Law and Communication

[CyberGarp]

It's been 20+ years since I played. Our group has decided to go old school and have a year of Traveller. So, I'm in the middle of planning a campaign and the following questions struck me:

(1) What prevents someone from committing murder, hopping a ship to the next system and then disappearing into the masses?
(2) To prevent this a communication grid of sorts is needed first. I envision a distributed, encrypted, verifying from multiple sources for of packet network. I.e., each ship leaving port is given a piece of information. This information packet is accumulated at the next port of call and modified. So, banks, the law, and news are all transmitted with ships coming and going. The individual ship can't tamper with it, and it is checked and verified with other packets. There is some kickback for allowing this service (maybe waiving some port fees). This could be augmented with some kind of message torpedoes. So a criminal may carry the information to track him when fleeing!
(3) The whole system breaks a bit when crossing over into different government boundaries. This is analogous to Louisiana not sharing drivers information with Tennessee. So if one crossed over into the Sword Worlds from the Imperium they would have their own information network. This is like our criminal crossing into Mexico. Also the amount of detail moved back and forth is dependent on importance, like traffic tickets will not get network time and only exist locally.

I'm curious to hear others thoughts on this, and if any articles have been written. It's a key point to the campaign I'm going to run. But the players don't know that--yet.

 

[aramis]

Disappearing into the masses: even on many low tech worlds, unsolved cases will collect DNA and fingerprints, just in case. It's not hard to ship a sample for testing at the next tech world. At which point, the standard marker tests will be run at the higher tech ports... So, once you go to ground, it needs to be a large enough population to hide in, and low enough tech not to be able to run DNA dragnets, and low enough law not to be willing to run them. In other words, once you go to ground, you're stuck in a backwater.

As for borders, yep. Always been an issue.

There are articles on Law in the 3I in JTAS 14.... on the CD CD if you don't have it dead tree. They still hold up.

 

[rancke]

Another problem that would tend to protect a fugitive is how much the world he escaped from is willing to pay to get him back. This would depend on the prevailing rules about transport of prisoners. Assuming you can't force someone to travel by Low Berth (at least not until convicted, maybe not even then), a world might have to pay to send one or two officers of the law dozens of parsecs away to fetch the fugitive and pay for the return trip of all three.

And then the fugitive is bound to claim that he's innocent. Or his offense may not be a crime by the standards of the society he has taken refuge with. Much would depend on the specific extradition treaties between the two worlds, if any.


Hans

 

[CyberGarp]

a world might have to pay to send one or two officers of the law dozens of parsecs away to fetch the fugitive and pay for the return trip of all three.

So the amount of assets that a player has could be a factor as well. Someone sent by low berth may die, but if convicted they could be forced to pay for their travel and court fees. If innocent, then low berth is a risk that for a wealthy individual could have ramifications. If someone doesn't have the resources to pay it all back, they are forced to take a low berth. So it could be done with a "cloud" on their assets till the trial is resolved.

This leads to a gray area. An individual suspected of violent crime on another world is identified and arrested at customs. He has no assets. The government doesn't want him loose on their world, and none wants to cover transport (even low berth). What becomes of him? Stuck in the starport? Sent to the mines? Encouraged to "volunteer" for service? I'm sure each world would solve the issue differently, and the more civilized the more likely to be stuck in starport for an indefinite time.

 

[Dragoner]

Same with today, I think a lot would depend who was murdered, there would be a greater hunt for the murderer of Duke than the murderer of some small time thug in a bar brawl. This counts for extradition as well, worlds aren't going to shelter somebody that may have detrimental political consequences. On the other hand, a criminal organization wouldn't go to the police at all but go through street justice which could in turn be 'calling in a favor' from a criminal organization on another world.

 

[aramis]

From a law-enforcement perspective, there just really is no prisoner better than a frozen prisoner - no escape attempts, far lower life support, much smaller space (1/8th the volume, before guards), no attempts to hijack.

This is another of those issues that differs by edition, as well... in MT, the risk of death from low-berth is exceedingly low.

