Re: Ryoko and the law [LONG]


to tenchi@usagi.jrd.dec.com
from Chae An <chaean@hom.net>
subject Re: Ryoko and the law [LONG]
date Sun, 31 Mar 1996 23:15:01 -0500
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At 10:38 PM 3/30/96 -0800, you wrote:

[...]
>The key point in recognition is Yosho's progeny. In particular he allowed
>his designated heir to be raised as a loyal japanese citizen, now if he
>could get Tenchi to renounce his citizenship...

        I have no idea why that should in way be seen as what you're
claiming...  What legal theory are you basing this under?  

>>...If prosecution could
>>show that Ryoko is destructive even when she retains all her faculty
>>(probably not very difficult to prove ^_^;;), then I doubt if the court will
>>buy the diminished capacity defense.  
>
>In fact, since recovering her full faculties (on witnessing the murder of
>Tenchi), Ryoko has not engaged in promiscuous destructive behavior, and has
>clearly learned considerable restraint. 

        Umm, Tenchi's school might disagree.  And what are you basing on
your position that Ryoko did not have her full faculty before witnessing the
'murder' of Tenchi? (from her awakening to witnessing of the murder)

>The courts should show some
>understanding of her need to recover from obvious psychic trauma, and give
>her time. To the extent that Ryoko understands the consequences of her past
>she has expressed regrets. 

        I dunno about this.  When Mihoshi crash-landed and her watch started
beeping, Ryoko seemed pretty tickled, finally to be noticed as the notorious
space pirate she was.  I personally haven't seen anything from the anime (in
OAVs as well as the TV series) where she had expressed regret over her past
errors.  Ryoko was flabbergasted when Mihoshi guessed Ryoko was a clockmaker!

>Ryoko has adapted a common earth-human device for
>dealing with the unremediable past by taking on a new name while declaring
>her newfound humanity.

        That doesn't go very far in courts, I assure you.  Crying kids in
juvie courts may sway judges, perhaps.

>        BTW: Several other threads have asked about the details of Kagato's
>control over Ryoko. This is shown in 5 and explained in 10. Ryoko's jewels
>open her to telepathy (normally only Washu). She is made of human and masu
>components, of which the masu obey the human mind because it is the superior
>mind. Kagato simply telepathically asserted command as the superior mind.
>IMHO, once Ryoko witnessed the murder of Tenchi, she became sufficiently
>convinced of her own moral superiority(and clearly Kagato's intellect was
>decaying, if it has ever really been all that great), and was able to assert
>her own mastery of her masu component.

        Well...  Pure conjecture and I don't see how this could really
exonerate Ryoko...

>>        Criminal statute of limitations have ran out, but perhaps not for
>>civil cause of action.  And a bill for damages is a civil action.  Who knows
>>what sort of statute of limitation Jurai has...  Given their (apparently)
>>long lifespan, I wouldn't be surprised if it is thousands of years. ^_^
>
>Ah, but I am asserting this under Japanese law. If the Juraians want to act
>by main force, that is one thing; but if they want the color of law,
>galactic courts should consider that human jurisdictions do not enjoy the
>selfishly hoarded blessings of Juraian longevity, and do not tolerate such
>idle manipulation of civil claims.

        Well, actually, if you're drawing a parallel to state courts v.
federal courts, when a federal court takes jurisdiction (with diversity and
damge requirement), it follows the state's _substantive_ laws.  At any rate,
Earth is a Juraian colony of a sort, so Jurai can tell the galactic court to
mind their own business, I believe.

>>        Ryoko, as far as I can tell, is penniless so she's about as judgment
>>proof as you can get, except she has Ryo-oh-ki which maybe Jurai can use to
>>satisfy the judgment (but not before a fight, probably. ^_^).  Hmm, may be
>>that was another motive of Aeka's family for coming to Earth, to take
>>Ryo-oh-ki by force if Washuu was not cooperative (or at least neutral),
>>under guise of satisfying the judgment.
>
>Wait a minute, the Galactic Police, and by inference the Galactic
>authorities, recognize that Ryo-ohki is a sentient being, and responsible
>for her own actions. Recall that Ryo-ohki #1 was a wanted pirate when
>Mihoshi showed up, but since our Ryo-ohki is her progeny... Ryo-ohki is a
>person, and not property, and guilty of no crime. Are you suggesting that
>Jurai would resort to slavery (come to think of it, Aeka's behavior in 2
>suggests...).

        Good point, so Ryoko really is penniless. ^_^  Now, if Jurai had a
court of equity (read below), then Ryoko can rot in jail forever, until she
somehow pays off the debt.

>>        Not quite.  Every year, there are 100's of cases of people who are
[...]
>>
>There is a big difference between being dead and entombed for 700 years and
>being on the operating table. The real point here is that claims by Jurai
>that Ryoko was unavailable should be dismissed as fictions. She was under
>their control.

        I dunno.  Did Jurai really say Ryoko was unavailable?  BTW, if the
cause of action is civil, Juraian government's claim may well be
extinguishable as you say.  But there are private causes of action from
private citizens.  At any rate, I think whether Ryoko was really _dead_ is
at least debateable.

        The entombment does sound a like imprisonment.  Back when the
English courts 'split' (well, the equity courts more or less sprang up) to
create a court of equity, the courts of law would not grant specific
performance.  In fact, the only remedy available was money damage.  But if
the defendant was judgment-proof, by being dead-broke, the plaintiff was
just out of luck.  But in courts of equity, the remedy was not limited to
money damage and could include specific performance in breach of contract
and imprisonment if the judgment could not in some way be satisfied.  So if
Ryoko couldn't pay up, she could be imprisoned.  And the mere fact of her
imprisonment would never extinguish the judgment.

        For all we know, civil procedings went ahead with constructive
service of process since Ryoko's whereabouts was not known to the civil
plaintiffs, default judgment entered, and the judgment will stand, forever
and ever.

        Hmm...  Excuse me for a lengthy post but one more interesting point
just came up.  If Juraian government filed a civil complaint immediately
after destruction of its property and departure of Ryoko, then the duty on
the Juraian government is to undertake a process that is "reasonably
designed to notify" for the service of process (summons).  This can be done
in variety of ways, one of which is publication in newspaper (or its
equivalent).  

        Important thing to note is the 'reasonably designed to notify'
language.  If the whereabouts of the defendant is unknown as it was at the
time, courts will usually accept publication (for example) as giving
adequate notice.  But if whereabouts is known, constructive notice are
usually insufficient.  So the language can be somewhat deceptive.

        Anyway, from there the court can enter a default judgment (since
Ryoko obviously did not file an answer and did not even make a special
appearance), and declare some remedy, which will be good forever and ever.
There is no statute of limitations on a remedy; it'll last zillion years and on.

        In past e-mails, we had assumed that Ryoko would have to go to trial
but that just isn't necessarily so.

        Of course, Yosho knew where Ryoko was, but the plaintiffs in Jurai
didn't.  How well as defense can weave this fact may or may not save Ryoko.

>                                Greg M.

                                                --C h a e


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                       chaean@hom.net  chaean@best.com
			 http://www.best.com/~chaean
		"I'm strangely attracted to Camille Paglia..."
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