Talk to the characters.

[lintamande]

> Random average Blue/Green/Yellow/Orange/Grey/Purple Amentan, what is wrong with you? How the blazes does your silly uncleanliness hysteria manage to survive germ theory and microscopes? And other detection devices?

There are lots and lots of Earth humans who have terrifyingly strong disgust reactions to other people (gay+trans people come to mind) and Earth purity/cleanliness taboos that survived germ theory (eating bugs!) and Earth religious taboos which are scrupulously adhered to in the absence of evidence and which people'd readily go hungry rather than violate (kashrut). Take that very human impulse and take, like, the upper decile of human tendency to experience it, and Amenta's really not that weird.

[Antares]

Scary and sadly true.

[Bluelantern]

So the moral lesson is: People are The Worst.

[lintamande]

That's a very Tyelcormo take on the moral lesson. Aitim thinks the moral lesson is that social change is best achieved from a position of deep sincere empathy with the people who are currently being the worst and a willingness to work in their framework and from their premises.

[Kappa]

That's a very Maitimo take on the moral lesson! <333

[Bluelantern]

That's a very Tyelcormo take on the moral lesson. Aitim thinks the moral lesson is that social change is best achieved from a position of deep sincere empathy with the people who are currently being the worst and a willingness to work in their framework and from their premises.

*Puts 50s sitcom dad attire*
*Me pats both on the back* Boys, don't argue, you're both right!

[DanielH]

Wizard would-be rapist: Ask to talk to your arresting officer. Can’t you recognize that you were Stunned?

Judge who interviewed him: Yes, he was lying through most of the interview, but why did you bother to ask those questions if you weren’t going to listen to the answers?

[pedromvilar]

I know the answer to the second one: because Anitami law wants to incentivise honesty and whatnot and even if they're convinced seven ways from Sunday that the defendant is guilty the defendant does get a lighter sentence if they speak the truth when questioned.

[lintamande]

^

Lying to the court reliably means harsher sentencing. In capital cases this is a small difference but they still make a point of having it be a difference - if you're cooperative maybe they'll let your family keep a little bit of your assets so they have enough to live on for a few months - and in something like an attempted rape case where there's a broad range of possible sentences it's pretty significant.

Also, it's a substantial mitigating factor if you honestly didn't know something was illegal. Lying to the court is evidence that you knew it was illegal.

[DanielH]

I guess part of the issue was I expected that if there was further evidence, it would have been presented. Even with all the corruption and lack of respect for certain rights, I would have expected the Sixth Amendment right to be presented with the evidence against oneself to still exist.

Edit: of course I realize that the sixth amendment is US-specific, but that right feels fairly fundamental. Much more so than a lot of other rights for the defendant in legal proceedings.