Assuming a medical 1, edu 5-9 doc, stock MT rules...
natural 5+ on 2d6 survival test, with 2d mishap on fail
In order to get a 3d mishap, either hasty or natural 2 result is needed.
So, right there, 1/36 chance of 3d mishap.
Mishap Rolls
3-6: 1d wounds
7-10: 2d wounds
11-14: 3d wounds, treatment required
15+ dead.
So, you have roughly a 1/400 chance of death, barring incompetence... and for people of average stats, that's pretty good.

which is safe enough for both commercial and punitive use.
Note that an MD of Edu 5+, thanks to the MT task system, has a DM+4, so fails only on a nat 2, and can't generate a 3d mishap.

 

[rancke]

From a law-enforcement perspective, there just really is no prisoner better than a frozen prisoner - no escape attempts, far lower life support, much smaller space (1/8th the volume, before guards), no attempts to hijack.

No argument there. The question is if it's legal by the relevant law. I don't think there's any canon on that particular subject.

I think the best approach is to make it variable so that authors and referees can pick the option that suits the adventure best. One extradition treaty may allow transporting prisoners in low berth, another may not. Suspects and convicts may be subject to different treatment. One duchy may have a law that forbid forcing anyone to travel by low berth against his will. Another may have no law about it at all.

From a role-playing point of view, rules against transporting prisoners in low berth is IMO to be preferred, for the very same reasons law enforcement would prefer such transportation.


Hans

 

[Enoki]

It's been 20+ years since I played. Our group has decided to go old school and have a year of Traveller. So, I'm in the middle of planning a campaign and the following questions struck me:

(1) What prevents someone from committing murder, hopping a ship to the next system and then disappearing into the masses?

Nothing per se. But, ability to commit the act will be dependent on tech level, law level, etc., locally. For instance, a high tech, high law world might have planetwide surveillance in place making for near real time detection of the crime and tracking of the perpertrator.

(2) To prevent this a communication grid of sorts is needed first. I envision a distributed, encrypted, verifying from multiple sources for of packet network. I.e., each ship leaving port is given a piece of information. This information packet is accumulated at the next port of call and modified. So, banks, the law, and news are all transmitted with ships coming and going. The individual ship can't tamper with it, and it is checked and verified with other packets. There is some kickback for allowing this service (maybe waiving some port fees). This could be augmented with some kind of message torpedoes. So a criminal may carry the information to track him when fleeing!

I would think that rather than a single secure means of information transfer there were multiple methods from print to electronic data storage devices, to things we haven't imagined yet. All of these would move from world to world. The rate of transfer would depend on the starport at both ends, the tech levels at both ends (obviously a tech 5 world would not have the means to use some tech 14 means of data transfer) and, the location relative to other worlds. That is, a backwater on the edge of nowhere isn't going to get news as fast as some high tech core world with lots of ship traffic and a major starport.
As for security, this would vary too. Using your murder as an example: There might be print and electronic news that is unencrypted along with propritary encrypted stories about it for specific news agencies. Law enforcement and the government might get different encrypted and unencrypted versions. If something like bounty hunters or other private individuals were involved (or could be) they might get seperate personal mail to them. In the end there might be as many as several hundred, or more, versions of this story and its details traveling to another world from the original.
Worse, I can see a variant of the old game "telephone" occuring too. That is, as the story jumps from one world to the next it changes. It might get embellished making the murderer out to be a hero or the devil incarnate depending on details. In fact, I could see various versions start blending until the truth became more fiction than fact in some cases.

(3) The whole system breaks a bit when crossing over into different government boundaries. This is analogous to Louisiana not sharing drivers information with Tennessee. So if one crossed over into the Sword Worlds from the Imperium they would have their own information network. This is like our criminal crossing into Mexico. Also the amount of detail moved back and forth is dependent on importance, like traffic tickets will not get network time and only exist locally.

It would also apply world to world even within the Imperium. One world might not have the tech. Another has a despot that won't let certain information in locally. Another might have religious prescriptions that say certain information is heresy or "evil."

