The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
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  1. Clarks Law
  2. [1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]
  3. [3]
  4. ### GUIDE ### [4][Index] [5][Previous] [6][Next]
  5. _Contents:_ [7]Back Cover - [8]Synopsis - [9]Questions - [10]Analysis
  6. - [11]Notes - [12]Author
  7. _________________________________________________________________
  8. _Written by Jim Mortimore_
  9. Release date: January 10, 1996
  10. ISBN: 0440-22229-X
  11. Setting: Late 2259, between [13]"Comes the Inquisitor" and [14]"The
  12. Fall of Night"
  13. Sheridan is torn between duty and defiance when he's ordered to
  14. execute an innocent alien.
  15. _________________________________________________________________
  16. Back Cover
  17. Death Before Dishonor
  18. The Tuchanq, a newly discovered humanoid species, can be an important
  19. ally for the Earth Alliance commanded by President Clark. So Captain
  20. John Sheridan welcomes their ambassadors to babylon 5, not knowing
  21. that among them is D'arc - a mass murderer on the run hoping to escape
  22. into the unsuspecting worlds of the galaxy....
  23. Clark's Law
  24. But the unforgiving rules of space have a different fate in store for
  25. D'arc. A terrifying accident wipes away D'arc's identity and his
  26. evil... leaving behind a loving, innocent being with a child's mind -
  27. a being that must die because President Clark, a leader with his own
  28. secret agenda, orders his immediate execution. Now, as Babylon 5
  29. physician Dr. Stephen Franklin begs Sheridan to defy Clark's law, the
  30. captain faces the greatest test of his command - and a far greater
  31. test of his manhood, which may end his career in shame or become a
  32. shining reminder of what being human truly means....
  33. Synopsis
  34. Prologue: Lies
  35. "Earth: First Lie": Opening in November of 2242, we see the Captain of
  36. the Earth vessel which fired on the Minbari lie to the president and
  37. then Vice President Santiago about who fired first. Captaion Ferdinand
  38. claims it is the Minbari who fired first.
  39. "Earth: Second Lie": The scene opens on now President Clark in October
  40. of 2258 (See [15]Notes.) Clark has been plotting to reinstate the
  41. death penalty to regain popularity among humans by maintaining control
  42. and re-initiating capital punishment. Clark's internal thoughts also
  43. turn to the problems with Earth's colonies without which Earth could
  44. not survive. The senate is tied on the vote about re-instating capital
  45. punishment. Clark lies when the speaker of the senate asks if it will
  46. be equally applied to both humans and aliens. Answering yes, the
  47. speaker of the senate agrees to pass the law.
  48. "Tuchanq: First Lie": The scene is inside a Narn battle cruiser as
  49. G'Kar drops Centauri plasma generators on Tuchanq. After a few days
  50. G'Kar lands the Narn cruiser offering the Tuchanq assistance in
  51. recovering from the devestation caused by the "Centauri."
  52. "Tuchanq: Second Lie": October 2259, we see D'Arc of the Tuchanq
  53. killing the last of the Narn on Tuchanq and then boarding a Narn
  54. cruiser to head for Babylon 5 in search of assistance. Tuchanq has
  55. suffered tremendous environmental damage from years of Narn
  56. enslavement.
  57. Part One: Among Shadows (December 12, 2259, Day)
  58. The story opens on Sheridan eating breakfast and trying to cope with
  59. the mounds of paperwork that he needs to deeal with as well as his own
  60. discomfort in his role as commander of Babylon 5. His mind turns the
  61. phrase "If you go to Z'ha'dum you will die" over and over again as he
  62. contemplates life. (See In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum)
  63. Ivanova interupts his inner turmoil in order to be briefed on the
  64. arrival of the Tuchanq delegation. She remarks on the unusual fact
  65. that they are quadrapeds and after some jokes about the paper horizon
  66. and stations vanishing, he leaves her in charge of the matter. The
  67. problem for the Tuchanq is that there world's ecosystem has been
  68. destroyed by the Narn occupation.
