' (and the Creator/PhilipKDick ShortStory it was based on, the TropeNamer of PreCrimeArrest) is a system that alerts homicide cops to murders before they happen, letting them charge and convict the suspect of first-degree murder before the crime actually takes place. Precrime procedures include having two judges monitoring the investigation by video conference. The legal ramifications are {{discussed}} early on: it's noted that the American Civil Liberties Union considers the system unconstitutional, though protagonist John Anderton insists that just because you stopped the murder from happening doesn't change that it ''would've'' happened.[[note]] Real-life law has murder-related charges that don't require the murder to actually happen (eg, attempted murder, [[ProfessionalKiller murder for hire]]) so the argument is ''slightly'' weaker than it seems.[[/note]] Under current law, all you could actually charge somebody with in such an instance would be attempted murder or possibly conspiracy to commit. Not only that, but the precogs are more or less slaves, and the mass scans would also be quite illegal in our time (which is why early on it is mentioned that Precrime is still on an experimental phase and thus all the scrutiny before it is passed to cover a larger area than D.C). |
| 74 | * In ''Film/{{Rashomon}}'', one of the witnesses at a murder trial is a medium speaking on behalf of the victim. It doesn't actually help much; in this case, there was never any question about who killed him and the hearing is more about why and whether there were mitigating circumstances, on which points the victim is just as self-centered and unreliable as all the other witnesses. |
| 75 | * ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'': The people who were "Blipped" ([[spoiler:when Thanos killed half the universe in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and Hulk resurrected them in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'']]) lost five years, but are still legally treated as the ages they were before. Students even had to retake the school year, to their annoyance since they had already finished midterms. The problem is that the paperwork hasn't quite caught up; on the airplane, Flash is able to get a hold of alcohol because his ID says he was born twenty-one years ago. When MJ tells a stewardess that he was Blipped, she immediately confiscates his drink. |
| 76 | [[/folder]] |
| 77 | |
| 78 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 79 | * ''Literature/Aeon14'': [=AIs=] govern themselves by intellectocracy and have their own separate court system to deal with [=AIs=] that commit crimes, which is said to be harsher than the legal system for organics in the then-current Sol Space Federation. We get a glimpse of it early in ''Airthan Ascendancy'' when Carmen, an AI and officer in the Intrepid Space Force, is prosecuted for dereliction of duty.[[labelnote:spoiler]]In ''War on a Thousand Fronts'', she assisted Justin's Transcend renegades in disabling the SelfDestructMechanism on the ship she was stationed on, rather than ensure it blew and therefore keeping the ISF technologies aboard--especially stasis shields--from falling into enemy hands.[[/labelnote]] The [=AIs=] accept mitigating factors[[note]]She managed to turn one of Justin's crew, Roxy, and recovered the ship.[[/note]] and sentence her to a "Limitation"--new code forbidding her from ever being a ship's AI again--and a requirement for her core to be installed in a human for the next ten years. |
| 80 | * In ''Literature/TheAgeOfReason'', Creator/ThomasPaine briefly wonders about the risen saints mentioned in [[Literature/TheFourGospels the Gospel of Matthew]]: did they try to reclaim their property and spouses, or just go back into their graves after walking around Jerusalem? The Gospel [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse doesn't say]]. |
| 81 | * ''Literature/AndreaVernonAndTheCorporationForUltraHumanProtection'': All superhero work is privatized, and various counties have exclusive contracts with a superhero corporation. The series focuses on the Corporation for Ultra Human Protection (or CUP), which has a contract with the Bronx. There are plenty of legal loops to jump through in order to allow one corporation's superheroes to help out in another area. This comes up in the second book, when [[spoiler:a group of supervillains decide to steal the Statue of Liberty]]. Since it's located in a special federal district, getting involved there involves a lot of red tape. By the time the submitted form goes through one of the many layers of bureaucratic approvals, [[spoiler:the statue is long gone]]. |
| 82 | * ''Literature/AnitaBlake'': Anita's day job as an [[AnimateDead animator]] often involves raising the dead to settle estate matters. Zombies can be raised to settle things like disputes over which version of a will is accurate or not, but they make terrible witnesses in court cases, since they can really only respond to the animator who raised them, and the animator has to ask very specific questions, thus opening them to objections for leading the witness. Zombies are also useless when they've been murdered, as a murdered zombie will, no matter how powerful the animator who raised them is, beeline straight for their murderer and attempt to kill them. It might be useful for the police to track down the killer, but not exactly admissible evidence in a court of law (to say nothing of potential countersuits for siccing a mad zombie on someone without due process). |
| 83 | * ''Recap/AnimorphsTheBeginning'': Visser Three, the PuppeteerParasite BigBad, is tried for war crimes at the International Criminal Court. At first they're stumped about how to do this: he can't interact with the courtroom without a host, but one of the court's arguments is that taking one is a war crime, creating a Catch22Dilemma. [[TakeAThirdOption The Andalites solve this problem by building a "Yeerk box" that lets him interact with the court in his natural form.]] It's also mentioned that the visser's former host, Andalite War-Prince Alloran-Semitur-Corrass, is not being called as a witness, as this was deemed too close to having him testify against himself. |
| 84 | * ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': Fairies MustBeInvited into a human residence, the exact details of which are apparently decided by a committee. (It's still a supernatural process, however--fairies who accidentally break the rules become ill, and repeat offenders [[BroughtDownToNormal lose their magic]].) Aside from relying on ExactWords, the first book mentions that fairy cops can consider a call for help to be an invitation. Signs welcoming you to a building also count. |
| 85 | * ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Name-swearing creates a CantLiveWithoutYou situation of the name-sworn towards their master and is, in many ways, a voluntary form of magically-enforced slavery. It's mentioned in passing that by giving his name to Ferdinand, Eckhart gave up on being able to inherit his family house and any prospect of becoming the next commander of the Knight's Order. |
| 86 | * ''Literature/{{Blindfold}}'', the justice system on the planet Atlas is based around the Truthsayer Guild. These individuals are bred and trained to be able to read minds with the aid of a drug called [[MeaningfulName Veritas]], which is strictly illegal for anyone else to use due to the potential for abuse. They use it to determine guilt or innocence by scanning the accused's mind. Every citizen of Atlas has a legal right to be scanned by a Truthsayer, but them being always right and always truthful means that few of those actually guilty will invoke that right, often pleading guilty to a local Magistrate (some of which are washed-out Truthsayers) to get a lighter sentence. A few who think they can trick a Truthsayer or are delusional enough to believe themselves in the right still insist on a reading. Mind readings are public events, and Truthsayer verdicts are final and not subject to appeal. Those convicted of capital crimes are sent to [=OrbLab=] 2 to product Veritas in dangerous conditions (there's a potential for a batch of Veritas to mutate into the dangerous Mindfire strain that fries the brain of anyone exposed to it) until the end of their days. |
| 87 | * A short story in the anthology ''Literature/BloodLiteIIIAftertaste'' takes place post-ZombieApocalypse. The zombies targeted lawyers and politicians first, and got all the laws changed to grant themselves rights. The protagonist is a ghost who uses this precedent to assert possession rights on his former home and evict the current tenants, and [[spoiler:uses ''that'' precedent to then possess his zombie lawyer and regain a body--zombies are easier to possess than living humans]]. |
