Laws of Ellistown Landing

Crime

There are a relatively short list of crimes in Ellistown Landing, though many take a broader phrasing in order to be harder to exploit and be more open to interpretation. Each is also assigned a class of offense from 1 to 10, with 1 being the most trivial and 10 being the most serious. This severity class is used as a guideline in the apprehension and sentencing process.

CRIMES OF ELLISTOWN LANDING

Anyone who is publicly intoxicated or seen to be consuming an intoxicating substance outside of a private establishment shall be guilty of a Class 1 offense.

Anyone who improperly takes and/or misuses the property of another without clear emergency need or giving immediate satisfactory recompense shall be guilty of an offense of Class 1-6, depending on severity.

Anyone who is found to have violated the terms of a certified contract to which they are either author/contractee or signatory/contractor shall be guilty of an offense of Class 1-5, depending on severity.

Anyone who uses a Death Brew or other means, Aberrant or not, to peer into the Mortis Amaranthine without a permit issued by either Ellistown Landing's Senator or the duly appointed representative in charge of Mortis Health, shall be guilty of a Class 2 offense.

Anyone who obstructs an Officer of the Peace or other Peacekeeping Official properly designated by Ellistown Landing or The Senate of Dominus Columbia in completing their official duties shall be guilty of an offense of Class 2-6, depending on severity.

Anyone who commits Assault on a Resident or Traveler which does not lead to Death, or commits some other disturbance of the peace, shall be guilty of a Class 2 offense.

Anyone who fails to pay a legally appointed Levy, fails to complete a legally mandated Geas, or fails to pay legally mandated Taxes shall be guilty of an offense of Class 2-5, depending on severity.

Anyone who endangers the Public Health, such as through the sale of Will-Tapping Substances to individuals without a prescription, or knowingly provides false medical care or advice, shall be guilty of a Class 3 offense, in addition to any other crimes.

Anyone who knowingly endangers the People of Ellistown Landing through negligence or malfeasance shall be guilty of an offense of Class 3-8, depending on severity.

Anyone who knowingly or willfully obstructs Official Senatorial Business shall be guilty of an offense of Class 4-8, depending on severity.

Any who performs a procedure or other similar action resulting in the unauthorized entry into the Mortis Amaranthine or interference therein with the natural flow of Infection shall be guilty of an offense of Class 5-8, depending on severity.

Anyone who performs a procedure or uses an Aberrant or Non-Aberrant ability to knowingly transplant any malady into the Mortis without proper license or permit, shall be guilty of an offense of Class 5-8, depending on severity.

Anyone who commits Assault or Battery upon a Resident or Traveler in a matter that leads to Death shall be guilty of a Class 5 offense.

Anyone who displaces, kidnaps, or otherwise absconds with a Resident or Traveler shall be guilty of a Class 5 offense.

Anyone who commits Assault or Battery upon a Citizen of Dominus Columbia in a matter that leads to Death shall be guilty of a Class 7 offense.

Anyone who displaces, kidnaps, or otherwise absconds with a Citizen of Dominus Columbia shall be guilty of a Class 7 offense.

Anyone who performs a procedure or uses an Aberrant or Non-Aberrant ability to interfere with the natural flow of Infection into the Mortis as a result of Death, without proper license or permit, shall be guilty of a Class 8 offense.

Anyone who knowingly and/or willfully causes the negligent or malicious Final Death of a Citizen of Dominus Columbia or any Resident or Traveler living in peace shall be guilty of a Class 9 offense.

Anyone who knowingly and/or willfully participates in an Act of Treason against Ellistown Landing shall be guilty of a Class 9 offense.

Anyone who knowingly and/or willfully participates in an Act of Treason against Dominus Columbia shall be guilty of a Class 10 offense.

Anyone who is found to have knowingly aided and abetted the commission of a crime shall be guilty of an offense of a Class Equal To or Lesser Than The Primary Crime, depending on severity and utility of assistance.

ADDENDUM 124DC: The New Dawn Templars shall have right of first refusal to purchase any radioactive material that enters the settlement for purposes of salvage, trade, or export from the settlement at a fair market value as determined by The Harbormasters. Failure to provide such will incur a penalty equal to three times the market value of the material in question.