  69. "The Corps is your friend. Trust the Corps" Ivanova is still plagued
  70. with thoughts about her friendship with Talia and hears her whispered
  71. words, more than just the touch of bodies, the touch of minds. After
  72. shaking herself awake from her nap, she struggles to gain inner peace
  73. as the core shuttle heads towards arrivals. The inner struggle relates
  74. to her continued denial of her telepathic abilities and the need to
  75. hide it to avoid the Psi Cops.
  76. Arriving in the customs area, things were already turning ugly. The
  77. Tuchanq were engaged in a bizzare ritual involving leaving blood on
  78. the floor of the arrival area. G'Kar had helped program a translator
  79. for Ivanova, but she turned out not to need it because they spoke
  80. System English. The ritual then involved cutting their throats and
  81. bleeding because their customs require returning something to the
  82. land.
  83. Anti-alien sentiments begin to break out and Ivanova realizes the
  84. situation is quickly escalating out of control. Then a Narn spots a
  85. Narn skull attached to one of the Tuchanq and fighting begins in
  86. earnest. Ivanova is finally forced to stun the delegation with her PPG
  87. to prevent further violence. Unfortunately the Tuchanq do not sleep,
  88. at least not as humans understand the concept, and by making them stop
  89. singing their songs of being and journey through the stunner, they are
  90. now all dead (insane.)
  91. The scene shifts back to Sheridan's office where G'Kar is imploring
  92. Sheridan to get the Tuchanq off the station and to make ammends for
  93. the sole death from the incident -- a Narn. Sheridan refuses his
  94. request and G'Kar leaves in disgust.
  95. D'Arc awakens surround by Medlab personel and quickly realizes that
  96. her Song of Being is broken. She attacks one of the Medlab people with
  97. a knife which she withdraws from some sort of body pouch and flees
  98. with her Song of Journey running strong. In order to be whole again,
  99. she would need to steal a new Song of Being from someone else.
  100. Londo Mollari meanwhile begins trying to jockey for a chance to meet
  101. with the Tuchanq. His conscience is still wracked with images of the
  102. bombardment of the Narn homeworld and their destruction of their
  103. civilization. Mollari meets up with Garibaldi who explains that the
  104. Tuchanq are "killing" each other to cure the insanity. Once the
  105. remaining sane Tuchanq break the Song of Journey they will be
  106. pronounced dead and be reborn with new Songs of Being and Journey.
  107. nu'Viel (their leader/mother) explains to Ivanova the urgency of
  108. catching D'Arc to which Ivanova points out the size of the station and
  109. their limited resources.
  110. Brian Grond would become D'Arc's target. He would not realize this
  111. yet, but his taste for peverse (See [16]Notes) sexual activities with
  112. aliens along with his need to record them would be his downfall. Grond
  113. was hoping to have an especially interesting encounter with Belladona
  114. with whom he had already had several encounters. Down Below he went to
  115. where he expected to find Belladona but she was not there. Then his
  116. eyes met those of D'Arc. He makes an offer to give her cash if she
  117. will take him to Belladona. D'Arc expresses her desire to murder him
  118. with a confusing discussion of the need to take his Song of Being,
  119. Grond merely replies yes and he heads off towards his death.
  120. The PPG he is carrying does not save him when in the middle of a cargo
  121. hold D'Arc pulls the knife from her pouch and kills him taking his
  122. Song of Being. In the process, a cargo loader impacts a crane in the
  123. cargo area leading to the possibility of the crane impacting the
  124. station's structure and causing a rupture.
  125. Franklin and other Medlab personnel head out to rescue the trapped
  126. crane operator. He goes out suited up because the area has become
  127. depressurized. Further he will have to amputate the crane operator's
  128. leg inside the suit. The timing is close to the wire and the crane
  129. does in fact impact the station but Franklin and the crane operator
  130. survive, barely.
  131. Lyta Alexander appears briefly as we see her thoughts turning to the
  132. need to stay out of site and her desire to be able to visit the Vorlon
  133. homeworld. Garibaldi interupts her reverie and asks for a telepathic
  134. favor involving Tuchanq. In a moment that recalls Lyta's first role in
  135. the pilot, she enters the Isolab to scan Tuchanq. Lyta explains that
  136. D'Arc is like a newborn child with _no memory_ at any level of the
  137. events that resulted in Grond's death. As Lyta leaves Medlab she
  138. starts to hear the song, Kosh's song and realizes that nothing
  139. separates her from the Vorlons except some empty space -- and she does
  140. know how to deal with that.