| 88 | * In ''Literature/ClawAndWarder'', the supernaturals are governed by their own laws, collectively known as the Canon and Covenants. One of those covenants permits them to act in accordance with their nature, even if it involves harming [[{{Muggle}} mundanes]] (so a licensed vampire is permitted to drain humans in order to feed). The existence of multiple realms also means that there are certain legalities involved in interactions between them. For example, many of those realms, including [[{{Hell}} Gehenna]] and Niflheim, have royalty. Members of royalty have certain privileges, such as refusing summons to court. Since the series is a police procedural in the vein of ''Series/LawAndOrder'', the legalities come up a lot. |
| 89 | * The premise of the ''Literature/CraftSequence'' is that it takes place in a world where magic is the same thing as contract law. Therefore, the average legal dispute is indistinguishable from a WizardDuel. The first book involves a god dying and needing to be resurrected, which plays out identically to a bankruptcy proceeding. |
| 90 | * ''Literature/DanteValentine'': Psions (the official name for magic-users in the books' ScienceFantasy world) are often legally accredited professionals whose abilities are admissible in court. Necromances like Danny (able to channel spirits and raise the recently dead) are often hired to settle probate matters by directly asking the deceased what they want done with their estate. She also mentions she charges extra for criminal cases, and gets very cross with the attorney when hired for a probate only to discover that the decedent was murdered by one of the heirs. |
| 91 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': |
| 92 | ** In the short story "Theatre of Cruelty", Vimes reflects on the difficulties of policing in a city full of magic, and one of his annoyances is zombies, because it's really hard to conduct a murder investigation when the victim insists on being involved. |
| 93 | ** ''Literature/{{Snuff}}'': {{Subverted}}. Commander Vimes investigates the gruesome murder of a female goblin, but as goblins are incorrectly not considered sapient, the killer can't be charged with murder. Lady Vimes successfully lobbies the rulers of the Disc to have the laws changed, but the killer ''still'' can't be charged because it wasn't illegal when the crime was committed (a very ''real'' legal principle called ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_post_facto_law ex post facto]]''). Fortunately for the people of the Disc, [[TheKillerBecomesTheKilled the killer kills a guard in an escape attempt and is then killed himself by Vimes's retainer]]. |
| 94 | ** ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'': The Igor clan can, if the conditions are right and there's a thunderstorm available, raise the dead. The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork has ruled that if someone who was murdered is brought back by an Igor, they were still dead, therefore it was still murder. Since they were only briefly dead, [[GallowsHumor their killer will only be briefly hanged]]. |
| 95 | * In ''Literature/TheDispatcher'' and its sequel ''Murder by Other Means'', the fact that 99.9% of murder victims (and only murder victims) [[ResurrectiveImmortality come back to life]] had a big impact on the legal system. There's now a special profession called Dispatchers, whose sole job is to kill those who are about to die of either natural causes or no-fault accidents. Insurance companies now demand that a Dispatcher be present during any high-risk surgery in order to kill any dying patient. This has also resulted in criminals try to come up new ways of killing people, such as tying them up and leaving them somewhere to die of starvation or exposure. Sure, they'd come back since it counts as murder, but they'd still be suffering from the same problems and likely die of natural causes shortly after. |
| 96 | * ''Literature/{{Distress}}'' by Creator/GregEgan: Police in the futuristic setting can use powerful drugs to revive murder victims for a few minutes in hopes that they'll testify. It's terribly painful for the victims and is ambiguous whether it brings them BackFromTheDead or merely animates their corpses, so the practice is being challenged on ethical grounds in-universe. |
| 97 | * ''Literature/{{Domina}}'': The city was originally populated by criminals and abandoned by the mainland soon after. Therefore, the local laws are very loose and structured mostly around swift, harsh punishment. There are no prisons to speak of, and the primary punishment is "retribution;" if a crime is committed, a neutral judge assigns a penalty that the victim can inflict on the perpetrator. These punishments can be fines, but for more serious crimes summary execution is granted. Furthermore, if no one calls for retribution, no one will bother trying to interfere, and the two parties are pretty much allowed to just kill each other with impunity. The government only gets involved if the conflict starts to spill over to bystanders. |
| 98 | * ''Literature/{{Eldraeverse}}'': Given its universe is largely dominated by a {{Society of Immortal|s}} [[{{Transhumanism}} Transhumanist]] SpaceElves who consider oaths and contracts to be the cornerstone of civilization, the series frequently examines how various matters of law might work out in a society where death as we know it is more of an inconvenience. |
| 99 | * ''Literature/{{Eva}}'': It's mentioned that despite being a chimp now, Eva is still legally human, so she doesn't belong to anyone -- unlike the chimps used for research. Eva objects to any chimps being considered property. |
| 100 | * Played with in ''Literature/TheFourGospels''. In [[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022&version=NIV Matthew 22:23-30]] and [[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+20&version=NIV Luke 20:27-40]] (two versions of what was probably same incident), a group of Saducees ask Jesus a tricky question about a hypothetical woman who has been married multiple times: whose wife is she on Judgement Day? In both gospels, [[TakeAThirdOption Jesus answers that at the resurrection, no one's marital status matters anymore, so the question is moot]]. |
| 101 | * ''Literature/GarrettPI'': There are laws on the books which safeguard the status of the ruling royal and noble families against magical tampering. Most notably, making animated simulacra of people is highly illegal because of the risk of imposture, and even Karenta's king is subject to mandatory testing to prove he's not undead if his chief officials collectively demand he do so. |
| 102 | * ''Literature/TheGhattisTale'': Courts in Canderis have an extra party: specially-trained humans and their sapient feline BondCreatures, who serve as a LivingLieDetector (the ghatti) and an interpreter for the Living Lie Detector (the human, as even overgrown alien cats can't talk the way humans do). |
| 103 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'': The Ministry of Magic has laws about Dark curses, ownership of magical animals, the rights to carry a wand, etc. Two of the main laws in the story are that a.) underage wizards cannot do magic outside of school (generally waived if [[PowerIncontinence it's an accident]]), and b.) wizards cannot break [[TheMasquerade the Statute of Secrecy]]. Harry himself was once charged for breaking these, but acquitted on the grounds of self-defense (against [[SoulEating dementors]]). |
| 104 | * ''Literature/HayvenCelestia'': On Planetary Acquisitions' {{Generation Ship}}s resources are scarce enough that crew are normally euthanized and recycled at the age of sixty, and most crimes are punished by pushing back the perp's "retirement date". So in effect everything carries a death sentence, the difference is how long it's held off. |
| 105 | * ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar: Brightly Burning'': A teenager's TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening (which killed several bullies torturing him at the time) throws the royal court into chaos for this reason. Eventually legal authorities conclude that he's not guilty, based on the principles that a) you can't expect someone who doesn't even know they ''have'' magic to control it, b) the boy was restrained and had no means of escape, and c) the surviving bullies have testified [[LivingLieDetector under Truth Spell]] that they intended to hurt him. It's earlier noted that because Valdemar was built around the (entirely true) premise that [[TheChosenMany Heralds]] have IncorruptiblePurePureness, its current legal system ''can't'' undermine that premise even if given reason to. |
| 106 | * ''Literature/TheJenkinsverse'': |
| 107 | ** Humans were considered non-sentient indigenous fauna by the Dominion before the Kevin Jenkins incident. Furthermore, the Dominion's bureaucracy considered it impossible for sentient life to evolve on a {{Deathworld}} like Earth, thus even individual abductees couldn't be considered sentient. However, one Xiú Chang got around this rule because she was adopted by the Gaoian clan of Females, and thus legally a Gaoian. After the incident on the Outlook to Forever station got enough public attention, the "no deathworld sentients" rule was scrapped and the requirements for sentience were lowered from having invented FasterThanLightTravel to calculus, giving humans the same legal rights and protections everyone else enjoyed. |
