Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

PSW: discuss Star Wars without "versus" arguments.

Moderator: Vympel

Post Reply
Crazedwraith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 11864
Joined: 2003-04-10 03:45pm
Location: Cheshire, England

Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Crazedwraith »

I came across this image on imgur today. Basically to the effect that being a Sith Lord would fall under freedom of religion and thus he couldn't be arrested for it. Oddly enough I think he actually said something like that in the RotS novelisation as well so it's not without canon backing. (if pre-disney novels are still canon, I remember that being murky last time I paid attention)

I tend not to agree for two reasons:
1)He wasn't just being arrested for being aSith but the Sith Lord behind the war and confederacy.

2) Considering the republic was at war with the Sith Empire many times, I doubt it counts as a mere 'philosophical outlook' that is constitutionally protected but more akin to being a member of an illegal organisation like the KKK or Nazis or so on.


There's also the matter of how much proof or legal on paper authority the Jedi would have to legally arrest the Chancellor without say the equivalent of impeachment proceedings.

So what say you? Should/would being a Sith be a protected right if not couple with other crimes?
User avatar
Gunhead
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1715
Joined: 2004-11-15 08:08am

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Gunhead »

After Anakin flat out stated Palpatine was a sith no one commented on the legality of him being one and basically acted on him being the guilty party in the whole civil war that was raging at the time and to force him to give up the temporary powers he'd been given. Yes, we the audience know he's guilty as all hell but the Jedi had no proof. So it's basically a clear cut case of a coup by the Jedi that damned them as this action gave Palpatine justification to declare the Jedi as an enemy to the Republic.
Had the Jedi been successful in either killing or detaining Palpatine it goes to reason they could have gotten the evidence to have the senate sanction their actions after the fact, but as it is they didn't. It's been like 1000 years since the last war with the Sith empire if we assume one had existed, which means no one in the current political environment gave two fucks about someone being or not being a Sith.
Even members of the council doubted Qui-Gon's word on the attacker being a Sith lord, which is pretty much evidence the Sith had passed into myth even by the people who are their sworn enemies. Even Yoda who is possibly old enough to remember, if not the actual times when the Sith were the enemy, at least old enough to remember the Jedi who had fought the Sith and even he wasn't exactly certain of the Sith returning.
That said, I think the actual legality of someone being a Sith is kinda moot point because the legality of someone's affiliation wasn't why the Jedi attempted a coup.

-Gunhead
"In the absence of orders, go find something and kill it."
-Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel

"And if you don't wanna feel like a putz
Collect the clues and connect the dots
You'll see the pattern that is bursting your bubble, and it's Bad" -The Hives
User avatar
Esquire
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1581
Joined: 2011-11-16 11:20pm

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Esquire »

Even setting aside that Sith-ishness isn't the core crime here, is there any reason to think that the Republic has freedom of religion, or that of it did that freedom would extend to magically-empowered murder cults?
“Heroes are heroes because they are heroic in behavior, not because they won or lost.” Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Ralin
Sith Marauder
Posts: 4341
Joined: 2008-08-28 04:23am

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Ralin »

Crazedwraith wrote: 2019-04-06 07:40pm I came across this image on imgur today. Basically to the effect that being a Sith Lord would fall under freedom of religion and thus he couldn't be arrested for it. Oddly enough I think he actually said something like that in the RotS novelisation as well so it's not without canon backing. (if pre-disney novels are still canon, I remember that being murky last time I paid attention)
Pretty sure that image caption is directly quoting the exchange from the novelization.
User avatar
Lord Revan
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 12211
Joined: 2004-05-20 02:23pm
Location: Zone:classified

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Lord Revan »

Esquire wrote: 2019-04-07 06:31pm Even setting aside that Sith-ishness isn't the core crime here, is there any reason to think that the Republic has freedom of religion, or that of it did that freedom would extend to magically-empowered murder cults?
Yeah it's bit of an americanism that freedoms are absolute and binary (that either you do or don't have it and if you do everything is permited(sic)), in truth even in USA there are things that are automatically and permanently forbidden. For example a cult of Khorne, the blood god from Warhammer would be one such things, due to murdering people being vital part of worship, thus freedom of worship for cult of the blood god would in permanent conflict with the freedom of not being murdered for other people.