  141. This section of the book ends with a Gold Channel transmission from
  142. Earth ordering Sheridan to hold D'Arc for the death penalty.
  143. Part Two: Hunting Shadows (December 12, 2259, Night)
  144. This section opens on Jacintha Grond's arrival at Babylon 5 customs.
  145. (See [17]Notes). She is surprised to be greated by the ubiquitous
  146. press specifically Debora Deverau of Channel 57 News. (See [18]Notes).
  147. Grond is bombarded with a barrage of questions about how she feels on
  148. a variety of issues -- "What will you do if they won't release his
  149. body?". A security officer finally takes her hand and leads her away
  150. from the media frenzy.
  151. Mollari meanwhile is scheming to provide assistance to the Tuchanq.
  152. With the help of Vir he manages to arrange a meeting with nu'Viel and
  153. her chorus. Exploiting their hatred of the Narn, Mollari is able to
  154. extend a credible offer of assistance.
  155. Sheridan gets a chance to meet with Jacintha Grond who is rather
  156. confused and upset at this point. He explains to her that he can not
  157. release the body because it is needed for evidence and that she will
  158. have to basically deal with the situation. She explains that she
  159. intends to be on a return shuttle in 16 hours. Grond also takes her
  160. anger out on Sheridan explaining that she holds him personally
  161. responsible for the situation. Sheridan's inner frustration and
  162. turmoil is evident but he merely invites her to remain on the station
  163. and explains he will do the best he can.
  164. Franklin's overuse of stims is starting to have a noticeable effect.
  165. His first chance of sleep is interupted by the arrival of the
  166. executioner. The executioner wants to use the life giver machine,
  167. [19]Quality of Mercy to perform the execution and demands it from
  168. Franklin. Franklin resists and the executioner summons Garibaldi who
  169. seems to have been waiting for this eventuality. Garbildi recommends
  170. that Franklin comply by providing some bits and pieces to fool the
  171. executioner in the meanwhile.
  172. Sheridan approaches Delenn in search of assistance and guidance. He is
  173. disappointed to realize that Delenn has already been approached by
  174. Earth Gov and has reluctantly agreed not to interfere. The reason she
  175. explains has to do with her post-chrysalis state and the likelihood
  176. that the Grey Council would overrule her.
  177. On a core shuttle, G'Kar is attacked by Tuchanqs. G'Kar survives with
  178. only minor injuries and a closer examination reveals that someone has
  179. equiped humans with changling nets to make them look like Tuchanqs.
  180. Garbaldi was already plenty busy, he had found the executioner
  181. buldgeoned to death in the Mosque where he had gone to pray while
  182. Franklin produced the life-giver machine. A decision is made to pay
  183. n'Grath a visit to find out where the changling nets came from.
  184. Garbaldi has his teams scan red sector so that he can learn where
  185. n'Grath is to meet him. He stops in on Ivanova and they end up
  186. fighting about the upcoming execution. Ivanova fairly clearly against
  187. and Garbaldi somewhat indifferent to pro-execution. There attempts to
  188. communicate are interupted by Garibaldi's comm indicating that n'Grath
  189. has been located.
  190. G'Kar and Vir encounter each other again and Vir is clearly still
  191. trying to figure out how to help G'Kar and the Narns. There last
  192. meeting had been several months back and had not gone well. G'Kar asks
  193. Vir whether or not Mollari had him attacked and G'Kar nonetheless
  194. hounds him further and leaves Vir feeling very uncomfortable. Vir of
  195. course is aware that Mollari did in fact plot the attack. (See
  196. [20]Notes.)
  197. Vir goes and tells Londo about his meeting with G'Kar and accuses
  198. Londo directly. Mollari refuses to answer the question, and provides
  199. no useful information about whether or not he had G'Kar attacked.
  200. Garibaldi arrives in Red Sector too late to for n'Grath. The creature
  201. is bleeding and he calls for an emergency team to assist the alien.