| 108 | ** A [[TheGreys Corti]] swore on a printout of the universal physical constants in court because non-deathworlder aliens are all atheists. Also a case of HollywoodLaw for the sake of RuleOfFunny, as Cimbrean is a British colony and since 1695 you're allowed to affirm that you're telling the truth instead of swearing by God (and it's not like swearing that has kept everyone from perjury anyway). |
| 109 | * ''Literature/JillKismet'': Werewolf and hunter units work as credentialed {{FBI Agent}}s (as well as independently ''a la'' the title character), and the series mentions a few times that FEMA funds can be used for major supernatural incidents. |
| 110 | * Creator/LarryNiven's ''Literature/KnownSpace'' stories often consider the impact of far future science on societies and their laws. For instance, on the future overcrowded Earth pick-pocketing is no longer illegal, teleport booths have made alibis useless in determining innocence, and before synthetic organs were developed easy organ transfers caused the population to vote the death penalty (which allowed the condemned's organs to be harvested) for increasingly trivial crimes - one story features a man condemned to death for traffic violations. The Earth government also actively suppresses new inventions that they feel society can't cope with. |
| 111 | * Creator/IsaacAsimov's 1957 short story "A Loint of Paw" deals directly with this. A ConArtist named Stein defrauds someone of over $100,000, then gets into a TimeMachine and travels to the day after the StatuteOfLimitations expires for his crime. The prosecutor and Stein's defense attorney argue about whether the statute of limitations should follow time as experienced by the prosecution/police or as experienced by Stein. In the end, the judge rules for the defendant, because [[{{Feghoot}} the whole story has just been an elaborate set-up for the judge to say "A niche in time saves Stein."]] |
| 112 | * Creator/HBeamPiper: |
| 113 | ** ''Last Enemy'' from his ''Literature/{{Paratime}}'' universe gives us a society in which reincarnation has now been proven, so their view of death is far more relaxed. Assassination is a legal profession because of this (though there are certain rules, such as no nukes). Near the end of the story, lawsuits start to be launched by people trying to recover property they had in their past lives, though we don't see whether any succeed. |
| 114 | ** Piper's Terro-Human Future History books have the veridicator, a LieDetector that can scan people's brains to tell if they're lying or not almost flawlessly. It's commonly used when interrogating people and during trials. Court orders are required for this, but there's no sign the Terran Federation law has a legal right against self-incrimination |
| 115 | * ''Literature/TheReluctantKing'': In "The Unbeheaded King" there's a brief discussion by ghost Baron Lorc who had been a magistrate while alive if he's still got authority to perform a divorce. Since there's [[LoopholeAbuse no law]] saying a ghost can't be a magistrate so far as he knows, Lorc concludes his office is still in effect and grants the divorce. |
| 116 | * Creator/RobertJSawyer: |
| 117 | ** ''Literature/IllegalAlien'' involves a milder example, with an alien charged in the murder of a human. |
| 118 | ** In ''Literature/MindScan'', there's a trial over whether or not a character who just uploaded her consciousness into an android body can still be considered the same person, or legally dead, with her property going to her son. |
| 119 | * ''Literature/{{Stardoc}}: Beyond Varallan'': Jorenian marriages, called "Choosing", are for life. After Cherijo is Chosen impulsively by her dead husband's brother Xonea (who has been drugged into a hyper-aggressive state by a third party), she eventually gets out from under it by having another physician administer a lethal dose of drugs to herself so she can be declared clinically dead (legally ending the engagement), and waiting for her HealingFactor to revive her. She then quickly gets engaged to her SecondLove Duncan to keep the still-drugged Xonea from just Choosing her all over again. |
| 120 | * The first section of ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'' is about how the main character, being the first human ever born on Mars, is theoretically its owner. That gets resolved fairly quickly, after which the plot is about him learning about life on Earth and starting a sex cult. |
| 121 | * ''Literature/SuperPowereds'': In the US, only licensed Heroes are permitted to use their powers to fight criminal Supers. Any other Super doing so it considered a vigilante and is subject to arrest. To get licensed, a Super has to enroll in a Hero Certification Program at one of the five universities offering the four-year program. Out of nearly a hundred annual applicants, only ten get to graduate each year. This is to ensure that only the best of the best are allowed to protect the public. And even after that, the graduates have to intern under an active Hero for two years before they can go off on their own. The Department of Variant Human Affairs (DVA) monitors all Heroes and ensures that they don't step out of line. Heroes that cause too much damage (either by being careless or by unintentionally causing criminal Supers to harm others) can be stripped of their Hero license. Outside of Hero work, Supers can be employed as emergency workers, either as police or fire department contractors or working for private companies as PEERS (Privately Employed Emergency Response Supers). They're allowed to use their powers to rescue people, but they are forbidden from engaging criminal Supers, except in self-defense. It's not stated much about how other nations handle their Supers, but it's vaguely stated that some others have tried making their Supers work for the police or the military, but this made them seem oppressive. The American model turns Heroes into, well, heroes. |
| 122 | * ''Literature/TheTalmud'': Ultimately, every debate goes back to "what did God say about this?," but some issues get stranger. For example, Yevamot 122a, in discussing when a man can be considered LegallyDead, brings up a case where the death was announced by an AmbiguouslyHuman figure who disappears, and another where the man himself told people he was dying through something like AstralProjection. |
| 123 | * ''Literature/TeamHuman'' is set in a world where vampires exist openly, and 10% of attempted "transitions" result in [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] (and another 10% normal death). The vampires have their own police division in town, and a lot of discussion is given to the legal requirements for [[VampireVannabe people who want to transition]], laws against VanHelsingHateCrimes, protests about keeping zombies in labs, etc. |
| 124 | * ''Literature/ThroughVioletEyes'' by Creator/StephenWoodworth revolves around "Violets" (named for their eye color), essentially mediums who can channel the spirits of the dead. The results are admissible in court, though it requires being hooked up to EKG and brainwave readers to prove they're really doing it. |
| 125 | * ''Literature/WearingTheCape'': Common, due to the way the 'verse acts as a {{Reconstruction}} for most superhero tropes. |
| 126 | ** People with powers need to be certified in order to use them to fight crime. Period. Anything else is vigilantism, and is ''not'' tolerated. |
| 127 | ** However, the primary purpose of certified super teams is actually disaster relief. A good amount of space is spent describing the legal processes which allow heroes to cross state borders (and even national borders in the really big emergencies) to get to disaster zones as fast as possible and hold things together until the slower but more numerous mundane crisis aid arrives. Because of this, superheroes have military ranks (albeit as civilian militia) to help smooth out some of the problems that would otherwise arise. |
| 128 | ** One oft-repeated piece of advice is that superheroes are ''not'' police. They are civilian contractors who aid the police when they can; whenever they take down a supervillain, it's a citizen's arrest. |
| 129 | ** While secret identities are rare due to the reality of living in a world with the internet, supers who do have secret identities are required to disclose them to the government. Otherwise, they can't get certified, they can't testify in court, and overall they're treated the same as any other random weirdo who shows up with a mask and refuses to explain who they are. On the other hand, deliberately outing a super is a huge breach of privacy, and the person doing it will be sued into oblivion. |
