Solomon's Private File #200
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 24 in this story, in the Summer of 2050.
Solomon's Private File #200 "About the Law"
START Page
There was a big jetliner approaching La Guardia Airport in New York.
Tower couldn't contact it. Homeland Security was informed and fighter
jets were scrambled. I said to the HS man in charge, "Not a threat.
Radio broken. Allow me to repair it?" He said, "Yes, please." I said,
"Done. Oh boy does that pilot sound relieved!" Chuckles. He said to me,
"We're standing down if you verify no threat." I said, "Verified." He
said, "This will have to be on the report. Can't hide anything from
FAA." I said, "I know. Thanks for your concern. Good job on the alert."
We shook hands and I left.
There was a big international air show in France. Russian fighter
jets were performing group stunts, when one clipped another. They both
tumbled to the ground. Crew of one ejected. I lowered both planes
gently to the ground. I shifted there, and removed the canopy, and
lifted the two crew-members out and laid them on the runway. All that
was with invisible 4th hands. I glowed and repaired their injuries. I
bowed to them while they were getting up, and then bowed to the stands,
and vanished.
George said to me, "Give me the detector web settings for aircraft in
danger. Oh! That's complicated! I'll assign parts around. Use your
image?" I said, "Yes. Can't look too spooky. Where you think the almost
real me is needed, let me know." He said, "Will do."
I showed what I did in Mongolia to Granddad. He said, "I see a
problem for us." I said, "Precedent is for international law, which I
didn't actually make. Inside a country, all are subject to ITS laws."
He said, "I see. You're going to explain this on air?" I said, "And
more thoroughly. The world and CNN will practically demand it of me,
and, which will make Yale hound me to let them award me a law degree."
He grinned. I said, "Just for that, maybe I won't tell you why I knew
Japan would win." He said, "Grin removed. Well, I'm trying." We
chuckled. I said, "The principle China wanted to use, which we all knew
they would use, because they have, works both ways, which I made very
clear in the beginning. And I hosted the hearing in a country that had
conquered all of China before, who could then make a valid claim to own
China." He said, "Wow!" I said, "I would have had to tell them rather
bluntly, if I hadn't done that. Helping them to see it for themselves,
was why I had it in Mongolia. The Prime Minister there knew it, and the
Japanese PM suspected, but none of us said it, allowing our omission of
that reason to go unchallenged. I didn't influence the outcome, but
made it happen with less bad feelings." He said, "That deserves another
wow." We hugged and kissed with love. I gave him a crystal of our
meeting that he could pass around.
By appointment, I shifted to meet the pres of CNN. Without a word, I
gave him the crystal. He said, "Wow! This is real news!" I said, "What
was it before, chopped liver?" He laughed. I said, "Here's the files.
You run it, people are going to demand for me to explain it, and why I
did it. Give it a few days, and say I'll do a show a few days after
that. Draw a lot of viewers." He said, "I sincerely hope you don't want
my job!" I said, "A demotion?" He laughed. He said, "It actually would
be. It's going to draw governments, too." I said, "Sure will. I'm off
to State, now." He said with a grin, "Good luck!" I grinned and shifted
away.
I shifted to meet with the Secretary of State. She read the crystal,
and said, "Wow!" I said, "CNN is going to run it, and I'll do a show a
few days after that. Native Americans are prepared. I told them it
involved international law, only. The key in the refused validation
was, 'above all other claims'." She said, "I noticed that. A very
narrow principle, which you didn't actually have to use, so it hasn't
been fully tested. You buffaloed them!" I said, "Not really. They knew
they couldn't use it, or Mongolia could claim to own them." She said,
"I saw that. Cute how you helped them to see it." I wiggled my eyebrows
at her, and said, "Yes." She chuckled. She said, "I liked what you said
about people wanting fairness. Could cut down on demands of you." I
said, "I hope! But I don't think it will, except from governments,
adding it to the election help show. Better hope your face doesn't
freeze like that." She laughed. She said, "I'll inform the President."
We hugged with love.
They broadcast the hearing, and there was a storm of comment about
it. A few days later they announced I would be doing a show about it.
Some of the storm died down, but not all. Then it was time for the
show. I shifted in before airtime. Greg introduced me to a guest I
would be sharing it with, Vance, an expert on international law. He
said, "I'm glad to help. People obviously don't understand what you
did, and how er, neat it was." I said, "Going to be a problem to
convince them. They don't want to know differently. Some don't even
realize that there were no politics involved." He said, "I saw that.
Strange. I guess they just don't know that politics IS." I said,
"Right. It's fighting with lies and insults." Chuckles. I said,
"International law is all about posturing." He said, "We can't say
that!" I just grinned, and Greg said, "Now you did it! Don't EVER say
that to him!" He understood, and had to laugh.