  202. n'Grath refuses to divulge information providing only a name "Askari"
  203. and an admission that he did sell the nets. Garibaldi turns and
  204. catches the motion of a gun, instead he gets a blast in his face of a
  205. PPG. The faceplate of his suit ruptured.
  206. G'Kar decides that he will handle Askari, a Centauri himself.
  207. Approaching Askari he grabs him and demands to know who hired him.
  208. Askari admits it was Mollari. G'Kar then leaves him for dead from the
  209. dagger wound.
  210. Violence begins to erupt on the station as protesters for and
  211. primarily against the execution begin to start filling common areas.
  212. Grond is starting to have a crisis about what to do and resolves to go
  213. see D'Arc.
  214. G'Kar comes in and attackes Mollari with his dagger. He leaves Mollari
  215. for dead with the dagger in his back. Vir arrives and removes the
  216. dagger and conceals it before summoning Medlab. G'Kar leaves with the
  217. intention of committing suicide.
  218. In Medlab, Garibaldi comes around and then Kosh shows up and
  219. enigmatically mentions that "Obligation is a hangman's nooose.".
  220. Meanwhile Ivanova brings nuViel to Sheridan to help lodge a protest
  221. against the death penalty being applied to D'Arc. As they are talking
  222. a gold channel transmission puts Sheridan in charge of everything --
  223. trial and execution. After the transmission, nuViel decieds that
  224. perhaps the Centauri a better choice to pursue aide from.
  225. Part Three: Becoming Shadows (December 13, 2259, Day)
  226. Jacintha Grond heads to security to visit D'Arc. She sees that D'Arc
  227. is clearly suffering from brain damage based on the erratic behaviour
  228. D'Arc is demonstrating in the holding cell. Jacintha then decided to
  229. rent a room for the night and stay for a bit.
  230. Vir continues to hide the dagger from security as Londo suffers in
  231. Medlab. Franklin has to put Mollari in cryo-stasis since without
  232. assistance of donor organs it will be impossible to save him. The idea
  233. of using the life-giver device comes up and Vir promises to try and
  234. seek volunteers. He discovers that none will assist Londo, they are
  235. all afraid of him. And Centauri Prime already has a replacement
  236. ambassador on the way. Vir also attempts to enlist the help of the
  237. Minbari who will not assist because of religious beliefs concerning
  238. diminshment of the soul. (Cf. [21]Soul Hunter.) Vir also thinks of
  239. asking Kosh after he bumps into him, but decides against it after
  240. getting a sense of someone walking over his grave when talking.
  241. Sheridan will not agree to Franklin's request to order people to
  242. donate life energy but agrees to assist in broadcasting a request for
  243. assistance on the station network.
  244. G'Kar was still alive because without his dagger he could not perform
  245. suicide. Sheridan visits G'Kar and G'Kar shows him a different dagger
  246. thus "tricking" Sheridan into thinking he didn't do it. Vir returns
  247. the dagger to G'Kar later saying "I said I was sorry."
  248. Garibaldi starts getting the sense of the violence that is going to
  249. break out on the station on his way through the station that day.
  250. Protesters are all around with signs pleading to save the alien.
  251. Garibaldi true to form uses his fists to break up a fight and is
  252. caught in the act on camera by Devereau from Channel 57. Morden
  253. happens to be on hand and gets interviewed as the guy on the street.
  254. He says, "I suppose that all life is important in some way." Then as
  255. if nodding to himself, he continues, "Yes. That's what I believe. Life
  256. is important. If you know what to do with it."
  257. Morden then continues to talk with Garibaldi and asks him about
  258. assisting in saving Mollari. Garibaldi rebuffs the suggestion pointing
  259. out he would die. Morden remains silent. Morden then shrugs and says
  260. "Then I'll consider the debt yet to be repaid." Smiling, he says,
  261. "Join me on the monorail?" Garibaldi is interupted by Sheridan on the
  262. comm link and takes his leave of Morden.