| 130 | ** While supers under the age of eighteen can be certified and work on hero teams, they cannot be knowingly sent into a situation where they are expected to see combat. |
| 131 | ** The early books focus on a few laws and potential laws on superhuman abilities. While the biggest one (creating a public database of all superhumans and their residences) doesn't go through, it seems as though anyone with a dangerous power--even basic SuperStrength--is legally considered armed at all times. A super construction worker gets drunk and rowdy in the first book, and it's mentioned that he can be charged with using a deadly weapon while intoxicated. |
| 132 | * ''Literature/WorkEthic'': There are legal systems in place that prosecute Cogs that try to take advantage of [[{{Muggles}} Incogs]], Monster leaving Kristine and her Dad the number to an agency that will help reimburse them for their house after it's destroyed by pixies. |
| 133 | * ''Literature/XWingSeries'': {{Discussed}} in ''The Krytos Trap''. Princess Leia tells Wedge that the legal system of the New Republic remains very new so they haven't worked things out entirely, which comes up as Tycho has been charged with murdering Corran. The question has been raised, Leia says, of what jurisdiction a case should be tried in when the defendant and a victim are from different worlds (like here). In the actual case, Tycho's tried on Coruscant, where the alleged murder occurred (he and Corran are both from other planets), as is the most logical course anyway.[[note]]As both the defendant and the victim were active-duty New Republic Defense Force officers, a CourtMartial probably should have jurisdiction regardless of this question, but as mentioned, the New Republic is having to make things up as it goes along.[[/note]] |
| 134 | [[/folder]] |
| 135 | |
| 136 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 137 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': |
| 138 | ** One of the established rules of Earth Alliance law is that evidence obtained via {{telepathy}} is not admissible in legal proceedings. On the other hand, people conducting business or diplomatic negotiations routinely retain low-level telepaths (such as supporting cast member Talia Winters) to mediate the talks and ensure both parties are being honest. |
| 139 | ** "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E15Grail Grail]]" contains a one-off gag where a human sues a Vree (one of the show's alien species, which visually resemble TheGreys and InUniverse are the reason this Ufology belief exists) for reparations because the Vree's ancestor [[AlienAbduction abducted]] ''his'' ancestor (according to commentary, the Vree's defense essentially is that all Vree look alike, while the man boasts of having apparently bullet-proof evidence that identifies said Vree's ancestor as the one who did the abduction). The judge rolls his eyes and asks for an interpreter for the Vree (who responded to the charge by drawing a symbol); we never hear how the case ends. |
| 140 | ** In "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS02E03TheGeometryOfShadows The Geometry of Shadows]]", the Drazi select a new government every five years by drawing scarves colored green and purple from a barrel, then dividing themselves up by color and beating the crap out of each other. After the Green Drazi on the station start ''killing'' Purple Drazi, Ivanova grabs the Green Leader's scarf while arguing with him, and is informed that ''she'' is now the Green Leader. |
| 141 | --->'''Ivanova:''' Wait a minute. You're saying just because I'm holding this right now, I'm Green Leader? But I'm human.\ |
| 142 | '''Former Green Leader:''' ''(rather sheepishly)'' Rules of combat older than contact with other races. [[LoopholeAbuse Did not mention aliens]]. Rules change... caught up in committee. Not come through yet.\ |
| 143 | '''Ivanova:''' Yeah, bureaucracy, tell me about it. Well, what do you know? All right. ''(puts on the scarf)'' Greens follow Green Leader? Green Leader says: you're all coming with us down to the Quartermaster's office. I'm sure there'll be some dye hanging around. Those of you not in the brig for assaulting an Earth Alliance officer are gonna look absolutely gorgeous in purple. |
| 144 | * ''Series/BlackMirror'': Almost every episode has some facet of near-future life which would make legal matters incredibly difficult: |
| 145 | ** "[[Recap/BlackMirrorWhiteBear White Bear]]" asks the viewers to determine what is or is not [[spoiler:MindRape via repeated torture and induced amnesia]]. |
| 146 | ** The plot of "[[Recap/BlackMirrorWhiteChristmas White Christmas]]" revolves around [[spoiler:tricking a confession out of a [[BrainUploading digital mind]] upload of a man in interrogation]]. The legal ramifications of that are... shaky, at best. |
| 147 | * The series ''Series/CenturyCity'' was completely structured around the legal struggles of various people TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, anything from the legality of cloning a child (the original was long dead, and it was well-accepted that it would only biologically be the same) to a baseball pitcher that got a cybernetic eye to replace one lost in an accident being kicked out of his team (because of the belief that the eye was an unfair advantage) and in an unproduced episode a scientist taking CureYourGays to the most literal extreme (having created a procedure that could be applied to unborn children that would reduce the possibilities of them becoming gay when they aged, and essentially dooming all minority sexualities to extinction if it became widespread). |
| 148 | * ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'': |
| 149 | ** The banks, overwhelmed by the sudden flush of loan applications, have been using the Blip as an excuse not to approve loans. These people were missing with no income for five years; on paper, that is extremely suspicious. Of course, it is public knowledge that these people were ''dead'' for those five years, and it happened to a randomly distributed half of ''the entire universe'', so this is a problem billions of people have just on Earth. This is a clear case of discrimination, but the Blipped are not a legally protected class (though it's implied with Sam Wilson and his sister that [[DiscriminateAndSwitch a more old-fashioned kind of discrimination]] is also at work). |
| 150 | ** Elsewhere in the world, Blipped people are being prioritized by the Global Repatriation Commission (the international body set up to handle the crises caused by half the world's population coming back to life at once) at the expense of the un-Blipped: among other things, the Blipped getting their prior property, jobs, and finances returned to them by the GRC has led to displaced un-Blipped people ending up in refugee camps. This has motivated WesternTerrorists such as the Flag Smashers to raid banks and warehouses to get resources to the refugees--as well as using car bombs against the GRC itself. |
| 151 | * ''Series/TheGoodWife'': {{Conversed}} in "[[Recap/TheGoodWifeS1E20Mock Mock]]" when Will gets roped into acting as the judge during a mock trial at the [=DePaul=] University law school. The subject of the trial is "Literature/HanselAndGretel", and Will notes to an amused Diane that the story actually raises a lot of interesting legal issues such as self-defense and property rights. |
| 152 | * Given that ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' combines a fantasy show with a police procedural, this happens every once in a while. For example, one episode has a trio of supernatural creatures (or "Wesen" as the show calls them) rob a series of banks while in GameFace. It's implied that they can't be indicted since it can't be proven it was them and their "masks" can't be found. A VigilanteExecution renders those issues moot. |
| 153 | * Discussed on ''Series/{{Haven}}'' in the episode "The Trial of Audrey Parker." Audrey, an FBI agent, has been investigating cases in Haven after requesting she continue on there following the closure of the case she was originally working on. When her boss shows up in town to confront her about the lack of reports she's been filing and the fact that pretty much every perp has been LetOffByTheDetective, she tries to explain that she can't arrest them because their actions are outside the legal system. |
| 154 | -->'''Audrey:''' The afflicted, the cursed, the Troubled. People that don't end up in these reports. I can't arrest them.\ |
| 155 | '''Agent Howard:''' If they've committed a crime, you can. And should. You swore an oath.\ |
| 156 | '''Audrey:''' To uphold the law, but we don't have laws for these people.\ |
| 157 | '''Agent Howard:''' Are they US citizens?\ |
| 158 | '''Audrey:''' Yes.\ |
| 159 | '''Agent Howard:''' Then we have laws for them.\ |
| 160 | '''Audrey:''' Alright. A man plays music, and it drives people insane. What do I arrest him for? Another man's shadow--his ''shadow''--kills people. What do I charge him with? |