While the Sith aren't a murder cult per se, as murder isn't vital unseperateble part of their rites, the social disruption from the Sith philosophy of "power thru what ever means avaible" would be IMHO enough to put in the list of forbidden cults, even without the Sith wars.

That said the ROTS novelization did imply strongly that there's at least some form of religion freedom in the Galactic Republic.
I may be an idiot, but I'm a tolerated idiot
"I think you completely missed the point of sigs. They're supposed to be completely homegrown in the fertile hydroponics lab of your mind, dried in your closet, rolled, and smoked...
Oh wait, that's marijuana..."Einhander Sn0m4n
User avatar
The Romulan Republic
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 21559
Joined: 2008-10-15 01:37am

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Kind of a moot point in Palpatine's case, as there are a rediculous number of things to charge him on besides being a Sith.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
User avatar
Lord Revan
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 12211
Joined: 2004-05-20 02:23pm
Location: Zone:classified

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Lord Revan »

The Romulan Republic wrote: 2019-04-08 11:58am Kind of a moot point in Palpatine's case, as there are a rediculous number of things to charge him on besides being a Sith.
True, but even the "we got religous freedom so you can't prosecute me for being a sith" defense is questionable at best.
I may be an idiot, but I'm a tolerated idiot
"I think you completely missed the point of sigs. They're supposed to be completely homegrown in the fertile hydroponics lab of your mind, dried in your closet, rolled, and smoked...
Oh wait, that's marijuana..."Einhander Sn0m4n
User avatar
Gunhead
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1715
Joined: 2004-11-15 08:08am

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Gunhead »

Lord Revan wrote: 2019-04-08 12:41pm
The Romulan Republic wrote: 2019-04-08 11:58am Kind of a moot point in Palpatine's case, as there are a rediculous number of things to charge him on besides being a Sith.
True, but even the "we got religous freedom so you can't prosecute me for being a sith" defense is questionable at best.
I think the real problem is defining what exactly would be illegal about being a Sith? Being a selfish asshole and having force powers doesn't really cut it. Assuming you could come up with a concrete way to define Sith in a way it's illegal, who would be responsible for policing it and what would be the penalty for being one not to mention how would you prove some is in fact a Sith, or just an asshole with force powers?

-Gunhead
"In the absence of orders, go find something and kill it."
-Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel

"And if you don't wanna feel like a putz
Collect the clues and connect the dots
You'll see the pattern that is bursting your bubble, and it's Bad" -The Hives
User avatar
Lord Revan
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 12211
Joined: 2004-05-20 02:23pm
Location: Zone:classified

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Lord Revan »

Gunhead wrote: 2019-04-08 01:13pm
Lord Revan wrote: 2019-04-08 12:41pm
The Romulan Republic wrote: 2019-04-08 11:58am Kind of a moot point in Palpatine's case, as there are a rediculous number of things to charge him on besides being a Sith.
True, but even the "we got religous freedom so you can't prosecute me for being a sith" defense is questionable at best.
I think the real problem is defining what exactly would be illegal about being a Sith? Being a selfish asshole and having force powers doesn't really cut it. Assuming you could come up with a concrete way to define Sith in a way it's illegal, who would be responsible for policing it and what would be the penalty for being one not to mention how would you prove some is in fact a Sith, or just an asshole with force powers?