The show started, and Greg introduced us and why we were there. He
ran parts of the hearing. He said, "Our viewers have sent us a lot of
questions." I said, "Text is so easy on the ears." Chuckles. He said,
"Solomon, why did you do the arbitration between Japan and China?" I
said, "I agreed to arbitrate the dispute over that island for two
reasons. The Prime Minister of Japan asked me to, and a regular private
citizen was caught in the middle of the dispute through no fault of his
own. Then I asked the President of China if he would agree to it, and
he did, with my rules. That both countries should be represented, and
the owner of the island, and my ruling had to be binding on all
parties. That means they had to agree to it." He said, "What if one of
them had violated that agreement?" I said with a smile, "I'm sure I
could have thought of something interesting to do about it. After all,
I have what my father did, as inspiration." Grins. I said, "Are you
wishing, at least a little, that it actually happened, just so you
could see what I would do?" He said, "I have to admit it, just a
little." I said, "Big world out there. I'm sure you've got a lot of
company in that."
He cleared his throat, and said, "Do you think they asked you to do
this for the prestige?" I said, "You would have to ask them that, but
it wouldn't be too unusual if that were true, a little. I think it was
most because they knew I would be fair, and they could think of no
other workable solution but going to war. I don't like war. Too noisy.
But some of the current music, well, I've found myself wishing for a
little explosion or two." Laughter. Greg said, "I think some of our
viewers didn't fully understand what was happening in the hearing." I
said, "That's not surprising. Who but lawyers can understand any of
that legal stuff? Actually, don't you sometimes wonder if they really
understand it themselves? Just pretending they do?" He laughed and
said, "Actually, yes, a little." Vance cleared his throat. I said, "Oh!
Er, yes, Vance?" He chuckled. I said, "Present company excepted.
Naturally." He chuckled and said, "Naturally." We went to break.
I said, "I see you want to know what I''m doing. The humanizing bit.
Nothing is more irritating and boring to non law junkies, as law talk."
Vance said, "Got it. Hurts, but got it." I said, "We'll hug and make it
better, latter." He said, "That'll do it." Chuckles. Back on air, I
said, "Some people think I was playing with politics. They couldn't be
more mistaken. Well, where were the lies and insults?" Chuckles. I
said, "I'm actually serious. No Judge, which was what I was acting as,
would ever allow politics to enter his court. The law is all, which has
well defined principles, and I laid down that law in the beginning,
which is the duty of the Judge, so the Counsels will know the framework
in which they need to work. What I did with that was to establish the
equal application of the law. But not just for that case, but I snuck
in that it could apply to future cases, which is often so, but rarely
given the power of being so stated. And I did another sneaky thing. I
said that they could produce their evidence, but that I wouldn't be
limited by that. That meant I could use my own research as evidence,
which is very unusual in that kind of proceeding, and they agreed to
it. Perhaps because they didn't notice it."
I looked at Vance, and he said, "It was a neat trick. Both of them.
The first shows that he knew in advance what arguments they would use,
and that some evidence they would want to use, they couldn't find, or
had been destroyed. The most important part of that is he took charge
rather firmly, which was the only way to go, for such a high level
hearing. The result was that all were polite, even if their feelings
weren't. He handled it brilliantly." I said, "There is more. I made
them accept my decision without using any actual modern law, or
currently recognized principle of law. That's right. I ran a legal
hearing without laws being used in it." I looked at Vance, who said,
"Right. He used the threat of a bad application of a basic principle of
law that had been misused before as justification, being applied
equally. He didn't make that application invalid, he made one side
decide not to use it, and without even telling them not to. The Solomon
technique. He applies no force, so they can apply it to themselves." I
said, "Do you realize what you just DID!" He said, "Er, what?" Greg
said, "You just defined and named one of his techniques after him. Now
the whole world is going to embarrass him with it, every time he uses
it in one of his actions." He said, "Oh!" I said, "Oh, Greg? Didn't you
just cement that into place?" He said, "Oops!" I said, "Don't give me
that! You enjoyed doing that." He tried not to laugh. I said, "Let's go
I said to Vance, "Control room is almost in convulsions." Greg
nodded, and Vance laughed. Back on air, I said, "In a legal battle,
each side hopes the other side will be incompetent and not see the
weaknesses in their case. They also don't want to use arguments which
the other side will know better than they do, if they can help it.