| 161 | * ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': One of Jessica's major hurdles is that it's nigh-impossible to force a psychopath with a CompellingVoice like Kilgrave to stand trial, especially when most people don't believe that his powers are real. |
| 162 | * ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': Nora Darhk is from a decade or so in the future, so when she tries to join the present-day Time Bureau, the automated system keeps denying her because current records say she's fifteen years old and in a mental institution. |
| 163 | * The central premise behind ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'' is the existence of a "Superhuman Law" division specifically created to deal with Fantastic Legal Weirdness. Typical cases include whether or not the Mystic Arts of Kamar-Taj can be bound by a non-disclosure agreement, whether superhero codenames can be trademarked, and the nuances of divorce proceedings when one party has ResurrectiveImmortality and is abusing it to get out of marriages at the first sign of trouble by comitting suicide. |
| 164 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'': |
| 165 | ** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': |
| 166 | *** Data is an android and a member of Starfleet, which leads to several questions about his citizenship and civil rights: |
| 167 | *** In his backstory, a council had to be convened on whether he was eligible to join Starfleet as a person. |
| 168 | *** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E9TheMeasureOfAMan The Measure of a Man]]", a trial is held to determine whether Data should be considered a piece of Starfleet property rather than a person. |
| 169 | *** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E16TheOffspring The Offspring]]", there's a similar question of whether Data should be allowed to "procreate" (create an android similar to himself, i.e. title character Lal) without Starfleet approval. |
| 170 | *** Betazoid empaths can be used to tell whether witnesses are lying or not, although this does result in false positives at times if the witness is holding back about something that isn't related to the matter they're being questioned on. |
| 171 | ** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': |
| 172 | *** Played with in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E04AManAlone A Man Alone]]". [[spoiler:A black marketeer clones himself and kills the clone [[FrameUp to frame Odo for killing him]]. While arresting him, Odo comments, [[ClonesArePeopleToo "Killing your own clone is still murder."]]]] |
| 173 | *** "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E08Dax Dax]]" has the Klaestrons try to extradite Jadzia Dax to try her for a murder allegedly committed by [[TheNthDoctor the Dax symbiont's previous host Curzon]]. Ben Sisko argues extensively that Jadzia and Curzon are not the same person[[note]]Joined Trill with the same symbiont have different personalities and by Trill tradition are considered different individuals, despite later hosts having the memories of preceding hosts.[[/note]] and therefore Jadzia can't be tried in place of Curzon, [[spoiler:though the entire proceeding is [[DebateAndSwitch rendered moot when Odo proves Curzon had an alibi]]]]. |
| 174 | *** Sisko's plot in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E14TheStoryteller The Storyteller]]" has him mediating a border dispute between two Bajoran tribes. An ancient treaty had set a river as their border, but then during the recently ended Occupation the Cardassians diverted the river twenty kilometers to the west. One tribe wants to use the river's old location as the border, the other wants to use the new one. Sisko offers a compromise where the old riverbed remains the official border, but the other tribe is still allowed free access to the river in its new location for trade. Both tribes accept this solution. |
| 175 | ** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS7E18AuthorAuthor Author, Author]], the Doctor, a sapient hologram, sent in a holo-novel he wrote for publication; however, the publisher then decided to publish an early draft without his permission, on the grounds that he had no legal rights to stop it. The Doctor then sues his publisher for copyright infringement, and while the arbitrator stops short of giving him full legal personhood, he does grant the Doctor the legal status of "author", meaning he can own a copyright. Interestingly, Captain Janeway's testimony of the Doctor having disobeyed orders in the past was used as evidence that he did, in fact, have free will. |
| 176 | * ''Series/StargateSG1'': |
| 177 | ** {{Exploited}} in "[[Recap/StargateSG1S1E16Enigma Enigma]]". Daniel Jackson uses some LoopholeAbuse to escape punishment for helping the Tollans to escape to the Nox homeworld after Colonel Maybourne and the NID try to de facto enslave them to get their scientific knowledge. As a civilian, Daniel cannot be CourtMartialed for disobeying orders, and as he and Jack O'Neill point out, it'd be hard to find a civilian law to cover this situation.[[note]]If you squint, he could ''maybe'' be charged with aiding and abetting an escape from custody, but that's assuming that the court both agreed with Maybourne's argument concerning the (biologically human) Tollans' [[InhumanableAlienRights civil rights status]], and could conduct a civilian trial in the first place given the secrecy of the stargate program .[[/note]] |
| 178 | ** In "[[Recap/StargateSG1S3E15Pretense Pretense]]", human Skaara, host to the Goa'uld Klorel, crash-lands on Tollana. Skaara asks for the Tollans to remove Klorel, Klorel demands to keep possession of Skaara's body, so the Tollans take the matter to "triad" and subpoena SG-1 to act as "archons", a combination of lawyer and jury. |
| 179 | * In ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'', on the Solomons' home planet, a suspect would be hooked up to a "Truth Belt"; if the tube turned blue, they were guilty, and if it turned purple, they were not guilty. Of course, when the color didn't change all the way, it resulted in heated legal arguments over whether the tube was more of a "lavender" or "magenta" color... |
| 180 | [[/folder]] |
| 181 | |
| 182 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 183 | * The ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' sourcebook ''Sharn: City of Towers'' has a Law and Order chapter which specifies among other things that the use of various forms of mind control magic is considered a form of fraud, witness stands are commonly placed upon diases enchanted to make it harder for a witness to knowingly lie (and witnesses are required to relieve themselves of any items that may help them resist such magic before taking the stand), and Bestow Curse is among the range of punishments in use against repeat offenders. |
| 184 | * ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'': |
| 185 | ** In ''TabletopGame/GURPSTechnomancer'', US courts have been dealing with the existence of magic for fifty years. |
| 186 | *** The [[TruthSerums Compel Truth]] spell is the ''big'' example of this trope: it's constitutional[[note]] Since the subject is only prevented from lying – NOT from remaining silent – its use does not violate the Fifth Amendment.[[/note]], every witness who takes the stand has to take it, and it's a big help in getting the innocent exonerated. Resisting it is treated as contempt of court, and the court-approved wizard or bailiff casting it will instantly notice if you resisted. |
| 187 | *** A LongerThanLifeSentence is possible in Louisiana, where people can be sentenced to death and zombie labor. Elsewhere, raising zombies is considered illegal desecration of a corpse. |
| 188 | *** Being under MindManipulation is obviously an absolute defense in a criminal trial. |
| 189 | *** [[ImmortalityInducer Youth elixir]] is new enough that the courts are currently fighting over its implications; among other things, they haven't worked out whether a [[PowerPerversionPotential chronological and mental adult in a thirteen-year-old body can legally act in a pornographic film]]. |
| 190 | ** One article in ''Pyramid'', "Above the Law," focuses on superhumans and the law, and explains how a SuperRegistrationAct might work if powers were treated like tools or weapons. Transmutating matter can wreck economies, ESP of any sort is a nightmare for privacy laws, and there's a dilemma on whether it's moral to confine someone just for existing if they have PersonOfMassDestruction powers (each campaign world will have its own answer to that). |
| 191 | * ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'': Despite ghosts being relatively common in Rokugan, the legal system specifies that testimony from ghosts is inadmissible in court. They have no consequences for lying, and even honorable ghosts can be manipulated with magic. A few adventures and stories involve the [=PCs=] getting told by a ghost who killed them, and having to find other evidence to prove it. |
