Legal Matters

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The Patriot Act[edit]

Praised by some, criticised by others, the USA Patriot Act is one of the defining pieces of legislation from the days following September 11th, 2001. Seen by most as an "anti-terrorism" law, the Patriot Act's purpose is largely to expand law-enforcement powers to keep up with advancing technology. Simply put: if the authorities were formerly able to seize your mail or faxes, or were able to wiretap you, once they had a warrant, they can now also (with a warrant) seize your voicemails and email and chat logs and such. The act also includes a string of commands for intelligence agencies to do their jobs better - to share information with each other, to hire more translators, etc.

The full text of the Patriot Act can be found here. That said, the intricacies of government legal jargon are not the easiest things to understand. See commentaries from the slate.com and the aclu. Also see The Patriot Act For Dummies.

Changes in Section 412[edit]

The Patriot Act in the world of the American Gods game contains one key difference from the one in the real world. This difference appears in Section 412, MANDATORY DETENTION OF SUSPECTED TERRORISTS; HABEAS CORPUS; JUDICIAL REVIEW.

The Section discusses the rules under which the Attorney General may take suspected terrorists into custody. The differences appear in three paragraphs, quoted below (the differences appear in italics):

  • (1) CUSTODY - the Attorney General shall take into custody any alien who is certified under paragraph (3) and any deceased bodies and organic materials involved in acts certified aliens engaged in to so certify them.
  • (2) RELEASE- Except as provided in paragraphs (5) and (6), the Attorney General shall maintain custody of such an alien or alien material until the alien is removed from the United States. Except as provided in paragraph (6), such custody shall be maintained irrespective of any relief from removal for which the alien or alien material may be eligible, or any relief from removal granted the alien, until the Attorney General determines that the alien is no longer an alien who may be certified under paragraph (3). If the alien is finally determined not to be removable, detention pursuant to this subsection shall terminate.
  • (3) CERTIFICATION - The Attorney General may certify an alien under this paragraph if the Attorney General has reasonable grounds to believe that the alien -
    • (A) is described in section 212(a)(3)(A)(i), 212(a)(3)(A)(iii), 212(a)(3)(B), 237(a)(4)(A)(i), 237(a)(4)(A)(iii), or 237(a)(4)(B); or
    • (B) is engaged in any other activity that endangers the national security of the United States.
    • (C) is declared deceased, upon declaration all organic material becomes materials in accordance with 213.


State vs. Reagan[edit]

EXCERPTED from Maryland State court records: Docket number 1542.23, State of Maryland vs. Thomas Reagan, arraignment, January 28th 2005.

Barry Levine*, Assistant State's Attorney, for the Prosecution:

"Your Honor, altough the State has charged Mr. Reagan under Maryland Criminal Code Title 6, subtitle 3, section 01a with 2,000 counts of malicious destriction of private property*, under Title 7, subtitle 1, section 05b with 2,000 counts of motor vehicle theft* and under Title 9, subtitle 7, section 02a with 500 counts of injury to public property*, the State's sole reason for these charges was to bring Mr. Reagan before this court today so that we could assert that he has no right to a trial at all."
"Thomas Reagan is of the group known to the media and the world at large as The Survivors. It is the State's contention that these so-called Survivors are no longer human. I hold here a document, A Mutation in the Variable Repeat Region of the Gene, by Lindsay Gleghorn, Rajkumar Ramesar and Gillian Wallis, 3 of the world's leading genetic specialists. The report is further signed and approved by 7 more. They arrived at the conclusions in this report after examining the Survivors' genetic tissue. Let me read a brief excerpt:

The genetic makeup of these subjects, I say subjects because their DNA no longer even remotely resembles human DNA, is unlike anything I have ever seen. If I were given this DNA without knowledge of the source of it I would not even assume that they were human.

"Would not even assume that they were human. If the world's leading doctors wouldn't identify them as human, how can this court? And if they are not human, how can we give them the same basic rights as humans? When a tiger kills a man, do we put it on trial? No. We put it down, to stop it from killing again."
"Your honor, there are tigers in our midst, and it would only hurt us to pretend that they are men."