  263. The court chamber. Grond is looking on as the trial commences.
  264. Sheridan takes his place as judge, there will be no jury. nuViel is
  265. used as a witness for the prosecution to explain that D'Arc had
  266. murdered before. Sheridan responded to prosecution demands that nuViel
  267. restrict her answers to the questions, cutting her off regularly. (See
  268. [22]Notes.) On cross-examination, the defense tries to bring out the
  269. issues about D'Arc's psychosis which seems to fall on deaf ears. The
  270. defense calls Dr. Franklin to the stand for direct who explains about
  271. the brain damage and her child like state. (See [23]Notes.) Sheridan
  272. recesses and on return finds D'Arc guilty on murder. As if on cue
  273. chaos breaks out in the court room. Grond even agrees saying on TV
  274. that she feels justice is not served.
  275. In Medlab, Sheridan tries to get Franklin to agree to sedate D'Arc. He
  276. balks and Sheridan begins to administer the hypo and Franklin agrees
  277. to do it only to prevent Sheridan from killing her by giving the hypo.
  278. Garibaldi notices Morden leaving Medlab and that he has used the
  279. life-giver without the assistance of any others to save Londo.
  280. Garibaldi also realizes that the Shadows had a hand since otherwise
  281. Morden would be dead.
  282. G'Kar can't bring himself to go through with the suicide because of
  283. his fear of what the future holds. He leaves his quarters to go out
  284. and shape the future.
  285. Jacintha Grond goes to find her husband and sees he is missing. The
  286. station is descending into further chaos as the preparations for the
  287. execution procession commence. The execution will be in an airlock.
  288. Devereau grills Sheridan why such barbarism is being used to execute
  289. D'Arc and why there are crowds, etc. Then G'Kar arrived to beg
  290. forgiveness from nuViel. She grants him forgiveness. Then, all hell
  291. breaks loose.
  292. Even Devereau had never seen violence like this. She managed to don a
  293. gas mask to aide herself. After enough of the violent protesters were
  294. downed with gas, the procession proceded towards an airlock. Franklin
  295. makes one last attempt to block the airlock with his body. Delenn
  296. offers a very insightful comment stating:
  297. This event has left in my mind an extraordinary feeling of terror
  298. and shame. It seems to me I have been witness to -- and indeed,
  299. party to -- an act of ... of shameful violence perpetrated by
  300. intelligent beings [glance to Sheridan] against one of their
  301. fellows. No matter what anyone might say, violence will never
  302. prevent violence.
  303. After the death, a gold channel message comes in while they are all
  304. near the airlock. Sheridan allows it to be played there. No clemancy
  305. from the Senate, either way it was too late.
  306. 257 Wounded. 53 Deaths, including a miscarried pregnancy.
  307. Clark calls Sheridan to thank him. Sheridan is feeling sick on the
  308. inside.
  309. Ivanova helps the Tuchanq delegation head off the station. The Tuchanq
  310. have accepted the Centauri offer.
  311. Franklin and Garibaldi arrive together. Franklin is stating he wants
  312. to lodge a complaint. Sheridan deters him by explaining that Garibaldi
  313. and he had swapped the bodies, D'Arc is safe and actually Brian Grond
  314. who was already dead -- wearing a changling net -- was executed.
  315. The book ends with some words from Kosh. Kosh looks at him quietly.
  316. Like a mirror. Fear is a mirror. Sheridan speaks, "I understand now.
  317. Because I was scared I became devious. I took advantage of people and
  318. events to accomplish my own ends... ...my fear has enabled me to
  319. understand myself more clearly." Finally, Kosh said, "You are the
  320. light, yet the hope of all darkness." Pause. "You are touched by
  321. Shadows." Then Kosh leaves. The book ends with Sheridan realizing in a
  322. moment of truth that his life would end as it had begun with awe and
  323. wonder, pain and terror. And Shadows, always with Shadows.
  324. Epilogue: Truth
  325. "Earth: The First Truth": We see Clark contemplating the future in the
  326. Senate Chamber in late December 2259. He realizes that the actions he
  327. takes today will cause him not only to be remembered by the future but
  328. to define it. A quote next to the page explains how EarthGov has
  329. subpeonaed the footage from the execution to avoid scandal. Deverau
  330. (the anchor) also mentions that the death penalty has now been
  331. repealed to avoid scandal.