-Gunhead
Well I suppose the fact that Sith cults (at least in legendaries), caused massive and destructive wars that only ended when the Sith were seemingly killed off, could be reason enough in and of itself. That said there's parts of the sith philosophy that's in conflicts with the ideals of the republic.
I may be an idiot, but I'm a tolerated idiot
"I think you completely missed the point of sigs. They're supposed to be completely homegrown in the fertile hydroponics lab of your mind, dried in your closet, rolled, and smoked...
Oh wait, that's marijuana..."Einhander Sn0m4n
User avatar
Gunhead
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1715
Joined: 2004-11-15 08:08am

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Gunhead »

Lord Revan wrote: 2019-04-08 01:57pm Well I suppose the fact that Sith cults (at least in legendaries), caused massive and destructive wars that only ended when the Sith were seemingly killed off, could be reason enough in and of itself. That said there's parts of the sith philosophy that's in conflicts with the ideals of the republic.
Assuming above, if cults do anything actively illegal, like promote violence, incite rebellion, spread propaganda you already have laws in the books you can use to go after them, which means the only meaningful effect of having a ban on the Sith would be similar to our bans on outright Nazi groups.
We don't really have anyone in the movies either who hasn't otherwise taken a stand against the republic. I'd suppose Darth Maul is in fact closest to a Sith who is the least guilty of illegal activities. That is until he kills Qui-Gon.

-Gunhead
"In the absence of orders, go find something and kill it."
-Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel

"And if you don't wanna feel like a putz
Collect the clues and connect the dots
You'll see the pattern that is bursting your bubble, and it's Bad" -The Hives
User avatar
NecronLord
Harbinger of Doom
Harbinger of Doom
Posts: 27377
Joined: 2002-07-07 06:30am
Location: The Lost City

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by NecronLord »

It's a fair bet that Lucas dropped the 'constitutional protection' line (novels are usually based on earlier scripts) because he realised it was daft as the charge is in fact Treason.
Superior Moderator - BotB - HAB [Drill Instructor]-Writer- Stardestroyer.net's resident Star-God.
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
User avatar
Elheru Aran
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 13073
Joined: 2004-03-04 01:15am
Location: Georgia

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Elheru Aran »

It depends on what the exact status of being a Sith is. Is it a religion? Is it some sort of lifestyle choice? Is it a political affiliation? And so forth.

Obviously it's not a political thing; there aren't enough Sith around for that to matter.

Religion? Fuzzy. There appears to be a certain ethos to being a Sith, that mostly centers around 'be a bad dude/tte'. The Force, particularly the dark side, is part of it, but you can use the Force without deifying it.

Lifestyle choice? Maybe. You can be a Sith without killing a lot of people, at least directly. The ancient Sith were an entire near-human alien species, presumably extinct in the prequel era, and obviously there would be nothing wrong with being simply born into that species.

The closest thing, I suppose, would be that it's a philosophy of life. Real-world parallels can be drawn to Satanism, the Laveyian cult anyway, where it's all about ambition, strength, survival of the fittest, that kind of thing. Use of the Dark Side more or less just amplifies this philosophy by drawing upon these personal urges and pushing them to greater heights. Whether that's actually illegal or not... well, you can't outlaw ambition or passion.

If there was specific laws forbidding people from glorifying or celebrating the Sith in public, similarly to how Germany outlawed the Nazi Party, then that would be one thing. But either these laws don't exist, or have simply lapsed with the passage of time.
It's a strange world. Let's keep it that way.
User avatar
The Romulan Republic
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 21559
Joined: 2008-10-15 01:37am

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Lord Revan wrote: 2019-04-08 12:41pm
The Romulan Republic wrote: 2019-04-08 11:58am Kind of a moot point in Palpatine's case, as there are a rediculous number of things to charge him on besides being a Sith.
True, but even the "we got religous freedom so you can't prosecute me for being a sith" defense is questionable at best.
I'd guess it would come down to whether one defines Sith as a religion, or as a hostile organization, yeah.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
User avatar
RogueIce
_______
Posts: 13385
Joined: 2003-01-05 01:36am
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
Contact:

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by RogueIce »

NecronLord wrote: 2019-04-08 02:59pm It's a fair bet that Lucas dropped the 'constitutional protection' line (novels are usually based on earlier scripts) because he realised it was daft as the charge is in fact Treason.
And Mace Windu did an absolutely shitty job of making that the reason for the arrest. He doesn't even say why he's arresting the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic he just says he is. And draws his lightsaber to do so.

