The Emperor's Court Of Makko Oko - Shilens, Makko Oko
Erma Barrows V. Makko Oko
July 4th, 2022
THE CASE - PART II [EVIDENCE]
"Thank you, your honor" Brandon responds, he then once again stands up and goes to face the courtroom. "I would like to first bring up the law in question, the Wages Guidance Act. This law, while seemingly well-built and with good intentions, has willingly and knowingly underrepresented the slaves of this fair nation." "Objection!" John shouts, "What Mr. Gates is stipulating is for the protection of slaves, but what does that have to do with the constitution and more importantly, is that the true intent of Ms. Barrows?"
After contemplating the objection for a moment, Judge Hall says "Overruled, Mr. Gates you may continue." Brandon then thanks the judge and continues, "Now, as I was saying, the underrepresentation of slaves, this underrepresentation hurts the very foundation that this act now stands on. By not establishing any protocols on slave wages, the government bodies held responsible, wont know rather to enforce it or not on our fair nation's slaves. Most likely, slaves will have that wage enforced on them, meaning it would affect parties such as my client, Ms. Barrows."
"Now" Brandon says clapping his hands together, walking around the courtroom, "Let's talk about the Basic Rights for a minute. The Basic Rights is the foundational document of our fair nation, the document that secures our rights, the rights that are nationally protected, and cannot be taken away. Under Article 5 of this document, it clearly states that universally, any additional rights not declared under the Basic Rights, is to not be granted or to be in limited stance."
"Now, what does-" Brandon says being interrupted, "Objection your honor!" John says with a little bit of anger in his voice, "What is the relevance of this exactly?!? I don't see it myself"
"Is this a joke to you, Mr. Verrill?" Judge Hall inquires, "Overruled, stop being foolish" and John then apologizes before sitting back down with frustration. "Thank you your honor," Brandon continues, "As I was saying, what does the Wages Guidance Act do?" he says with a questionable tone and he stops and looks around the room for a moment, then continues, "It establishes the right to a minimum wage, and if it wasn't stipulated under the Basic Rights as being granted, then by its own words, it is 'not granted or shall be in fairly limited stance as inscribed here in these basic rights'."
Brandon then looks directly at Mr. Verrill and starts walking towards his table, "Tell me Mr. Verrill, did the state consider the additional rights being granted today, when the Basic Rights were originally written?" knowing Mr. Verrill can't talk while somebody else is presenting evidence unless it's to object, Mr. Verrill, being on ever-thinning ice, just stays silent. "Now, onto my last point. If this law is allowed to stand, then it will pose an undue hardship on my client, Ms. Barrows, and while minimum wage may be great, we all know historically, the Empire does tend to limit the rights of slaves. In addition to this, this law, if allowed to stand, would just prove to us all, the blatant application of context and words throughout legislation and of our nation's constitution. While the government may just create a slave wage, to fix this issue, it doesn't fix it, it's a band-aid. The band-aid of the bureaucracy, and it still allows for changes at any point, which can be used for revenge, and not to mention blatant discrimination via minimum wage establishments on slave owners and business owners alike."
"OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!" John says screaming, "THIS IS ALL CONJECTURE! THERE IS NO PROOF OF ANY OF THIS, NO EVIDENCE TO BACK IT UP, NO STATEMENTS, I CAN GO ON AND ON" "MR. VERRILL!" Judge Hall says with a deep, agitated voice, "If you ever scream like that in my courtroom again, I will hold you in contempt, and ban you from my courtroom, is that understood?" John then says "I understand your honor, my sincerest apologies, I was just frustrated" and Judge Hall then says "Your objection has been sustained, Mr. Gates, if I were you, I'd tread lightly on any additional evidence that you may provide to this court"
Brandon then apologizes for the mistake and announces their closure of providing evidence. Judge Hall then thanks Brandon and calls John up to provide the state's evidence (or counter-evidence). "Thank you your honor, the state would like to first put into question, the humanity and civilities of Mr. Gates and his client, Ms. Barrows." This causes eyebrows to be raised by both Brandon and Erma, with Erma budging Brandon to object, not actually knowing what the law or procedures are to call for one, but it riles him up, especially after the multiple incidents that John caused, "Objection your honor!" Brandon says, "Relevance?" "Sustained" Judge Hall says, "Just like Brandon, I'd heed my warning Mr. Verrill. Tread. Lightly."
"Apologies your honor, but if I may, can you just wait and see the relevance of this, instead of immediately ruling to them?" John asks, and Judge Hall takes that into high consideration, not typically accepting these kinds of requests, but seeing that it could actually go somewhere, and even they themselves were intrigued, he allows it. "Thank you your honor, you wont be disappointed. Now, as I was saying, would a humane and mentally sound person, call for the revocation of minimum wage rights, or call for the downtrodden of rights protections, I don't think they would. So why are they doing it, just for attention? Just to fulfill Ms. Barrows' agenda of free slaves? I'll tell you, slaves aren't free, you have to buy them, no matter where, unless you birth them, so let me ask, has Ms. Barrows illegally gotten pregnant without a parental license?"
Erma then gets red-faced angry, and almost pushes Brandon on the floor trying to get him to object, but he knows it wont end well if he did, as there's nothing to object to. Little did Erma know, the state, the moment that comment was made, had opened an investigation into rather or not an illegal pregnancy had happened. "Looks like they got mad huh, I accurately state that?" John says, knowing it'll cause her to react worse, and she ends up literally pushing Brandon out of his chair, and Judge Hall takes notice, saying "Ms. Barrows and Mr. Gates, do we have a problem over there?" and Brandon simply says, groaning, "No your honor, just a disagreement is all" and Judge Hall then says "Well keep your client under control, or the court will do it ourselves". Brandon then apologizes and John continues.
"Next, I would like to answer a couple of questions brought up by the plaintiff's lawyer, Mr. Gates, regarding Article 5 of the Basic Rights Of Makko Oko. You see, Mr. Gates, the Basic Rights was designed to protect the integrity of the state, and to protect its people, so a limitation of rights, is our civic duty within the government, but some rights, like the one we're fighting about today, are not necessary to limit, and instead to flourish, to allow for a better populace. While Article 5 does in fact state what you have told us today, the state interprets the Basic Rights to the fulfillment of our agenda, and that includes the granting of additional rights. The people, have no say in the granting of rights, in the interpretation of the Basic Rights, or of our laws that come out of it. That, is where you are wrong, Mr. Gates, and how I in fact wonder how you ever got to be a lawyer."
"Objection!" Brandon says, "The state is badgering me" "Really Mr. Gates?!? Really?" Judge Hall says looking dumbfounded at Brandon, "Overruled, you can continue Mr. Verrill" Judge Hall says sounding a bit more agitated than earlier. "Thank you your honor" John says smirking at Brandon, "That's all I have though actually, so the state announces its closure of evidence proposition" and Judge Hall then bangs his gavel and says "Alright then, court is in recess for today only, and you are all to stay in the courthouse until you are called back. I'll have my ruling by 5:00 PM today."
Both parties then thank the judge for their time and exit the courtroom, anxiously awaiting a decision.
