Jodo Kast Jun 9, 2006
I had this idea today and quickly jotted it down....
In a desperation move, Congress passed the Total Abolishment of Crime Act in 2044 due to the deaths of an estimated 13,000 young children by a posse of crazed individuals. The posse, known as “Enlightment” spent years kidnaping children and killing them, never desiring ransom nor showing sympathy. The TAC ACT, among other things, allowed anyone - any citizen to take the law into their own hands, since law enforcement could not handle the excessive crime rate. The TAC helped considerably since it allowed a group of citizens, more qualified than real police officers, to do something about crime and not worry about getting in trouble.
The TAC was twofold in its plea for help. One plea was to the general populace - the other was to physicists. The physicists were given a larger budget and asked to invent something that would speed up the due process of law. In 2078, the physicists completed their task. The invention ultimately eliminated lawyers, judges, and juries from existence. No one could ever, or would ever, want to hold such a position anymore. The invention was jokingly called “Old Light” but its official name was “Tachyonic Photon”. Although it cost more than 100 trillion dollars to develop, it has been praised as the most important invention ever, even eclipsing the computer. In laymen terms, it views the past. Not a probable past - but what actually happened. Consequently, every history textbook was rewritten. History was no longer “another college degree” - it became a lifelong pursuit for many, even for people that previously had no interest. With respect to crime, it did not prevent it since the physicists never figured out how to view the future. But that wasn’t their task; they were asked to speed up due process of law. By laying out the past on a silver platter, the determination of guilt or innocence could be settled in minutes, not years. And it was truthful, not relying upon the opinions of some (jurors) while being persuaded by others (lawyers).
By 2085, the crime rate had dropped considerably. Congress wanted more. They wanted crime eliminated completely because of a recent discovery. The physicists could not figure out how to view the future, so crime could not be predicted with 100% accuracy. In another desperation move, Congress created a new department. It was titled simply:
DEPARTMENT OF PUNISHMENT