And his evidence is shitty anyway. Anakin says he thinks Palpatine is the Sith Lord. Sure he later says he's sure of it, but that's a rather flimsy justification for arresting the head of state.

And what is Anakin's evidence, anyway?



Palpatine's mentor taught him about the Force and he knows about the Dark Side. That's all the Supreme Chancellor ever admitted to. He doesn't even admit that he can use the Force, just that he has knowledge of it. Unless the Jedi are the only Force scholars around, and the only ones allowed by law, simply knowing about the Force isn't proof of anything. Yes, Anakin accuses him of being the Sith Lord and Palpatine doesn't deny it, but he doesn't confirm it either.

If the Jedi were really there to arrest him on a charge of treason they did a shitty job of it. And had basically no evidence of, well, anything really. They didn't even give him the chance to rescind his emergency powers, not even bothering to confirm that Grievous was dead, as if that would magically end the war - which it wouldn't necessarily have done because it's not like the CIS had only one General.

It almost doesn't even matter if being a Sith Lord is legal or not. They had proof of basically nothing, unless a Jedi's intuition - and that's all Anakin had and what Mace Windu was going on - is admissible as evidence and beyond any challenge under Republic law.
Image
"How can I wait unknowing?
This is the price of war,
We rise with noble intentions,
And we risk all that is pure..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, Forever (Rome: Total War)

"On and on, through the years,
The war continues on..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, We Are All One (Medieval 2: Total War)
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight
User avatar
Solauren
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 10184
Joined: 2003-05-11 09:41pm

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Solauren »

In order to become the Sith Master, you have to murder the previous one, at minimum. (In the Darth Plageius novel, Palpatine murdered his family before coming a Sith Lord. Plageius was apparently killing his fellow children from a young age, i.e using a Force Suggestion to make one jump out a window rather high up in the building they were in).

So, on that grounds, being a Sith is illegal, as you have to have committed murder.
I've been asked why I still follow a few of the people I know on Facebook with 'interesting political habits and view points'.

It's so when they comment on or approve of something, I know what pages to block/what not to vote for.
User avatar
KraytKing
Jedi Knight
Posts: 584
Joined: 2016-04-11 06:39pm
Location: US East Coast

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by KraytKing »

RogueIce wrote: 2019-04-08 11:14pm It almost doesn't even matter if being a Sith Lord is legal or not. They had proof of basically nothing, unless a Jedi's intuition - and that's all Anakin had and what Mace Windu was going on - is admissible as evidence and beyond any challenge under Republic law.
This bit summarizes neatly what you were saying, so I'll just quote this bit, but I'm responding to your whole post.

This is Jedi being Jedi. They aren't politicians. Mace is quoted in Clone Wars saying "Politicians have no voice in Jedi matters." The Jedi aren't used to being disobeyed or contested when they make a ruling. It's worked out for them in the past, but this time they played straight into Palpatine's hands. They actually attempted a coup, but this time there was an army backing up the man they tried to arrest. If it had been up to me, Palpatine's arrest would have been handled by clones and Order 66 would have been a proper military communique delivered through proper channels, not some winkly man who could really be anyone personally calling his marshals.
If you don't know your rights, you don't have any.
--Mace

The Old Testament has as much validity for the foundation of a religion as the pattern my recent case of insect bites formed on my ass.
--Solauren

I always get nervous when I hear the word Christian.
--Mountain

Brought to you by Carl's Jr.
User avatar
RogueIce
_______
Posts: 13385
Joined: 2003-01-05 01:36am
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
Contact:

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by RogueIce »

Solauren wrote: 2019-04-08 11:24pm In order to become the Sith Master, you have to murder the previous one, at minimum. (In the Darth Plageius novel, Palpatine murdered his family before coming a Sith Lord. Plageius was apparently killing his fellow children from a young age, i.e using a Force Suggestion to make one jump out a window rather high up in the building they were in).

