Friends at the Table

Feedback by Janus, Red Equity of the Golden Clause, on a term paper exploring the the emerging legal jurisdiction of the Quire System.

Please Note: The grade you’ve received here reflects your successful ability to follow the assignment’s instructions, cite relevant academic and practical work, and build an argument supported by precedent. For that, you should be commended.

But I am disappointed that you would take up this line of thought.

As you’ve written politicians of certain persuasion point to moments of crisis, to freshly mapped worlds, to technological frontiers and say that the law does not apply in these places. That that those in power rule arbitrarily during these states of exception.

But if you take one lesson from me or from this seminar, let it be this: There is no such thing as a lawless place or a time outside of jurisdiction.

Deep below explicit legal precedent, unlisted in any codex, there lie unspoken rules by which society functions. They are fluid, yet bottled by the shape of culture. From the racist resolution of border-region land disputes to the public opinion pardoning of war criminals, a cultural paradigm of gestures and sensibilities guides action.

The so-called “state of exception” is an alibi. If tyranny rises and the people of Quire do not stand to stop it, that is a not a sign of the oppressor’s strength, but a memorandum on the population’s capacity to love a despot.

Jurisprudence simply follows suit.

Fourteen Fifteen, you are a good student, and I hope you grow to understand our role in this system: We are as adjudicators on the verge.

Our role is not simply to interpret the law as written, it is to translate attitude into index. And, in instances where indices are incomplete, to passionately propel the world towards justice.

This week on Twilight Mirage: This Year of Ours: The Speaker

Oh I see the lines, there's two lines
You'll live a life anew
Tell me what you need from me?

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Episode description by Austin Walker Music by Jack de Quidt  

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