State vs. Reagan - Additional Details


Homicide and the Legal System[edit]

References


Virginia State Divorce Law[edit]

  • Daniel can file for Divorce From Bed and Board (a mensa et thoro - similar to "Legal Seperation" in other states) or Divorce From the Bond of Matrimony (a vinculo matrimonii - also called "a full divorce").
    • From Bed and Board: Daniel files on the grounds of Willful Desertion or Abandonment. The divorce isn't permanent (they can later cancel it), doesn't allow either Daniel or Julie to remarry and keeps joint property & insurance claims valid. It only legally establishes that they're living apart, custody of the children and for support (i.e. alimony & child support).
      • Daniel could be the one to do the Deserting. He would have to move out of the house (though, in theory he could kick Julie out, instead), but he can then apply for Divorce From Bed and Board right away. After a year appart he could apply for the court to "merge" that decree into a Divorce From the Bond of Matrimony, if he wanted.
    • From the Bond of Matrimony: Daniel files on the grounds of Seperation. The divorce will be absolute, allowing Daniel & Julie to remarry and terminating all property and insurance claims each has on the other. Child custody and support are, of course, settled as well.
    • Julie has two possibilities for Contesting the Divorce:
      • The Seperation/Desertion wasn't willful (i.e. she didn't plan to leave, she had no choice). If Daniel applies for divorce on grounds that he is the one doing the abandonning, Julie can't contest in this way.
      • If she had sex with him since the Survivors woke up, there's no grounds for Julie's Seperation/Desertion. Again, if Daniel's abandoning, Julie can't contest this way.
  • Custody can go either way:
    • No preference is given to a parent based on gender.
    • Daniel is a better provider, as he works a nicely-paid, full-time job. By contrast Julie is unemployed. (Does Julie have job skills? Can she get a job quickly?)
    • Conversely, Daniel's work requires that he spend a lot of time out-of-country and can't, therefore, reliably and consistently care for the children. Julie can.
    • The Court favors the primary caregiver. That's pretty obviously Julie.
    • The Court will consider Daniel's abuse of Julie, but only if it has been previously documented in police reports.
    • The parent doing the abandoning is at a disadvantage for custody.
    • Three types of custody:
      • Sole Custody: One parent gets custody of both children, who live only with her, and can make all legal decisions for them. The other parent almost always has visitation rights.
      • Split Custody: The parents each get Sole Custody of one child. The other parent almost always has visitation rights to their non-custodial child.
      • Joint Custody: The parents share legal decision-making rights for the children and the children spend an equal time with each parent. A number of different arrangements within this schema is possible. A very unlikely custody result; usually only happens during amicable divorces where the parents can agree on custody terms prior to court interference.


FAA Regulations[edit]

Strictly speaking, there are no FAA regulations that apply to Survivors with the ability to fly. This is because all of the definitions (Title 14:1.1) of aircraft cover only constructed objects and, even then, of a weight heavier than any human being.

More broadly, certain FAA regulations can be interpreted as applying to the Survivors. Most notably, these are:

  • Title 14:99.11, ADIZ flight plan requirements
    This rule specifies that an aircraft has to file a pre-departure flight plan with local Air Traffic Control, giving such information as type of aircraft, pilot's name and address, proposed flight path and time, etc.
  • Title 14:71.31-71, Class A-E Airspace Areas
    These rules specify that aircraft travelling in Class A or B airspace (above a major airport or between an 18,000 and 60,000 foot altitude) must maintain radio contact with local Air Traffic Control. This is the rule cited by FAA Administrator Marion Blakely in her letter to Brian Jaffe.
  • Title 14:61.1-431, Certification for Pilots
    As above, Survivors do not count as aircraft under the current rules and cannot register as such since there is no way to measure their air-worthiness. The FAA could, however, decide that, as they are people, they do count as aircraft operators and could require them to pass standard piloting tests in order to legally exert their powers.
    • The FAA could, instead, determine that as no Survivor qualifies as aircraft, no Survivor is allowed to use their power to fly, legally grounding all Survivors.
  • Title 14:73.1-85, Special Use and Restricted Airspace
    Some airspace, notably over important government sites, is prohibited for civilian air traffic. A Survivor found flying through this airspace could be fined or jailed as per current FAA regulations.


The AMERICAN GODS

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