So, on that grounds, being a Sith is illegal, as you have to have committed murder.
That's only true of the Baneite Sith. There's plenty of Sith history that didn't have this as an absolute requirement. Palpatine - were he to even acknowledge being a Sith, which he doesn't - could simply claim he doesn't follow this tenant. There's a lot of interpretations of religions, after all. Plenty of RL examples where people 'pick and choose' which aspects of their faith they follow. Star Wars doesn't really look deeply into religions outside of Force users but I'd imagine similar patterns hold true.

And even if Palpatine was a Baneite Sith...so what? You still have to prove a murder happened. You can't be guilty of a mundane crime just because your religion hypothetically tells you to commit it. If I believed in some religion that had human sacrifice as a tenant, the police can't arrest me on murder charges based purely on my beliefs alone; they'd need evidence I'd actually murdered somebody first. Same thing with Palpatine as Sith.
KraytKing wrote: 2019-04-08 11:54pmThis is Jedi being Jedi. They aren't politicians. Mace is quoted in Clone Wars saying "Politicians have no voice in Jedi matters." The Jedi aren't used to being disobeyed or contested when they make a ruling. It's worked out for them in the past, but this time they played straight into Palpatine's hands. They actually attempted a coup, but this time there was an army backing up the man they tried to arrest. If it had been up to me, Palpatine's arrest would have been handled by clones and Order 66 would have been a proper military communique delivered through proper channels, not some winkly man who could really be anyone personally calling his marshals.
Pretty much. They had such confidence in the rightness of their cause - and that the Senate would come around to their side, once they told them "Hey Palpatine was a Sith Lord honest!" - that they went right in. As they always did.

But ol' Palps outplayed them and outplayed them hard. Of course it didn't help that it also turned out Sidious was more powerful than three Jedi Masters and able to - at the very least - hold his own against a fourth, depending on whether or not you believe he was "faking it" when Mace had him cornered as Anakin arrived. Had they been successful in their attempt to arrest/kill the enemy Sith Lord, the Jedi probably were confident they could deal with whatever aftermath. And without Palpatine alive to initiate Order 66, they may have been right.
Image
"How can I wait unknowing?
This is the price of war,
We rise with noble intentions,
And we risk all that is pure..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, Forever (Rome: Total War)

"On and on, through the years,
The war continues on..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, We Are All One (Medieval 2: Total War)
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight
User avatar
K. A. Pital
Glamorous Commie
Posts: 20813
Joined: 2003-02-26 11:39am
Location: Elysium

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by K. A. Pital »

Is this seen as a religion, though, or is this (ie the Dark Side) more like open Nazism / fascism, or a murder cult with actual killings? The story of a secret Nazi, or a Kali worshipper who kills routinely, being your head of state is something different from a matter of mere religious disagreement. :P
Lì ci sono chiese, macerie, moschee e questure, lì frontiere, prezzi inaccessibile e freddure
Lì paludi, minacce, cecchini coi fucili, documenti, file notturne e clandestini
Qui incontri, lotte, passi sincronizzati, colori, capannelli non autorizzati,
Uccelli migratori, reti, informazioni, piazze di Tutti i like pazze di passioni...

...La tranquillità è importante ma la libertà è tutto!
Assalti Frontali
User avatar
NeoGoomba
Sith Devotee
Posts: 3269
Joined: 2002-12-22 11:35am
Location: Upstate New York

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by NeoGoomba »

Here's a question that I'm not sure was ever covered in either EU - Force Users who aren't Jedi. Was there any kind of law (heavily prescribed by the Jedi Order no doubt) that would outlaw Force use unless "sanctioned" by the Jedi? Like let's say some Force Sensitive kid somehow slips through the cracks of testing (one more statistic in the Educational System) and goes on to, if not master, but have a reasonable control of their minor Force powers. Would it have been illegal in the Old Republic for said non-Jedi person to use their powers in a non-violent way?
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know...tomorrow."
-Agent Kay
User avatar
Civil War Man
NERRRRRDS!!!
Posts: 3790
Joined: 2005-01-28 03:54am

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Civil War Man »

