News Files:Courts Martial
From Star Trek: Gamma One
In the case of any discrepancy between the news files on the game and those here on the wiki, the news files on the game are correct version.
Courtroom dramas are the stuff of, well, drama, and the creative staff at Star Trek: Gamma One cannot possibly deny that. What concerns us, however, is the fact that courtroom dramas *are* dramas, scripted tightly by a staff of writers and played with as little ad-lib as possible by a stable of actors. This creates a problem in a MU* setting, where we try to promote rather than destroy the free will of our PCs. Further, since the rules of a Starfleet Courts Martial require three officers of Commander's rank or above to sit on the tribunal, and the only three on-screen characters which meet that bill, at least as of the game's opening days in late RL year 2006, are all staff NPCs, it seems rather pointless to run episodes in which only three PCs at any one time -- the prosecutor, defense counsel, and the witness on the stand -- will really get any interaction, while all other scene participants must simply wait in silence for hours while poses are exchanged ... only to have 3 NPCs decide their final fate.
To that end, we want to make it clear that while there is a JAG officer position extant on the current roster, we are not placing this person here for courtroom drama scenes. Courts martial, when they occur, will occur as partial scenes in staff-run episodes for dramatic tension only, and will not be the crux of the episode but perhaps only a lead-in or fade-out moment. Any legal matter which exceeds the parameters of an informal department head meeting or formal Captain's Mast will be shuffled offscreen and the same staffers who would run the NPCs at a courts martial will decide the fate of accused through an objective weighing of the evidence.
This should not ruin the enjoyment of the JAG officer slot for anyone truly interested -- the character remains a vital participant in command decisions, serving as an advisor on rules-of-engagement, a primary researcher of new planetary legal codes, and a friendly (or stern) voice-in-the-trenches to subordinate PCs whose behaviors are running the risk of formal legal punishment and who require expert advice to that effect. Please do not let our courts martial policy sway you either way.
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