Martial Law

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by RN7

I think in MilGov controlled areas you are going to see perpetual de facto Martial Law due to the fact that the military has replaced all forms of civilian authority, including any remnant police forces.

Agreed. I imagine that on the whole any surviving pre War civilian law enforcement officers are likely to be absorbed into the military structure, possibly into provisional MP units that would also include personnel from the various support arms / the Air Force / the Navy etc.

So you might end up with an MP Company that is 10% pre War MP’s (who would form the leadership), 10% pre War LEO’s, and 80% surplus personnel. The LEO’s are given military rank (maybe E5 / E6 dependent on their pre War police rank), military uniform, equipment etc.

But it’s the military calling the shots and administering their interpretation of the law. I think your Judges are more likely to be military officers. In some areas that may be the remnants of the JAG Corps, in others simply the senior military officer or someone appointed by him / her. I can see wide variations dependent on the attitude of the local commander – for example in some areas looting may be deemed to be a capital offence, in others it may not. What constitutes looting may also be subject to interpretation. To use an extreme example, a man can claim he stole food for his family. Whether he’s hanged for looting or let go with a slap on the wrist may depend which Judge he finds himself up in front of.

Originally Posted by RN7

In CivGov areas maybe some civil law and even regular police, but I think they would be strictly under CivGov military control and they might just only exist as a token nod to their civil legal legitimacy.

Other than the fact that CivGov claims to represent the surviving elected government of the US I don't really see that much difference between both groups.

Again, agreed. At the sharp end the only tangible difference might be that in some areas the police officers would still wear their pre War uniforms allowing CivGov to claim that the civilian police still have primacy and the military are simply ‘assisting’ them. Those brought in front of the Courts probably have a much higher chance of coming before a civilian Judge but again you could run the full gamut from an experienced – and fair – pre War Judge to someone whose sole qualification is that they are a crony of the local ‘Mayor’ (who is himself self appointed).

Under both governments I’m sure there would also be individuals who would never find themselves in front of any sort of Judge and would be subjected to summary justice.