Hi, I am Noah Kirchner and I have two personality traits. One is that I am retarded, and the other one is that I FUCKING HATE MARINE LAW WITH EVERY CELL IN MY BODY. But instead of bitching about it in dchat I decided to write up what I think would be a more reasonable marine law structure, more reasonable punishments and generally revised MP SOP to make the game more fun and enjoyable for marines, MPs, and to still preserve the medium RP elements of rounds (preventing chaos)
Before I go in and rewrite marine law, I want to lay out my main problems with it and how I believe they impact the round. I'll put a tl;dr at the end of this if you hate reading because I know that I ramble on like a retard sometimes when I am making melodramatic spessman funny pew pew game forum posts. My largest concern is the time of the punishments. CM has some of the longest and most strict punishment times of any server that I have played on, it rivals HRP servers and it can easily ruin someone's round even when they did something relatively minor. Let's take resisting arrest, for starters, which is described as "To resist a lawful arrest or search". This can be as simple as running away - something that literally every marine will do, and the MINIMUM sentence it carries is ten minute. The maximum sentence is a half an hour - that is ridiculous. People play CM to have fun, and while being brigged SHOULD be punishing, resisting arrest isn't even a crime in and of itself, it's just a modifier that can add an extra HALF AN HOUR onto your time spent not playing the game.
Theft is another one of these examples, again something that happens every single round - that also carries a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 30 minutes charge. This means that, feasibly, a marine who does steals an item from the medbay, runs away from the MPs and then calls an officer a dickhead can be executed, if all maximum punishments are applied, as that sentence exceeds an hour. That seems a bit ridiculous to me, and I'd assume it should to you also.
A retort that I have heard to this is that staff tend to step in when an MP is lawyering the system and giving people unfair punishments. That is a good thing, and I'm glad that they do that, but if marine law worked the way it should, I don't think that this would really be an issue in the first place. Minor crimes carry colossal sentences for really no good reason, and I believe that decreasing time and making it more difficult for MPs to be shitters could also decrease (if only slightly) the workload on the staff of trying to determine the severity of a series of crimes after someone has been permanently imprisoned.
tl;dr: BRIG TIME TOO BIG!!! OWIE!!!
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Proposed Changes:
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Optional
Charge Description Minimum Punishment Maximum Punishment Resisting Arrest To resist a lawful arrest or search by a Military Police officer. 2 Minutes 15 Minutes Aiding and Abetting Assisting others in committing a crime, directly or indirectly, or encouraging them to commit one. Also applies to interfering with an arrest. Same punishment as the crime committed Same punishment as the crime committed
Minor Crimes
Charge Description Minimum Punishment Maximum Punishment Neglect of Duty Failure to perform one’s role to an acceptable standard. This includes, but is not limited to: on-duty intoxication, leaving the ship without authorization, failing to follow proper procedure or SOP, or failing to properly organize, command and communicate with subordinates or superiors. This also includes intentionally preventing another crew member from adequately performing their duty, either do to injury, restraint or other methods. 5 Minutes 10 Minutes, demotion Damage to Government Property Damaging the ship or making any unauthorized modifications to it as outlined in Standard Operating Procedure. Return the ship to it's exact previous state as accurately as is feasibly possible. 10 Minutes, returning the ship to it's exact previous state as accurately as is feasibly possible. Prevarication To intentionally order the arrest of a marine who is then found to be innocent, or to apply an improper or abusive NJP. 5 Minutes 10 Minutes, demotion Hooliganism Behavior that is generally disruptive to the ship and crew that classifies as low-level shenanigans not deserving of more severe punishment. Things such as excessive window knocking, force-feeding other marines or failing to conduct oneself properly during briefing. 2 Minutes, NJP Recommended 10 Minutes, NJP Recommended Trespassing Unauthorized access of an area which a person does not have access to at the beginning of the shift or without command/superior approval. 2 Minutes 5 Minutes Insubordination Failing to follow a lawful order from a superior. Using offensive names or being directly disrespectful to someone of a higher rank or position. 5 Minutes 10 Minutes, demotion Contraband Possessing, or distributing controlled substances or unauthorized items or weapons as defined in Standard Operating Procedure or impairing, intoxicating or addictive drugs such as Mindbreaker, this does not include custom mixes or dosages of medicinal drugs. Confiscation of contraband 10 Minutes, confiscation of contraband, demotion Theft To take items (or property) from another person or entity without their express permission, or to retain possession of items that have been taken without permission. Return item to owner 10 Minutes, return item to owner
Major Crimes
Charge Description Minimum Punishment Maximum Punishment Assault To threaten or use physical force against someone with ill intent, but without intent to kill. 5 Minutes 15 Minutes Manslaughter Killing someone without malicious intent. Manslaughter may be applied if someone dies as a result of a fight where the intent was not to kill. 5 Minutes 15 Minutes, demotion Assault with a deadly weapon To use physical force against someone with ill intent and with a lethal weapon such as a sidearm, blade, or rifle. 10 Minutes 30 Minutes, demotion Illegal Confinement Confinement Unlawfully detaining a person against their will. Includes, kidnapping, hostage taking and confining people in cells without charging them for a crime. Does not apply to Prisoners of War. 10 Minutes 30 Minutes
Capital Crimes
Charge Description Minimum Punishment Maximum Punishment Jailbreak/Escape To escape, assist in an escape, attempt escape, or be willfully and knowingly broken out. Double initial time is applied to all involved Permanent Confinement Sexual Assault To attempt to or succeed in the acts of assaulting another person sexually, including rape. Permanent Confinement Execution Murder or Unauthorized Execution Killing someone with malicious intent. This includes Synthetic units. Executions are only authorized as outlined in Execution Procedure. 30 Minutes, demotion Permanent Confinement/Execution Sedition To engage in actions or refuse to follow orders as to overthrow or usurp the legitimate command structure. Can stack with insubordination. 30 Minutes, demotion Permanent Confinement/Execution Desertion Abandoning one's post unauthorized without intent to return and where doing so is not immediately necessary for one's survival. (Retreating from the planet when the FOB is breached is not Desertion, refusing to return when ordered, or hiding on the colony to avoid combat, is.) 30 Minutes, demotion Permanent Confinement/Execution
Non-Judicial Punishments (NJPs)
For crimes with a sentence equal to or lower than 15 minutes, the arresting MP, Chief MP or the Commanding Officer may administer a Non-Judicial Punishment instead of a brig sentence. NJPs may only be issued to those they outrank. This may range from reprimands or PT to extra duties or reassignment to a new post, but may not be physically abusive. Additionally, Commissioned Officers and Squad Leaders may apply NJPs to marines under their command should they be insubordinate or disrespectful. Failure to comply with non-judicial punishment will result in an extra charge of insubordination. NJPs may not impede the marine from performing his duty for more than 15 minutes. All punishment-related orders to perform tasks outside a marine's assigned duties are considered NJPs and require the subject to have committed a named criminal offense to be issued.
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This is how I would rewrite marine law. As you can see, I removed some laws that I felt were redundant - for example, the distinction between disrespect of a superior officer and insubordination, because disrespect of a superior officer literally uses the same description for half of it. I also massively decreased the punishment time on most things, given that crimes tend to stack anyhow - this should make it much more difficult to rule lawyer people into a fucklong sentence. I also increased the amount of NJP-able time, because NJPs are infinitely more fun than sitting in the brig with your thumb up your ass and playing on your phone.
I would like to read your feedback on these proposed changes and i'm hoping it starts a discussion about marine law. I may make changes to this proposition if I see cool stuff added, and by all means feel free to make ur own autistic tables if you think mine is retarded.