NeoGoomba wrote: 2019-04-09 09:06am Here's a question that I'm not sure was ever covered in either EU - Force Users who aren't Jedi. Was there any kind of law (heavily prescribed by the Jedi Order no doubt) that would outlaw Force use unless "sanctioned" by the Jedi? Like let's say some Force Sensitive kid somehow slips through the cracks of testing (one more statistic in the Educational System) and goes on to, if not master, but have a reasonable control of their minor Force powers. Would it have been illegal in the Old Republic for said non-Jedi person to use their powers in a non-violent way?
I would assume not, unless the council was planning on having Anakin euthanized when they initially rejected Qui-Gon's petition to have him trained as a Jedi. If it's Jedi policy to reject potential students for being too old (meaning the Jedi didn't catch them early enough), then it's presumably legal to be a Force user who is not a Jedi, so long as you don't break any other laws.

There's also the case of the Lost Twenty, which includes Dooku, so it's also legal for Jedi to leave the Order.

However, I could see some special laws being made targeting independent Force users. Like, for example, using the Force during the commission of a crime may increase the severity of the crime, or be a crime in and of itself, similar to how some real-life jurisdictions have increased penalties if you use a gun to commit a crime.
User avatar
Lord Revan
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 12211
Joined: 2004-05-20 02:23pm
Location: Zone:classified

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Lord Revan »

Civil War Man wrote: 2019-04-09 09:51am
NeoGoomba wrote: 2019-04-09 09:06am Here's a question that I'm not sure was ever covered in either EU - Force Users who aren't Jedi. Was there any kind of law (heavily prescribed by the Jedi Order no doubt) that would outlaw Force use unless "sanctioned" by the Jedi? Like let's say some Force Sensitive kid somehow slips through the cracks of testing (one more statistic in the Educational System) and goes on to, if not master, but have a reasonable control of their minor Force powers. Would it have been illegal in the Old Republic for said non-Jedi person to use their powers in a non-violent way?
I would assume not, unless the council was planning on having Anakin euthanized when they initially rejected Qui-Gon's petition to have him trained as a Jedi. If it's Jedi policy to reject potential students for being too old (meaning the Jedi didn't catch them early enough), then it's presumably legal to be a Force user who is not a Jedi, so long as you don't break any other laws.

There's also the case of the Lost Twenty, which includes Dooku, so it's also legal for Jedi to leave the Order.

However, I could see some special laws being made targeting independent Force users. Like, for example, using the Force during the commission of a crime may increase the severity of the crime, or be a crime in and of itself, similar to how some real-life jurisdictions have increased penalties if you use a gun to commit a crime.
From what I gathered there was a sort "gentleman's aggreement" between the Jedi Order and various independent Force users, that independents don't use or train their abilities that much and in exchange the Jedi Order leaves mostly to themselves, in Rogue One it was implied that some of the "Force cults" at Jedha have been in good terms with the Jedi Order dispite arguebly being low end Force users.

So if Anakin Skywalker had become a professional Podracer instead of a jedi the Jedi Order wouldn't had care from what I understood as long Anakin didn't use the Force to cheat or do crimes.
I may be an idiot, but I'm a tolerated idiot
"I think you completely missed the point of sigs. They're supposed to be completely homegrown in the fertile hydroponics lab of your mind, dried in your closet, rolled, and smoked...
Oh wait, that's marijuana..."Einhander Sn0m4n
User avatar
FaxModem1
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7700
Joined: 2002-10-30 06:40pm
Location: In a dark reflection of a better world

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by FaxModem1 »

We know what happens to those force users who can't hack it in the Jedi Order, but can't be trained, they are considered washouts and join the Agri Corps. Basically, an organization full of Force using washouts who work to better the galaxy through non-profit work via farming, maintenance, etc.

So, yeah. Chances of Anakin being euthanized are slim to none.
Image
User avatar
Civil War Man
NERRRRRDS!!!
Posts: 3790
Joined: 2005-01-28 03:54am

Re: Legality of Being A Sith In The Old Republic

Post by Civil War Man »

For the record, I was being sarcastic when I talked about Anakin being euthanized for being too old.
Post Reply