Then there is the obverse problem. Data overload. Lets say we have a tech savvy 14 world that is little more than a starport and "gas" station. One I have in use is the planet Shugaadu in the Glimmerdrift Reaches. It is a single planet system. Shugaadu is a small airless, waterless rock. But, the way I have it it is the best shopping mall in the subsector if you have the cash.
Now, on such a world they are likely not to be too concerned with doing things like tracking down fugitives for others unless there is money in it or the fugitive is causing problems locally.
Think of them much like if Switzerland were a shopping mall of planet size....

Another data overload might be a tech 14 planet with just a few hundred people on it. They don't have the manpower to wade through terabytes or more of information continiously. In their case if it isn't local it isn't terribly important.

 

[Enoki]

So the amount of assets that a player has could be a factor as well. Someone sent by low berth may die, but if convicted they could be forced to pay for their travel and court fees. If innocent, then low berth is a risk that for a wealthy individual could have ramifications. If someone doesn't have the resources to pay it all back, they are forced to take a low berth. So it could be done with a "cloud" on their assets till the trial is resolved.

This leads to a gray area. An individual suspected of violent crime on another world is identified and arrested at customs. He has no assets. The government doesn't want him loose on their world, and none wants to cover transport (even low berth). What becomes of him? Stuck in the starport? Sent to the mines? Encouraged to "volunteer" for service? I'm sure each world would solve the issue differently, and the more civilized the more likely to be stuck in starport for an indefinite time.

Actually, this sort of thing happens in the US today. Someone commits a crime in say, New York. They flee to say Oregon where they are apprehended for the crime. New York doesn't have the cash or manpower to go and pick the perp up. Oregon has him on minor charges so they release him. They might go so far as to tell him to get out of the state but, beyond that they cannot or will not hold him for New York on their tab. They can't afford that either.

 

[Hemdian]

IMTU each member world of the 3I (I think that’s what we’re all talking about here) has its own law enforcement system (LES). But when a world joins the 3I there is a standard extradition agreement in the Articles of Membership. The MoJ acts as both a clearing house for interplanetary arrest warrants (and criminal intelligence) and a universal intermediary between LESs (ie. a cross between Interpol and the US Marshal service). In fact the Interpol-like function of the MoJ dwarfs the FBI-style Special Branch (JSB) which deals with ‘Imperial’ crime. So you can evade arrest for minor crimes, or crimes specific to one member world only, by travelling offworld, but standard major crimes will eventually catch up with you (though there may be a delay in this happening). Extradition costs come out of the MoJ budget.

Crimes peculiar to a single world, when sufficiently major, can lead to extralegal pursuit by operatives from that world … whether to capture or assassinate depends on the world in question. (For example, desecrating a temple on a theocratic world could lead to this.)

Crimes such as murder of a non-Peer and theft, that occur inside a starport’s XT line are technically the purview of the MoJ but in practice they are usually outsourced to the local LES.

 

[McPerth]

(3) The whole system breaks a bit when crossing over into different government boundaries. This is analogous to Louisiana not sharing drivers information with Tennessee. So if one crossed over into the Sword Worlds from the Imperium they would have their own information network. This is like our criminal crossing into Mexico. Also the amount of detail moved back and forth is dependent on importance, like traffic tickets will not get network time and only exist locally.

Information is no always shared, even witin the same agencies.

In Spain, some years ago, a man could murder a girl while being under 'search and capture' order by the justice just because he had gone to another province (even in the same Autonomous Comunity) and the various provinicial courts were not electronically linked, and so he was not sought on that other province.

And no extradition is need among Spanish provinces or Autonomous Comunities, as judiciary is assumed to be the same one.

From a law-enforcement perspective, there just really is no prisoner better than a frozen prisoner - no escape attempts, far lower life support, much smaller space (1/8th the volume, before guards), no attempts to hijack.

No argument there. The question is if it's legal by the relevant law. I don't think there's any canon on that particular subject.

I think the best approach is to make it variable so that authors and referees can pick the option that suits the adventure best. One extradition treaty may allow transporting prisoners in low berth, another may not. Suspects and convicts may be subject to different treatment. One duchy may have a law that forbid forcing anyone to travel by low berth against his will. Another may have no law about it at all.

