a call for justice

[drewkitty]

I am not fond of the court of public opinion as a medium for justice. Talk is cheap, gossip is malicious and to quote Mark Twain, "A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on." The best advice I've found, and it has sustained me through dark moments when I've been slandered (links reluctantly redacted), is a line from Lois McMaster Bujold, "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will."

I am also not fond of the criminal courts. The burden of proof is steep, justice is expensive and not very blind, one must rely on the sense of the average person (!) and the system says from the start that they'll let a guilty person go before they mistakenly convict an innocent (they do anyway!). Punishments are severe (and more often than not deservedly so) but essentially random.

I'm going to throw the gauntlet down to the entire alternative community. This includes but is not limited to the science fiction fandom. SMOFs take note.

We need to come up with a justice system within the community, that is responsive to the needs of the community, that functions according to and within community standards, which protects us from the asshats yet has safeguards against abuse.

Oh, wait. Wikipedia's done that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration_guide

We need something like this for former fen who should no longer be welcome to purchase a badge, because they have abused the trust of the community by committing serious offenses.

Comments

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

It's already a lynch mob. There's nothing to protect the accused (who, while an asshat, may in fact be innocent, but can't say anything about it) and no way for the victim to get justice either.

When the question is not "put the asshat in jail" but "deny the asshat participation in our community," I think a different system is worth looking at. It doesn't have to, and probably shouldn't be, an adversary system as in the criminal or military justice systems. A court of equity or restorative justice would be much more appropriate.

[finnkveldulfr.livejournal.com]

Considering the problems with "command influence" in the military (in)justice system-- you really don't want to look to that one for an example of how things should be done.

However-- I looked at the link to Wiscon's rules you posted: whatever good or bad otherwise exists in their rules of conduct, their method for deciding on guilt and/or punishment looks remarkably like the military's rules for "non-judicial punishment"-- wherein the 'powers-that-be' running the con get to be judge, jury and executioner. As I believe I'm reading your inferrence correctly (tell me if I'm wrong)-- doesn't necessarily meet the needs of the community and follow community standards, does it?

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

Precisely. Having the con chair, the executive committee, and/or the parent corporation decide such cases is very hard on them, distracts at best and wounds at worst their service to the fandom, and creates a perception of arbitrary unfairness especially if confidential information has guided the decision.