Bizarre, story-related question for legal-types

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Iaculus

OK, I'm currently writing a science-fiction story, and was wondering about magical brainwashing. Suppose, for a moment, that it exists in this particular fictional universe and is widely known to be both provable in a court of law and highly effective. What existing laws, if any, might it contravene, assuming a legal system similar to the British or American model?

Weird question, I know, but that's writing for you.
 
K

Kitty Sinatra

it's a form of assault, I'd think.

Also, what you describe can be summed up more broadly as coercion, although I haven't a clue what sort of laws, if any, apply there.
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

Gruebeard said:
it's a form of assault, I'd think.

Also, what you describe can be summed up more broadly as coercion, although I haven't a clue what sort of laws, if any, apply there.
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Good point, it probably would require a better description of how it's done (annihilates the personality, simply replaces it for a while etc.) for a good answer.

@TotalFusionOne

lol...
 
C

Chibibar

magical brainwashing? well.... if magic exist (you did say sci-fi instead of fantasy) then there would be some law in place regarding.

What can magic do? practically anything within our imagination.

edit: gah, press enter too quickly.

Ok. What laws "would" be in place in such a setting?
1. Protection - probably using harmful magic against another person would be prohibited in a society of our scale (i.e. U.S. for example)
2. tracking - is this magic "mana" base? something to think about. How does one know if your mind is magically erase? is it a total wipe? only wipe a certain event? does it leave traces of magic or alteration? can it be detected? (is it a mystery story?)
3. punishment - what kind of punishment would there be if such an act is done?
4. Can it be undone? it is magic after all :)

Laws
what level of severity would this be consider?

A mind is a private place so breaking and entering comes to mind (pun intended)
damage to personal property (you can consider memory is personal property)
invasion of privacy (are there mind readers in your story? that will be a whole new sets of laws)
is there magical protection FROM such mind altering spells/devices (Magneto comes to mind) is there is then you have "intent on harm" instead of possible "magical misfire"
motive? - premeditated crimes have harsher punishment
Torture? - is the process painful?
Cruel and unusual punishment? was the brain wipe sanction by a government entity?

these are just examples (I had thought of something similar story more like a murder mystery but never took off)
 
Shannow

Shannow

Staff member
man, i saw the thread title, and a quick glance at the poster name, and I thought this was going to be about how to get away with pedophilia.
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

Shannow said:
man, i saw the thread title, and a quick glance at the poster name, and I thought this was going to be about how to get away with pedophilia.
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Silly rabbit... everyone knows you just go to some Eastern European country (although they did start arresting some people, last i heard all that happened was them getting shipped back to Germany) or Thailand for that...
 
M

makare

To me it would be more akin to slipping someone drugs to control them and destroy their resistance. My brain is so fried after this week and I left my crim law book in my carel, but when I get a chance I'll look that up for you.
 
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