From a role-playing point of view, rules against transporting prisoners in low berth is IMO to be preferred, for the very same reasons law enforcement would prefer such transportation.

IIRC, the low passage is what is assured on the repatriation bonds most mercenary units take as insurance they could go out the planet if all goes wrong. I guess if this is accepted as a standard mode for mercenaries, it could as will be an accepted mode for taken fugitives. Of course hey could go with better accomodations if they want so and assume the cost, but if taken by policial budget, I guess they would go no better than low passage.

If (as in MT) the true risk of low berth is quite low, then there will be less legal objections to it. If (as in CT) the risk is higher, it may even be seen by most as a deterrent for fleeing the world where you did your crime.

 

[Dragoner]

Two words: Bounty Hunter.

 

[aramis]

Two words: Bounty Hunter.

Usually the MOST expensive form of extradition.

 

[Dragoner]

Have Gauss Rifle, will travel. :devil:

 

[Sir Brad]

Usually the MOST expensive form of extradition.

But according to the "United Nations White Paper: Non-Governmental Forces in UN Peacekeeping Zones" (2001, October) and "United Nations White Paper: Non-Governmental Agencies in International and Translational Law Enforcement" (2006, March revised from same 1998, June) the most reliable and expedient.

 

[MCEvans]

Low Berth transit - brings a whole new meaning to keeping them on ice.

The question of cost also equals the question of distance.
In cluster areas local subs would be required to transport the officers and prisoner with the amount of passage being deducted from the next months payment.
Outside of the cluster or subsector unless a major crime transport is going to be the cheapest way possible, low berth.

In extradition the prisoner/accused has no choice of method of travel unless he/she has the funds free to make the decisions.

 

[Spinward Scout]

I could see this being a headache if not a complete nightmare. An arrest warrant may never catch up to the perpetrator if the right ships are taken. I'm assuming that communication travels at much less than J-4 outside the X-Boat routes (and that X-Boat communication doesn't have 100% efficiency). On the other hand, I can also see subsector governments purchasing surplus or 'retired' X-Boats to run an inter-subsector comm system (maybe run by COAAC or a System Defense Force) throughout the subsector. Either way, you're still probably not going to catch someone that hopped on a J-4 or higher ship.

Your communication of the crime and arrest warrant has to be faster than the criminal.

How far would the arrest warrant reach even? Anything short of murder or starship theft/grand larceny would probably be ignored by another world. Especially one that's more than 6 parsecs away from where the crime was committed. Would it even be cost effective to extradite? And Mistaken Identity and Identity Theft issues would make things worse. Who pays for all that? The world issuing the warrant? It would be easier and cheaper to not extradite and just try the crime on the world where the person was caught. Any Imperial laws broken would probably be handled by the Imperial presence on the world where they were caught anyway.

 

[Sir Brad]

given the Week in Jump, Week layover you would need Jump-6 to pull that off or a week or two lead Jump-4 and connecting flights leaving within two days of arrival. X-Boats (baring some Maff-up) have a 6-12 hour max delay at the hand off point.

 

[aramis]

The extant X-Boat net runs at least 2.5 Pc/week. In some sectors as much as 3.5Pc/Week

J6 averages at best 6Pc/9days, and more reliably 6Pc/10days... about 4.2Pc/week...

J5 runs 5Pc/10 days... 3.5Pc/week.

 

[Dragoner]

Low Berth transit - brings a whole new meaning to keeping them on ice.

The question of cost also equals the question of distance.
In cluster areas local subs would be required to transport the officers and prisoner with the amount of passage being deducted from the next months payment.
Outside of the cluster or subsector unless a major crime transport is going to be the cheapest way possible, low berth.

In extradition the prisoner/accused has no choice of method of travel unless he/she has the funds free to make the decisions.

I can see some great adventure; the group as cut rate bounty hunters, everything goes wrong, they finally get their guy and get back to the starport to book on a subsidized liner and the company says they ALL have to take low berths.

Mid-jump they awakened by the steward and purser: "I don't want to alarm you, but your prisoner has escaped and someone has broken into the ships locker...."