  332. "Tuchanq: The Second Truth": nuViel stands surveying the planet now
  333. that Tunchanq is being "aided" by the Centauri. She realizes that in
  334. reality the Tuchanq song now belongs to the Shadows.
  335. "The Rim: The Final Truth": Captain Varese finds his ship under
  336. assault by screaming ships. As he dies, he has a peculiar sense of
  337. deja vu about his final words, "They fired first."
  338. The book ends: 2259:
  339. It was Christmas Eve, 2259: the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind.
  340. The Shadows were coming.
  341. Unanswered Questions
  342. * What's the deal with singing and songs? The issue has been brought
  343. up several times in relation to the Vorlons and now with the
  344. Tuchanq. What relation is there if any to the way the machine on
  345. Epsilon 3 functions especially given some of the descriptions in
  346. this book about how the songs serve as a connection to the land
  347. (place)?
  348. * Is Kosh's comment to the recovering Garibaldi prophetic in terms
  349. of predicting the run in with Morden or meant to be prophetic in
  350. the longer term?
  351. * Are we to assume that Morden was prompted by the shadows when
  352. giving his speech to Devereau? And if so, how are we to take it in
  353. terms of what the future would hold should the Shadows gain
  354. ground?
  355. * What is Kosh up to with Sheridan? As the ending dialog suggests,
  356. whatever is going on is a lot more complicated than simply
  357. teaching Sheridan. Perhaps there is a special role for Sheridan
  358. much like Sinclair had a special role for the Minbari and Humans.
  359. Analysis
  360. * The parallels between what the Narn did to the Tuchanq and what
  361. the Centauri did to the Narn are extremely striking.
  362. * This particular novel fits with the overall storyline much tighter
  363. than others. The insights we gain on the fragile hold of Clark on
  364. power as well as his willingness to use deception and trickery to
  365. gain popularity are telling about other story arc elements such as
  366. the Night Watch.
  367. * Things are moving quickly. This corresponds with the increased
  368. pace of the show, Earth, Babylon 5, and the universe are getting
  369. ready for a big explosion.
  370. Notes
  371. * The second lie portion of the prologue should probably be dated
  372. October of 2259 not 2258. This is an editting error in all
  373. likelyhood. The reason it is an error is that Clark did not become
  374. president until the very end of Season 1, which took all of 2258
  375. and further a death penalty law would not go a full year without a
  376. test. Also the Tuchanq second lie is, we presume, supposed to
  377. occur shortly after the re-enactment of the death penalty.
  378. * This book has extremely detailed albiet sometimes apparently
  379. inaccurate descriptions of the station -- Ivanova's quarters --
  380. but it does give a nice sense of the station.
  381. * Another editing error seems to involve the captain's name in the
  382. prologue and the epilogue both should presumably be the same since
  383. presumably the deja vu has do with previously having said "They
  384. fired first."
  385. * It is surprising that G'Kar and perhaps Narns in general have such
  386. difficulty grasping human subtlety. Contrast this with the
  387. generally broder understanding demonstrated by the Minbari and
  388. Vorlons at reading between the lines, etc. This may have more to
  389. do with experience and knowledge due to general species age than
  390. anything else. Alternatively it can be indicative of why the Narn
  391. (and Centauri) are dying species.
  392. * It is interesting to note that there seem to be taboos against
  393. miscegenation with alien races much like we had enforced by law in
  394. the United States and still now by prejudice in some areas. [See:
  395. bans on interracial mariages unconstitutional, Loving v Virginia
  396. (U.S. Supreme Court 1967) and compare with the 1984 custody case
  397. involving Mrs. Palmore's daughter which reached the Supreme Court
  398. because of Mrs. Palmore's subsequent interracial marriage. Palmore
  399. v. Sidoti, (U.S. Supreme Court 1984)].
  400. * Lyta's appearance is extremely well done and helps tie together
  401. her appearance in relation to Talia and then her later appearance
  402. back on the station after visiting the Vorlons.