Trial

When violations are found, designated Officers of the Peace within the Settlement are authorized to issue Writs of Notice that inform the recipient that they have either been assessed a fine, in the cases of minor crimes, or have been given Notice to Appear before city officials for booking. Notices to Appear may also be issues for other legal reasons, including for witness statements or Jury Duty. If an individual fails to appear before the court by the designated time, the court may issue a bounty for the recovery and return of the individual, usually to face Trial.

Trials are a right afforded to all Citizens of Dominus Columbia for any Crime they are accused, and to all Residents and Travelers for Crimes of Class 4 and Above, though the Law of Dominus Columbia does allow a Citizen to petition a Settlement on behalf of a non-Citizen for trial (doing so over minor offenses has the risk of arousing the ire of the court, however).

When a Defendant has been formally brought up on Trial, the process in a Settlement need not be overly formal, provided some basic rules are followed and the elected Magistrate as well as councils for both the Prosecution and Defense agree the proceedings are fair. In the event no agreement can be reached, a Defendant can choose instead to be remanded to custody until such a time as agreeable arrangements can be made, usually at the next Trade Meet (though the prospect of confinement is frequently enough to shake free the more petulant of objectors).

In all cases a Magistrate selected by the settlement to serve (the Law of Dominus Columbia does not specify how this selection takes place or even a length of term, so for now Ellistown Landing has a Volunteer Magistrate until a permanent appointment can be made) oversees proceedings and conducts the trial in a manner agreeable to all parties. In the event the Defendant is both a Citizen and they are accused of a Class 4 or Higher Crime, the Law of Dominus Columbia requires any Conviction come from a Jury of Local Citizens acceptable to all parties. In all other cases, Defendants have the option to have their case be heard simply by Magistrate, by Jury of a reasonable size. It is also common for the Prosecution to offer some lesser punishment or payment than the Class of Crime would normally allow for in cases where the court is overburdened, or where conviction may not be assured. In any even, the end result is either an Acquittal (by Jury, or by Magistrate when no Jury is called), or the finding of Guilt and the assessment of some fine, penalty, or sentence based on the severity of the Class of Crime. What this sentence is varies based on the capabilities of the settlement, but are listed below for Ellistown Landing.

Punishment

Punishment in Ellistown Landing is, by necessity, typically either Administrative or Summary; that is to say, either the guilty party submits to certain procedures, or externally contracted force is levied against them in the form of all manner of bounty hunters until they can be rendered into a state where they can be made to submit to certain procedures. While more than a few Gangsters and Wasteland Warlords have been correct in assessing they could take on the paltry peacekeeping force of a Settlement, none so far have been correct in assessing they could handle the full military response from The Drafted Service following such an incident.

When guilty parties are finally brought before the Settlement Authorities to pay their debt to society, the form that that repayment takes varies based on the Class of the Crime committed:

Class 1-3 Crimes are usually punished by Fine, payable to the Settlement Post Office no later than the end of the following Trade, lest additional Criminal Penalties apply. Generally, the cap on Fines is no higher than 5 Shells for Class 1 Crimes, 25 Shells for Class 2 Crimes, and 100 Shells for Class 3 Crimes.
Class 4-7 Crimes are more serious, and usually come with some sort of restriction, probation, regular levie, or even Geas at the discretion of the overseeing Magistrate. Generally these are seen not as a punishment, but as a way to force the guilty to see the error of their ways and spend time, energy and resources serving the community to make up for the harm done, and as a result are frequently less harsh but more time/labor intensive than many Wastelanders are acustomed to in their flavors of Justice.
Class 8-10 Crimes are the most serious of all, and are generally only the result of either actions that willfully endangers a great number of people (or highly endangers smaller groups of others), speak to specific malicious intent to cause harm to individuals or a Settlement, or are themselves acts of Treason against either the Settlement or the Senate of Dominus Columbia (and Treason is not a word she uses lightly). These punishments usually involve either the loss or transfer of Infection, permanent acts of service, designation as an Outlaw, and Exile from the Settlement. While only the Sentate of Dominus Columbia is able to hand down a sentence of Permanent Death against a Citizen, others are under no such protection should the wrath of its defense forces come down on them.