Voltayre's ENCYCLOPEDIA XENOBIOLOGICA: Earth Alliance Laws and Regulations

Earth Alliance Laws and Regulations

Death Penalty - With the advent of the mindwipes, the death penalty was reserved for acts of mutiny and/or treason against the Earth Alliance only. However, in October of 2259, President Clark set in motion a plan that would reinstate the death penalty for crimes other than treason. He had hoped that a reinterpretation of the law would be easier to pass than the creation of a new one. The test of the reinterpretation came soon after its formal ratification in December, 2259, on the station Babylon 5. A Tuchanq was accused of murdering an Earther. The ensuing chaos of protestation, led to a violent riot preceding the public execution. Images of the carnage and the cold murder of a sentient being changed public opinion almost immediately, and the reinterpretation was struck down.

Most cases of executions were handled by the State Executioner during the years of the Earth-Minbari War. A licensed doctor by training, his ID gives him Gold-level clearance but does not carry his name. His brief reinstatement in 2259 ended in his death.

Death of Personality - Technologically practical for humans in the 2220's, mindwipes were upheld as a preferable alternative to the death sentence or life imprisonment (an unnecessary financial burden on the populace). Basically, the mind of the guilty offender is erased of all memory and then a more congenial one is left in its absence. The wipe does not nessessarily erase the memories so much as deeply submerge them, so an experienced telepath can "reactivate" the old memories. A court assigned telepath is present when the mindwipe is performed. She must scan the criminal before and after the wipe to insure that the new personality is secure. The device that is used for this is held under lock and key until mandated by a court verdict. In the absence of the proper machinery, there are sugical procedures that are almost as effective.

Several personality templates are used. However, mindwipes are kept in servile positions (e.g. ditch diggers, trash collectors, etc.), since allowing them achievement would be considered a reward. To protect them from their victims' families, they are relocated far enough away that neither party will come in contact.

The Strange Case of Charles Dexter

“Death Walks Among You" Written in blood, the phrase struck fear into the hearts of the Orion colonists. Charles Dexter was a naughty boy, he liked to kill women and stuff black roses in their mouths. He claimed 9 victims before his capture on Earth Colony Three. Charles Dexter, known infamously as the "Black Rose Killer" was convicted on April 3, 2251 and sentenced to Death of Personality. His memory was erased and was transferred to the Sol System. Unfortunately, before the wipe and personality programming was complete, a fire destroyed the facility where he was located. He was officially listed as dead. Little did the authorities know, a new man walked the streets who eventually joined the Trappist Order as Brother Edward. For almost nine years he served with goodness and self-sacrifice, until January, 2260, when he joined his brothers on Babylon 5. His victim's survivors had been tracking him down since his capture, and they finally caught up with him. Using audio and chemical tricks to stimulate the repressed memories of who he once was and a Centauri telepath to break the memory block, they succeeded in removing most of the mind wipe. Then they tortured him and left him to die.

Unrepentant for his deeds, the ringleader was tried and convicted on-station. Ironically, the Dominicans were able to request the new Brother Malcom to join their order to take the place of, but never to replace, the man they knew as Brother Edward.

Earth Force Regulations

Article 35 - Any dispute about a new regulation must be heard by a panel of at least fiver senior officers.
Article 52 - Any commander found to be working against the interests of Earth can be removed from his post.
General Order 47 - Earthforce personnel are required to respond to a distress call from any vessel not currently in hostilities against Earth.

First Contact Protocol - After the Earth-Minbari War, Earth Force revised its first contact protocal. These strict regulations were designed to avoid the fiasco that started the war. First Contact situations require the presence of, at minimum, one command officer. Two officers are preferred. Junior Officers are usually excluded from the proceedings, since their inexperience might provoke a hostile reaction. Those officers making contact are regarded as expendable, since the Alliance does not wish to go to war again.

Illegal Drugs - Dust, morphozine, "Ozones."

Rush Act - The Rush Act allows Earth Gov to break up labor strikes by any means necessary. It was used primarily during the Earth-Minbari war to insure that corporations or unions did not hold up the war effort. Granting extraordinary power to military officials to resolve the dispute. The Rush Act can only be specifically applied to any strike or union action that endangers the operation of a military base or military operation.

Spacing - Death by exposure to vaccuum is reserved only for those guilty of mutiny or treason.

Terrorism

All high-ranking EarthDome personnel have coded indentification crystal implants that emits a low level, short-range signal. It is used to prevent kidnapping.
All explosives manufactured in Earth Alliance territory are laced with chemical codes to allow them to be traced.


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