The Meta-human Registration Act
The Meta-human Registration Act is a Game Construct designed with a couple end results in mind.
- First, it allows "registered" meta-humans to beat up on, attack, rob, or otherwise make each other's lives miserable (or short) with a minimum of In-game legal entanglement.
- Second, it allows a small measure of protection for those players that want to play less powerful, or non-involved meta-humans, in social RP.
Whether a character is registered or not is completely up to the player. In other words, mutant registration is an OOC decision. If a player wants to show their character's status, using
&finger_registration me=<status>
works quite well. The same can be used to show any preferences as regards to RP involving registration.
Since Registration is an OOC construct, the actual text of the Act and how it is used IC is left to the imagination. But follows is a bunch of common IC knowledge. :)
When reading the following, Note that while 'rules' is often stated, it's not meant to be the rules of Jupiter's Children, but rather the IC rules and laws of the Registration Act.
A little history. At the time the Act was passed, the United States was just tottering back from not only a possible full-scale nuclear war but almost being absorbed by a world government. Corporations had nearly become a law of their own, and several second and third-world countries had mysteriously changed leadership. On top of all that, now there were suddenly these people that were exhibiting super-powers. The Act ended up a mish-mash of fairness, legal process, and response born out of desperation. Quite a bit of it doesn't make sense. Some of it requires the very cooperation of the metas that it manages to legally divest of alienable rights.
Registration isn't so much a matter of the government having knowledge about a character as their legal status under the Registration Act. The government knows the identity of a large number of meta-humans, the vast majority of which are considered unregistered. Ironically, the Act prevents the sharing of the information gathered about the metas with other government agencies, including the DEA, INS, FBI, and etc.
What benefit does registration have? Not much, really. In fact, it has a bunch of disadvantages. A registered meta-human loses all the rights and protections they normally gain under Federal and State law. They don't even get to vote. They no longer have rights to property, or much in the way of legal rights at all. They no longer have due process or right to trial by jury.
So why the heck would they want to do this? Because any other registered meta-human is in the same situation. A hero that attacks a villain does not have to worry about legal entanglement. Likewise for the villain that attacks a hero. No assault charges, no law suits. Just a victor and the defeated. The actuality often seen in comic books became a legality.
But what about meta-humans that are unregistered? They get treated, in the legal sense (socially can be another matter) just like non-metahumans. And when it comes to Registered metas, the regular Joe does have some serious protection. At least, in the legal sense. The practical sense is often something else entirely.
Because of the innate power and unpredictability of meta-humans, a new court was developed along with the Act. The court system is based more upon the Napoleonic system of justice. The judge isn't impartial, but an active part of the court who has the duty of finding the truth. The judge can question, cross-examine, and even bring in their own witnesses. There is no jury, instead a panel of two other judges help to preside. Courts can be held (and often are) with the principals absent. Punishment follows no set rules, very few precedents, and is often extreme. The Meta-human Registration Act's few guidelines on punishments tend to greatly favor non-registered metas and humans. There is an appeal process, but it is rarely favorable.
What about when Registered and Unregistered meta-humans come in conflict with each other? That's a can of worms most registered meta-humans are smart enough not to deal with. In this case, the law tends to be on the side of the unregistered meta. How it is resolved tends to be a matter of the judge that's involved, the damage inflicted, and the scope of the combat. And the number of times that unregistered has come in conflict before. There's a general consensus among the judges of "three strikes, you're registered."
How does a meta become registered? The meta can simply contact their local MRA office and fill out a couple forms, have some pictures taken, and give a couple demonstrations of their abilities (mostly for classification and identification). The meta doesn't have to give their real name and identity, but they are made aware that their 'secret identity' has the same legal standing of their public persona.
A meta can also be registered by the decision by a judge. This is often done when it is obvious a meta is performing acts to the 'detriment of the public good' or 'in conflict with other meta-humans' in a capacity that is not self defence. Likewise, a meta that harms non-metas is often automatically registered regardless of circumstance.
Thus, it is easy for a character to end up registered without their In Character consent (though the registration still requires the player's OOC consent). Most meta-humans that are involved in crime-fighting or crime-making will be registered, if not by IC choice then automatically due to their IC actions.
Are there exceptions to the meta-vs-non-meta rules? Yes. In one of the few strokes of fairness in the MRA, someone managed to get the concept of 'consensual activities' across. The idea behind it is that anyone, regardless of social or meta-status that volunteers to consort with meta-humans basically gets 'what they deserve' if things go badly for them. In that respect, if they volunteer to work for or with, date or otherwise become involved with a meta (registered or not) they have little legal recourse if later harmed. One of the peculiarities of the Act is that "meta-consent" (as it has come to be called) bypasses the legal contract restrictions. IE: a person of any age or legal status in the countries that have adopted the MRA can enter a consensual contract with a meta.
So how does a meta own property, pay their lawyers and publicists, and etc? While the metas themselves have little legal standing, they can be incorporated. The corporation has full legal standing. This has given rise to several powerful mega-corporations (such as Mighty Maiden's Planet5 and Sky Ranger, Inc.) While most of the employees of the corporations are not considered meta-consents, security forces, managers, and board members are. The more highly-ranking members of a meta-incorporation tend to be very well compensated due to the inherent risks. They can also be in very high demand by other meta-corps. Corporate sharks have found a new niche, one that sometimes affords them luxuries far in excess of more 'mundane' companies.
- Other countries: In the confusion when it became obvious the number of meta-humans was going to continue to rise, a number of other countries adopted America's MRA more or less intact. While the different Agencies that rose following the act aren't officially connected, they often cooperate.
Also see: 'news theme OrgDmha'
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