  403. * Timing of the sections seems to be slightly problematic since it
  404. seems a bit unlikely that Jacintha Grond could get from Mars to
  405. Babylon 5 _so_ quickly, less than a day.
  406. * I believe Devereau has been seen before, except she had worked for
  407. ISN, perhaps this is a change of jobs or just an editting error.
  408. * I take the references on p 141, par 3-4, to indicate Mollari
  409. ordered the attack on G'Kar and that Vir strongly suspected that
  410. it was true, this may be an incorrect inference.
  411. * From the trial scene it is interesting to note that little has
  412. changed in the basic procedure of the Common Law system of trial
  413. and justice.
  414. * In the United States today, the death penalty has and continues to
  415. be carried out on the mentally retarded, even upon people with
  416. IQ's as low as 60. (McCollum v. No. Carolina, US SC 1994:
  417. Blackmun's dissent from the denial of review mentions that the
  418. person to be executed has a 9 yr old mental age and can barely
  419. read at a second grade level. He was "under stress and easily
  420. influenced by others." Continuing, Blackmun explains how the lower
  421. court found:
  422. that he committed the felony murder under the influence of mental
  423. or emotional disturbance, that he had cooperated with the police,
  424. that he had no significant history of prior criminal activity, and
  425. that he had adapted well to prison. In addition, the trial judge
  426. concluded that "[a]ll of the evidence tends to show that
  427. [McCollum's] capacity ... to appreciate the criminality of his
  428. conduct or to conform to the requirements of law was impaired."
  429. McCollum was 19 at the time of the crime.
  430. Blackmun's dissent concludes on a note that is similar to the
  431. rationale that the senate used in turning down the death penalty:
  432. "Our system of capital punishment simply does not accurately and
  433. consistently determine which defendants most "deserve" to die."
  434. The sole standard that the Supreme Court has established is that
  435. at the time of death the person must be able to comprehend what is
  436. going to happen to them thus leading to ironies like lawyers
  437. trying to have their clients taken off anti-psychotic drugs to
  438. prevent executions.
  439. jms speaks
  440. * _Will D'Arc appear in the show?_
  441. Probably not, but one never knows.
  442. * _Lyta is deaf?_
  443. I don't know how that would've gotten past me...I don't recall
  444. seeing that in the draft...either I was tired when reading, or it
  445. was added later.
  446. * No, the novelist didn't blow it, Joe blew it, because in
  447. proofreading the manuscript, Joe missed that line somehow, and
  448. didn't catch it. It's my job to catch these things. (Just spent a
  449. whole week going over the A-Z of Babylon 5 coming out from Boxtree
  450. Books in the UK to keep it as accuate as possible.)
  451. * _Why did the captain lie?_
  452. The Minbari approached with their gun ports opened...but they also
  453. hadn't locked on. They were a potential menace, but had not gone
  454. into the territory of definite menace...and when they fired, it
  455. was clear from the moment or two it took to respond that the
  456. Minbari ships weren't ready to attack. So he chose to cover his
  457. butt rather than take responsibility for screwing up a first
  458. contact situation and plunging Earth into a war.
  459. _________________________________________________________________
  460. Written by Erik Oliver <[24]oliver@dolphin.upenn.edu>.
  461. [30][Next]
  462. Last update: January 15, 1997
  463. References
  464. 1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar
  465. 2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar
  466. 3. file://localhost/lurk/gif/novels/004.jpg
  467. 4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/index.html
  468. 5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/003.html
  469. 6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/005.html
  470. 7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#BC
  471. 8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#SY
  472. 9. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#UQ
  473. 10. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#AN
  474. 11. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#NO
  475. 12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#JS
  476. 13. file://localhost/lurk/guide/043.html
  477. 14. file://localhost/lurk/guide/044.html
  478. 15. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#NO
  479. 16. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#NO
  480. 17. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#NO
  481. 18. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#NO
  482. 19. file://localhost/lurk/guide/021.html
  483. 20. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#NO
  484. 21. file://localhost/lurk/guide/002.html
  485. 22. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#NO
  486. 23. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/no
  487. 24. mailto:oliver@dolphin.upenn.edu
  488. 25. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
  489. 26. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/004.html#TOP
  490. 27. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
  491. 28. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
  492. 29. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/003.html
  493. 30. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/novels/005.html