| 192 | * ''TabletopGame/RedMarkets'': The remnants of the US government can't officially acknowledge the existence of the Red Market (the underground economy between the safe zone of the Recession and the zombie infested wasteland of the Loss), because all those citizens left behind were declared legally dead. You can't prosecute a dead person. |
| 193 | * ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'': In one episode of their podcast, the creators go into the legal questions that arise from a universe full of superheroes, including whether they can be sued without knowing their secret identities, whether property damage by the superhero Ra counts as an "Act of God," and whether destroying alchemically created "Fleshchildren" counts as murder or property damage. In-universe there was a comic issue where Baron Blade was tried for his crimes with the Freedom Five's lawyer as the prosecution. Predictably, he got off scot-free because, you know, he's in charge of his own country but not before some legal weirdness happens. |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 197 | * In a downplayed example in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', mummies are undead night creatures created within tombs of deceased rulers but lose their original titles. They thus are referred to by [[JustTheFirstCitizen their prior prime occupation]] such as Beekeeper. |
| 198 | * A CourtroomEpisode in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' has the PlayerCharacter acting as attorney to a man accused of murder. One option is to use the [[JediMindTrick Force Persuade power]] to force witnesses to commit perjury for you, which is considered a Dark Side action. |
| 199 | * ''Franchise/MassEffect'': There's a lot of weird laws, [[AllThereInTheManual mostly as background details]], but the three that are immediately relevant to the story are genetics, Prothean artifacts, and AI research. |
| 200 | ** {{Transhumanism}} exists, but the law prevents adding any new abilities to a species. So increased muscle and bone density are fine (and standard for soldiers), but giving a human the ability to photosynthesize is illegal. This also prevents genetically engineering new creatures and the like. It's mentioned that because of this, the human-made medi-gel is technically illegal, but it's just so useful that it's given a pass. |
| 201 | ** Prothean artifacts are LostTechnology that form the backbone of the galaxy. The Mass Relays, in particular, are what make intragalactic travel possible at all. Therefore, messing with them in ''any'' capacity is illegal unless you have specific and explicit permission from ''very'' high-ranking people. In the first game, a scientist can't even perform non-destructive scans on the Keepers who maintain the Citadel because everyone is just that scared of causing some sort of problem. It's even more illegal to activate any new Mass Relays if you don't know what's on the other end, because the most recent one caused the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Rachni]] War. [[spoiler: [[AbusivePrecursors This is all part]] of the [[AncientConspiracy plot]] cooked up by the [[MechanicalAbomination Reapers]]. They created the Mass Relays, the Citadel and the Keepers and made them crucial to galactic civilization while also making sure nobody [[BlackBox really figures out]] how they actually work until it's too late]]. |
| 202 | ** Every ArtificialIntelligence ever recorded has immediately TurnedAgainstTheirMasters. Because of this, AI is extremely restricted, with only a few corporations being (officially) allowed to do R&D into [=AIs=] and only on specific planets. Non-sapient "Virtual Intelligences" are common, but they're basically just well-developed user interfaces and immediately show problems if you try to use them for something outside what they were designed for. In the backstory, the quarians loopholed around the ban by creating a race of [=VIs=] with networking abilities so that they could share information. It didn't take long for the geth as a whole to cross the sapience threshold and rebel ([[UnreliableNarrator according to quarian sources, at least]]), even if individually they remained but fancy calculators. |
| 203 | * A defense option in [[CourtroomEpisode your murder trial]] in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' is to use a boy with TrueSight to cast doubt on eyewitness testimony that you led the massacre of a village (it was really Luskan soldiers under a magical illusion, which he saw through). Your opponent, Luskan ambassador Torio Claven, tries to counter by disputing the boy's ability, but he proves it by telling her about the medallion she has in her pocket. There's also a provision where you can demand trial by combat ''after'' the trial is otherwise over, rendering the trial a complete waste of time (other than getting a [[SkillScoresAndPerks unique story feat]] as a BraggingRightsReward). This gets a LampshadeHanging that it's so little used and obscure that both sides were keeping it as an ace in the hole and hoping the other didn't know about it. |
| 204 | * ''VideoGame/TachyonTheFringe'': The background of the game is that the Bora colonists left Earth decades ago to seek their fortunes in unsettled space and, due to their separatist politics, never bothered to file any kind of paperwork with Sol's government (which evidently claims jurisdiction over all of space) to claim it. This bites them in the ass when the [[MegaCorp Galactic Spanning Corporation]] ''does'' file the paperwork and tries to evict the Bora, [[HilaritySues who sue to overturn GalSpan's claim]]; Sol's supreme court sides with [=GalSpan=], arguing there's no such thing as, quote, "squatter's rights". [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry The Bora don't take this lying down, driving the main plot of the game.]] |
| 205 | [[/folder]] |
| 206 | |
| 207 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 208 | * ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': |
| 209 | ** Much of the series centers around the integration of spirit mediums (whose powers are legitimate, albeit as fallible as any other form of testimony) into otherwise mundane courts. The [=DL=]-6 case was especially infamous because it soured '''both''' sides: traditional lawyers were angry because the police secretly consulted mediums to decide whom to prosecute, and the mediums were angry because their involvement got leaked to the press and ruined their reputation. Spirit-channeling is eventually recognized as legally legitimate, but only after a lot of people work very hard to prove it so... particularly [[BigGood Mia Fey]], the first medium to ''become'' a lawyer. Notably, the next guy who tries to use channeling as evidence does it in the open, allowing people to judge for themselves whether channeling is inadmissible or not. |
| 210 | ** The kingdom of Khura'in has the ''opposite'' problem: all magic, no ordinary investigations or legal debate. Because neither mediums or ghosts are incorruptible--and even well-intentioned ghosts can misinterpret events--Khura'in has devolved into a WretchedHive. |
| 211 | * In the ending of ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'', one of the reasons the BigBad gets away with everything is that he didn't do anything very bad in the ''[[ExpendableAlternateUniverse current]]'' timeline, although his plan centered around torturing espers in other timelines and gathering the related data for use in that one. The protagonists can't prove anything unless they're willing to break TheMasquerade, and that would cause a whole new legal fallout. |
| 212 | [[/folder]] |
| 213 | |
| 214 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 215 | * ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDoctorMcNinja'': |
| 216 | ** The police handle [=McNinja=]'s less-than-legal vigilantism by instantly pardoning him if he returns to his office and calls "Base!" |
| 217 | ** For some reason, there is a law on the books that anyone becomes a duke if Ben Franklin tells them to go fuck themselves. This was nothing but a silly historical footnote for centuries, until Franklin was resurrected through cloning. Between [=McNinja=]'s wild adventures and Ben's annoyance at said adventures, they leave a lot of dead dukes in their wake. |
| 218 | * In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Earth-born [[HumanoidAliens Uryuoms]], despite being members of an extraterrestrial species are legally citizens of the country on Earth they were born in (at least for those born in a country with birthright citizenship) and thus not legally "aliens". In fact, [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2003-09-03 as noted by William]], American-born Uryuoms could technically legally run for President. However, given that the {{Masquerade}} is still somewhat in effect (at least in the [[TheMultiverse main universe]]), in practice, Uryuoms have no legal standing whatsoever because their very existence is kept secret from the public. |
