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[mainiac]

The discussion of robo-cop in the other thread gave me an idea for a powerful but fairly straightforward piece of science fiction technology that could be added to the game: the v-chip.  The arch conservative cousin of the TV modification, this brain implant controls the victims behavoir "for their own safety."  The v-chip would be invented and announced in the news once the public support is in favor of the liberal agenda, making the game harder when you're winning, not losing.  The v-chip does severely restricts the actions that a liberal is capable of taking, rendering even elite liberals nearly helpless.  Anything illegal, violent or rebellious is prevented i.e. combat, recruiting, hacking, disturbing the peace even holding spraypaint and much more.  Only completely peaceful actions are allowed like first-aid and seduction. 

Whenever a liberal is arrested, they are immediately fitted with a v-chip.  For minor crimes, the v-chip will be removed after the liberal stands trial whether found guilty or innocent but if the defendants rap sheet is hot enough, the v-chip stays, even a sleeper judge will have their v-chip removal overruled on appeal.  And if you free a liberal from prison before they stand trial, the will automatically be v-chipped.  In an arch conservative society, you can free a liberal without them being killed, but in a liberal society, it's almost impossible to escape without being chipped.

The v-chip isn't a life sentence, but it's not easy to escape.  After a long time (several years?), a v-chip will break down, freeing the victim.  If law enforcement, free speech and the supreme court are L+, v-chips will be banned but by then you've almost won the game.  Likewise, if the country starts turning conservative again, the v-chip will become infrequent.  Conservatives prefer conservative "justice" to the v-chip so if a liberal is beaten when freed from the lockup or prison then their v-chip was disabled so the cops claim they were "provoked".

[Servant Corps]

Actuall,y wouldn't this v-chip be the ELITE LIBERAL cousin of the TV modification? Violence is arch-conservative after all, and placing v-chips in all criminals (liberal or conservative) would be an effective way to stop crime.

[E. Albright]

Well, no, because it repudiates notions of the rehabilitative role of the justice system in favor of eliminating personal liberty. You're not being touchy-feely and empathizing about the criminal's extenuating circumstances and traumatic childhood in order to show them they can one day hope to become a useful member of society, you're giving up and slapping a chip in their head to control them 24/7. To phrase it in stereotypical liberal terms. Or rather, in terms of stereotypes of liberals.

[Servant Corps]

Yeah, but restricting violence entirely seems to be something a elite liberal would do. That's why you ban guns, not go be touchy-feely about how those guns used in violence are being used in extenutating circumstances and that those guns may one day be useful for self-defense...

Maybe Elite Liberals would prefer it to be a voluntary proposal, for people who really do want to redeem themselves but feel worried that their conservative nature would prevent them from full rehabilitation (People with high hearts are likely to accept a v-chip when offered, actually providing a good reason to be Wise).

[E. Albright]

Voluntary use I could see... especially in lieu of prison sentences. Offering a mechanical "instant rehabilitation" option seems liberal (sez the left-anarchist...)

[mainiac]

Well, voluntary users wouldn't include LCS members, so that would basically remove the chip once the country is elite enough.

[Leafsnail]

This sounds more like an arch conservative thing, to be honest.  Liberals were up in arms about the real life verichip, so they would probably think of this as a gross breach of freedom.  Most liberals aren't happy with the idea of people having DNA samples taken - would they really support a chip like this?

[E. Albright]

Tie it to privacy, then. It can come into play only privacy is low enough (C? C+?). If privacy is low and so are penal conditions, it can be involuntarily installed. If penal conditions are high (though perhaps not too high?), it can be given as an option in lieu of jail time (or perhaps only in lieu of the death penalty or life sentences). If privacy raises enough, the option to have it removed at the clinic becomes available, and/or an amendment banning them could open up (tied to opinion on both privacy and prison).

[Leafsnail]

Yes, that would make sense.  Possibly DNA tests could be performed too, as another way of finding people after a crime.  It could go something like:

Elite liberal privacy laws - no DNA samples taken
Liberal privacy laws - DNA samples taken voluntarily
Moderate privacy laws - DNA of convicted criminals is taken
Conservative privacy laws - DNA of anyone arrested (even if not convicted) is taken
Arch conservative privacy laws - compulsory DNA samples taken

Having your DNA on record could speed up the time it takes to tie the crime to you, and provide evidence against you in court.  In an arch conservative society it would be a criminal offence to resist having a DNA sample taken.  In a liberal society it could be that after a major crime a voluntary screening programme begins (much like what happens in the UK at the moment).  Obviously you wouldn't volunteer the actual culprit for the test, but volunteering a few innocents could lower heat.

Perhaps there could also be something for keeping DNA on file:
Elite liberal - no DNA samples are taken, so it doesn't matter
Liberal - DNA samples are immediately destroyed after they've been scanned against crimes
Moderate - DNA samples are kept for 2 years after the person has emerged from prison
Conservative - DNA samples are kept for up to 5 years after an arrest or jail term
Arch conservative - all DNA samples are kept indefinately.

I know there are few people in real life who would advocate either the Elite Liberal or the Arch Conservative viewpoint, but few would advocate, for instance "Violent criminals let out of jail to house drug offenders", and it kind of fits with the rather over the top nature of this game.

Perhaps problems could occur if people began to support political violence, though, increasing the chances of you being randomly attacked by someone with different political views.

[mainiac]

It can come into play only privacy is low enough (C? C+?).

While it may be more "realistic" to have it come into play when privacy is conservative enough,
I think it would be better for gameplay to have it come into play when the player is winning, not losing.  But this makes sense in it's own way because 1)the v-chip exists because society is turning away from conservative violence 2) it represents a dystopian future that is the corruption of liberal successes (like minority report.)

If this topic is also going to segue into DNA, then my 2 cents is that I don't really think that DNA testing is conservative, it's more neutral.  DNA testing is in fact the darling of many liberal organizations since it has exonerated people falsely convicted of murder.  On the other hand DNA testing does represent a privacy concern however liberal activist judges and juries love invalidating and ignoring DNA proof of guilt like w/ the OJ case.  All in all, I'd suggest that it's too much of a mixed bag to be one of the games issues.

[Leafsnail]

The OJ innocence verdict was based mainly upon the low reliability of the test when African Americans were concerned.

[Yanlin]

Yes, you know all that fancy stuff.

You don't just have to prove guilty, you have to prove guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

[Leafsnail]

Unfortunately, "Reasonable doubt" is a rather objective term, and it seems that judges disagree on it.

Actually, it would be nice to have other ways to defend yourself in court.  Maybe an insanity plea (potential to reduce sentence and go into a secure hospital instead, but could cause problems if it fails), the ability to deny some charges but plead guilty to others or the ability to change a charge (like to down grade murder to manslaughter) could all be interesting.

[EuchreJack]

What about giving up the location of a safehouse (instant raid) to have murder downgraded to illegal possession of a firearm?

In most cases, this is a pretty raw deal.  The juice of the liberal should go down drastically as well.  But, there are some liberals that might be worth saving.

[mainiac]

This topic made a sharp turn, I tried to jump back on when it swerved again and I landed on my face.

Sooo... v-chips?