On Lawsuits
Hello, all ye denizens of the netlands. You know something really neat about the legal system? No matter how asinine a ruling may be, if the judge bangs his gavel on it, it becomes legal precedent. Even if the ruling contradicts the spirit of law, precedent becomes higher than the law. How about that!
Now, with cultures spreading out across the galaxy and interspecies relationships, the rules don't change, but there are new things for there to be legal jargon about.
Take for example, the precedent of G'Hethec S'Keppt vs. the State of Corrilina. What happened was that a rather stupid human boy married a praying mantis woman. Lovely wedding, expensive honeymoon suite, he was dead by morning and the woman was going to have an adorable hybrid baby. The boy's family sued for the murder and for custody of their grandchild. G'Hethec S'Keppt and her multi-planetary team of lawyers countered that the boy was an idiot for marrying a praying mantis woman without familiarizing himself with the cultural barriers and biological inevitabilities (he was a fool in love). So due to insurmountable cultural barriers, the widow S'Keppt was acquitted and extremely amiable to the idea of her late husband's family being involved in her child's life. But the precedent remained.
And more than just that precedent, there is a dangerous idea behind it: people from different planets can blame their species and upbringing to get away with anything.
So, let's bring this around to the Aruso-Doom War. One of the main conflicts in this war is that Prince Lotor of Doom is determined to have Princess Allura for his bride. Now, there are plenty of diplomatic routes not being taken for obvious reasons that she apparently would rather gouge her own eyes out with rusty pliers before considering willing matrimony with the infamous Prince of Doom, and the only diplomacy that the Drule seem to know is Battleship Diplomacy (not the best for encouraging happy nuptials).
Now, taking the G'Hethec S'Keppt vs. the State of Corrilina ruling and some extremely well-paid lawyers, the Prince of Doom could make a case, suing Arus for Princess Allura's hand in marriage.
Impossible, you say? Well, let's take a look at the concept of Drule marriage in the noble and royal classes. One, upon first sight of a Drule's life-mate, an obsessive fascination forms which in no recorded cases has ever ceased before either capture of the desired mate or death of either person. Second, consistent denial has been known to drive the Drule to an obsessive mania, exhibiting violent rages, paranoia, fantasies indistinguishable from reality, and an unstoppable habit of stalking the desired mate. Third, these conditions are exacerbated by the warrior Drule's blood-fever, a sort of violent mania which overtakes them in the heat of battle.
Hmm. Prince Charming, huh?
I happen to know that among my watchers are several members of the upper-echelons of the Drule Empire, and would like to tell them right now not to get too far ahead of themselves. Because Prince Lotor is a hybrid, the biological part of the argument is a huge issue with the case. The prince would have to submit for extensive testing, which would quite probably be painful and certainly be uncomfortable and embarrassing. Though the opportunity could be slightly abused for the greater good, learning about Drule physiology. But I digress. Another concern would be the fact that his mother is reputed to be Arusian. This does not automatically give Lotor citizenship to Arus, though a quirk in Arusian law is that the reigning monarch has the privilege of bestowing citizenship on whomsoever they choose, if the person has had contact with Arus. This is why Princess Allura cannot declare all Doom slaves to be citizens of Arus and sue for ill treatment of subjects. But that little article in the law is why the Princess could give the Green Lion pilot citizenship to Arus after his home world was destroyed and why she could theoretically declare Prince Lotor a subject and therefore bound by all Arusian laws, including those related to attempted regicide.
And with all these different ways the legal battle could go, Prince Lotor would have arthritis worse than his father's overwhelming case of eczema and Princess Allura would be a crusty old woman before the first victory in the legal battle was achieved. And the legal and transport fees for both sides might just become the accidental backbone of this galaxy's entire economy, and resulting in an economic crash when mistrial is declared and both sides realize that after all these years it's just not worth it anymore.
And, by the way, it's not a good idea for either side to open the floodgates of lawsuits on either side. People die wherever Voltron goes, and everyone knows that Doom doesn't pay in their commerce. It'll be a messy legal system and futile war if lawyers get involved.
This is Starre Smith, always giving you that which isn't going to happen in the Aruso-Doom War first.