| 219 | * In the world of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', there are a wide variety of ways to bring someone BackFromTheDead to varying degrees. Unsurprisingly, this does not mesh well with a social structure based on inheritance, so the Fifty Families have [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090826#.X_hZEjSSmCo an ironclad rule]] that once you're dead, your titles and lands pass to your heirs even if you later get brought back. It's also mentioned that there have been cases of people trying to conceal the fact that they've been killed and resurrected so that they don't lose their lands and privileges to their next of kin. Also, Klaus Wulfenbach ''doesn't'' obey this rule, because [[AppealToForce his rule isn't based on royal legitimacy, but on superior firepower]]. |
| 220 | * ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'': |
| 221 | ** A key part of the comic is the question of how superheroes would realistically be handled, especially legally. Powers are considered a Second Amendment right and do not require registration, but they do not grant a license to act as a vigilante; people who want to play superhero either sign up with the government or are arrested. An entirely new police/military hybrid organization is created to deal with "atypical threats" and employs the bulk of the government's supers, because most existing organizations don't have the proper mandate to deal with that sort of thing. It's also mentioned offhand that flying supers don't technically have to file a flight plan (the law was written with an exception for human-sized flying objects, intended for kites and drones), but it's considered polite to do so. |
| 222 | ** Supers are considered a "Valuable National Resource", yet, there is no SuperRegistrationAct, no drafting and no shuffling supers to a BlackSite. If any of those things happened, then supers would go into hiding (which was actually what Sydney was worried about early on), leaving the nation vulnerable to supervillains and foreign supers from countries that embrace and respect them. Not only that, but working as a super both in the private and public sector ''[[https://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-345-ka-pow-ka-blam-ka-ching/ pays really well.]]'' |
| 223 | ** ARCHON's members, super and not, are a domestic military force that is heavily armed. It is pointed out that this would violate ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act posse comitatus]]''. However, that act only applies to the Army; other branches of the military have their own rules that function similarly. ARCHON is a new branch that is not covered under the act, and intentionally does not have any rules preventing use of force on domestic soil. As for ''why'' they are military instead of police, it's partly because most of the supers who already work in the government work for the military. Easier to shuffle soldiers to a new branch than to give them honorable discharges and then expect them to report to a civilian law enforcement agency. |
| 224 | ** [[spoiler:Sydney is thrown two months into the future. When she comes back, it's only been two days for her, and she asks how her pay will work. At Maxima's insistence, Ariana agrees to split the difference and pay her for a month--but only this time, since it was a relatively small jump]]. |
| 225 | ** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in a fight against Hench Wench, a henchwoman who gains the powers of her current employer, who [[EvilInc exploits corporation law]] to gain the powers of [[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-891-enter-the-wench-not-that-way-pervs/ several supervillains at once]], and when [[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-895-fine-print-bitches/ they try to fire her]] (for refusing to surrender [[KnowWhenToFoldEm long after they did]]), they have to [[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-915-queue-the-lengthy-exit-interview-scene/ gather a two-thirds vote of the supervillains]], but they didn't know they had to get it ratified by the manager ([[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-916-bad-faith/ which they can't because it's]] ''[[RulesLawyer Hench Wench]]''); ultimately, the heroes' lawyers have to [[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-919-objection/ terminate the contract on ethical grounds]] to depower her. |
| 226 | * ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'': After Reigen's office is burned down by a [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic]] psychic, his insurance agency delay payment because they can't figure out what would cause a fire like that without fuel. This suddenly makes Reigen determined to fight Claw so he can take whoever did it to the agency and legitimize his claim. [[spoiler:His claim goes through when it turns out to be an electrical fire [[ContrivedCoincidence that had nothing to do with the other fire that was caused by a psychic]].]] |
| 227 | * ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': |
| 228 | ** Doctor Bunnigus wonders if a group of immortals that murdered someone should be brought to justice. Petey points out that it happened ''eleven million years ago''. Yes, all the murderers are still alive, but the axe has been buried, the hole subducted, and half the continent became magma. |
| 229 | --->'''Bunni:''' This immortality thing is going to get weird. |
| 230 | ** Later, another group of immortals are temporarily killed. They can be easily resurrected, but legally as corpses they have no rights ''until'' they are resurrected. Local scavengers fight the people trying to resurrect them so that they can steal their stuff. |
| 231 | ** AI rights are a legal quagmire. On the one hand, full [=AIs=] are considered on par with organic sapience, but most of them are still hardwired to obey certain precepts, like the captain of a ship or the admiral of a fleet. Emancipated [=AIs=] exist, but are rare. Furthermore, synthetic intelligences (SI) are just as sapient as [=AIs=], just less intelligent, but are treated as mindless automatons that can be sacrificed at a moment's notice. If they become intelligent enough they can cross the "sapience threshold" and gain full rights, but that requires extensive outside hacking. |
| 232 | ** Clones, especially gate-clones, cause many legal problems as well. Perfect clones such as gate-clones are legally considered to be the same person as the original up until the moment of their cloning--so if the original committed a crime and was then cloned, the clone is still responsible for it. In the one case shown, a gate clone is tried and sentenced for the original person killing someone while they were [[DrunkDriver manually driving under the influence]] - which in-story means disabling the permanent SI autopilot and (usually) having to install a system to be ''able'' to drive manually, all of which can only be done when cold sober. The guy didn't make his case any better by sassing the judge. |
| 233 | ** Kathryn jokes that grunts don't quit until they "finally find the time to die." Jengisha points out that [[spoiler:with their new super-advanced immortality and resurrection technology]], that might not be a valid reason to quit any more. |
| 234 | ** There's also all kinds of trouble early in the comic when the mercs win a lawsuit against a company of cloned attorneys, and are permitted to collect their settlement by [[BountyHunter killing the clones and turning them in for a bounty]]. It's pointed out in the notes with the early strips that the clones are organic robots connected to the Collective, each with only a tiny fragment of individuality, and therefore don't "count" as individual sapients. The whole topic is PutOnABus eventually, rather than discussed. |
| 235 | * ''Webcomic/TheWeeklyRoll'': Torvald is a necromancer who reanimates the corpses of fellow dwarves as UndeadLaborers... with their permission, once they died of natural causes, and after they've signed a contract. Even so, dwarven law enforcers are after him, but only because he didn't pay taxes on the income earned. Then it turns out what Torvald owes is less than what the party spends on booze in a week, so Becket pays for him, making Torvald in his debt (paying Becket back is not an option). And ''then'' it turns out the enforcers are a squad answering to the queen of the dwarves, who is Torvald's mother-in-law and thus possibly willing to ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem Dwarf law is weird. |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 239 | * ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': |
| 240 | ** Krillin tries to scam his insurance company by collecting a life insurance policy after he died and was wished back to life with the Dragonballs. It doesn't end well. |
| 241 | ** Later Goku says in reference to a lifetime supply of Hetap: "You know, they say 'lifetime', but they never consider the Dragon Balls..." |
| 242 | * This is basically the concept of the blog ''Blog/LawAndTheMultiverse'', which is written by a professional lawyer who speculates on how would the plots of superhero comic books work within the framework of American law. |
| 243 | * [[https://qr.ae/pNytPD This]] Website/{{Quora}} answer (by a practicing attorney) argues that in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', if Bucky "Winter Soldier" Barnes was ever brought to trial, he would have a legitimate case for an InsanityDefense because the {{Brainwashing}} he was put through by the Soviets overrides any semblance of his normal judgement about his actions. |
| 244 | %%* The [[http://superherolaw.com/ Superhero Law]] blog deals with this as well. ZERO CONTEXT EXAMPLE |
| 245 | [[/folder]] |
| 246 | |
| 247 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 248 | * In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender,'' [[KungFuJesus Aang]] is put on trial for a murder supposedly committed by Avatar Kyoshi, one of his past lives. Unable to come up with another defense, he and his friend resort to trying to summon Kyoshi's spirit to defend herself. It works... [[BackfireOnTheWitnessStand except]] that [[GoodIsNotSoft she confesses to killing the guy]]. Evidently he was really a warlord trying to conquer what's now Kyoshi Island, and his people gave him a HistoricalHeroUpgrade. Aang later tries to argue with Kyoshi that it was an AccidentalMurder, but Kyoshi says that's splitting hairs, and isn't sorry. She absolutely would have killed him in straight combat if she had to. |
| 249 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': |
| 250 | ** The title character is sort-of-kind-of the {{Reincarnation}} of his [[MissingMom dead mom]], [[PosthumousCharacter Rose Quartz]]. The [[EvilEmpire Homeworld Gems]], who for the most part don't even understand human reproduction, basically take this to mean that [[KidHero Steven]] is Rose Quartz in a human body, and [[AlternatePersonalityPunishment put him on trial]] for [[spoiler:the [[BatmanGrabsAGun assassination]] of [[PredecessorVillain Pink Diamond]]]]. |
| 251 | ** Pearl at one point mentions how she doesn't have a driver's license since, as a millennia-old alien who's rarely interacted with humans, she's "not exactly a citizen." |
| 252 | ** A throwaway line makes explicit that [[InterspeciesRomance Greg and Rose]] [[CommonLawMarriage never technically married]], making Steven a HeroicBastard. |
| 253 | ** Bizarrely, Steven lists his Social Security Number as "N/A" in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'', implying having an alien mother who disappeared giving birth left him undocumented. However, Steven still drives a car regularly without any fear of getting arrested. |
| 254 | * ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': Sari Sumdac quickly loses any say in how her father's company is run because there's no proof she legally exists. [[spoiler:Since she was born from a Cybertronian protoform and Issac's DNA, he had no way to claim her as his actual daughter, instead just raising her himself.]] |
| 255 | [[/folder]] |
| 256 | |
| 257 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 258 | * As noted by ''Forbes'' [[http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2016/09/22/should-carmakers-be-liable-when-a-self-driving-car-crashes/#4d9865871f40 here]], the emergence of practical self-driving cars poses some interesting legal conundrums, such as who would be liable for damages if the driverless vehicle was judged to be at-fault in a wreck. Should it be a rider in the vehicle? The owner? The car manufacturer? So far, though, road tests of driverless cars showed them obeying traffic laws to the letter and only getting into accidents because a ''human'' driver screwed up. We say "to the letter" for a reason: in one case where a driverless car actually was pulled over (for driving too slowly and holding up traffic), Website/{{Google}} was held responsible, as it was one of theirs out on a test run. |
| 259 | * World legal systems have been struggling to catch up with the rapid cultural evolution of the Information Age for a while. |
| 260 | ** The Internet created (and to a large extent, still does) all sorts of legal weirdness in the 90s and 2000s. The first claimed "internet crime" was actually committed on the ARPANET in 1973, when an American forgot his razor in England and sent an email requesting it be sent back to him. Using the ARPANET for personal use was not allowed. Now, most legal weirdness tends to surround privacy. |
| 261 | ** A 2017 US case, ''[[http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2017/07/28/federal_court_rules_public_officials_cannot_block_social_media_users.html Davison v. Loudon County Board of Supervisors]]'', centered on whether a government official could block people on social media for their views. A federal court in Virginia ruled this to violate the First Amendment right to freedom of expression (it most closely corresponds to the right to petition for redress of grievances), especially since most platforms allow users to "mute" someone they don't want to hear (meaning that person can still post/reply/whatever, but the official won't see the posts). A [[https://www.vox.com/2018/5/23/17385256/trump-twitter-lawsuit-block-users-loser similar ruling]] came in 2018 in a [[https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3892179/2017-07-11-Knight-Institute-Trump-Twitter.pdf parallel case]] involving President Creator/DonaldTrump's habitual use of Website/{{Twitter}} (he almost exclusively used his personal Twitter account to make public statements rather than the White House's official @POTUS account); another involved Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Both cases deemed that, as they were using the Twitter accounts in an official capacity, they could not block users from their posted content as it impedes their ability to hear about it. |
| 262 | ** The rise of AI generators like DALL-E and [=StableDiffusion=] that [[MediaNotes/AIGeneratedArtwork can create art from a text prompt]] have caused some controversy, since these programs rely on pre-existing images to know what the requested image is supposed to look like. Defenders claim that this is no different from a human artist looking at other artists' works for inspiration, while detractors say that taking an artist's work without permission to train an AI should be considered copyright infringement. That's quite apart from the fact that US common law has established that only humans can hold copyrights, but also that only a work's creator can claim one--meaning it's possible that any AI-generated image has ''no'' creator from a legal standpoint and therefore is automatically in the public domain. |
| 263 | * There are lots of border disputes that can involve rivers that have changed course and the like, islands claimed by multiple nations, pieces of countries within in other countries within other countries (see Pakistan and India for example) but one especially odd example is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil Bir Tawil]], a piece of land that ends up claimed by no one.[[note]]It's bordered by Egypt and Sudan, each of which claims that the other owns it: as both countries used to be part of UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire, each country points to a different British document setting the boundary between them as marking the border that existed when they gained independence. The document Egypt wants to use gives it control of the Hala'ib triangle--a much larger and more valuable patch of territory to Bir Tawil's northeast, but excludes Bir Tawil. The document Sudan points to does the reverse. (De facto, Egypt controls the bigger territory by dint of Sudan's domestic strife and Egypt's willingness to roll in with its army; Sudan isn't willing to risk what are on the whole otherwise pretty friendly relations with Cairo over a patch of desert, let alone fight a war it's likely to lose to the much larger and better-equipped Egyptian Army.) Before you get any clever ideas, (1) they both agree that ''only'' one of them owns it, and will take actions to keep others from claiming it, and (2) it's not very valuable anyway.[[/note]] See also the trope RegionalRedecoration. |
| 264 | * The effects of climate change threaten to lead to entirely new legal issues, whose resolution is still in discussion. The concept of "climate refugees"--people forced to leave their homelands due to environmental conditions--is one such new issue. Also the cases of small sovereign island nations like the Kingdom of Tonga, which is literally being swallowed by the Pacific as ocean levels rise. |
| 265 | [[/folder]] |
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