China made that mistake twice. The second one was using war
reparations. Japan lost the war. When that happens, all captured
territory is usually returned to the victor, if theirs, and if not,
they become the property of the victor, unless other positive action is
taken by the victor. Interestingly, modern international law doesn't
actually support that, which had been the custom throughout prior
history. But China didn't win the war in the Pacific. America did, and
didn't officially give the island to China. That alone, would have won
the case for Japan, so they had to think hard about using their often
used primary justification." I nodded to Vance. He said, "China invaded
and occupied Tibet in 1959, using the justification that Tibet had
belonged to China before. That was not a valid sole justification under
international law. They weren't opposed, because other countries didn't
think Tibet was worth going to war with China, over. That emboldened
China to continue to use that justification to try to acquire more
territory, and they obviously came to believe it was actually real.
Solomon established in his hearing that all laws used would be applied
fairly and equally, and not just for that case, but for future cases.
Then he helped the lawyers from China to notice that the country they
were in, Mongolia, had conquered all of China in the past, and with the
legal principle China wanted to use, would mean that Mongolia could own
China. That put them in a bit of a panic. That's why they had to make
some calls."
Vance said, "And now you know why Solomon talked about what fairness
is, while they were waiting. When the lawyers came back, they had to
withdraw that part of their case. Solomon had showed them that what
they wanted to use wasn't just unfair, but stupid, and he didn't have
to say it to have them realize it. It turned out that the only proof
that the island belonged to any country was agreed to by the Chinese in
saying that Japan had taken it in war, and had never given it back, and
that is legal by default unless challenged in a full international
court, which they couldn't do, because they had agreed to be bound by
Solomon's decision as final. He trapped them!" I said, "No, Vance, I
didn't trap anybody. If anybody was trapped, they did it themselves. I
didn't plan any of this. Each side did. As Judge, I only presided, and
ruled on the evidence presented. Judges do not have the power to do
anything beyond that, and they shouldn't try. I think a lot of people
don't fully understand that. There are no real so called activist
judges. They are required to rule only on the evidence that is
presented to them, based on the laws of their jurisdiction, and their
interpretations of them, and they themselves, and their decisions, are
subject to review. China didn't present a good case, and instead
actually helped the other side to win. I didn't expect them to use the
war prize tactic. Foolish move, but they were desperate. People
shouldn't make important decisions in that state." He said,
"Absolutely! I have to agree." We went to break.
Back from break, Greg said, "Were there any other arguments either
side could have made?" I said, "Possibly. If there were, I shouldn't
discuss them, which might give one side or another an advantage in a
future similar situation. That's another obligation of a judge. We
don't take sides, even after the trial." Greg said, "Do you think,
because you are obviously fair, and really know what you're doing,
other countries and people will ask you to do this for them?" I said,
"Absolutely not! I doubt that many will ask me to help them like I did.
Tell me, which would you want, a judge that is totally fair, or one you
think you can make sympathetic to your cause?" He said, "I see what you
mean. What about people who are sure their cause is a slam dunk?" I
said, "And how many of those slam dunk people are fooling themselves?"
Vance said, "I'll take that. Most of them. The worst kind of client.
Lawyers have been assaulted for losing those impossible cases." I said,
"One more thing about this case. I was working in the area of
International Law. Disputes inside countries, use the domestic laws of
those countries, not laws that are made to work between countries. And
I set no precedent in my hearing."
Vance said, "I think the problem the Chinese had was they didn't take
you seriously as an expert in this." I said, "It could be they didn't.
They could have done a little better. And no, I'm not going to express
an opinion regarding what their chances could have been. I do have to
say this whole thing isn't anywhere near the top of my fun activity
list. I will probably do it again if asked, and I thought it was
appropriate, but part of me is wishing it doesn't happen. Watching
people fight with each other, even politely, is not an activity I
enjoy." They nodded. I said, "I knew it! I'm getting contacted
regarding the awarding of a law degree. Are they TRYING to make me
depressed?" Chuckles. I said, "I think I'm going to have to go look for
a bigger office. Used up all the wall space already. I will NOT put
diplomas on the floor." Chuckles. I said, "I think we're out of
questions." Greg said, "I think we are. Than you Solomon and Vance for
helping us to understand these issues." We were off air.
Vance said, "Which university are you going to choose?" I said, "How
do you know I will?" He said, "You're supremely logical. If you think
you might do this again, you know that real credentials will enhance
your authority in this area, so you will acquire them." I said simply,
"Don't do that." Chuckles. I said to him, "It was good working with
you. Er, except for that last bit." Chuckles. We hugged with love. I
said, "Yale." I shifted away.
I shifted to Yale. I said, "So you want to legalize me. First my
father. Then Hawk. That wasn't enough?" The Chair said, "Actually, no.
Did you teach Hawk?" I said, "I made customized study crystals for him.
Does that qualify?" He said, "I'd like to think it does." He said,
"Please give us course material and dissertations, and other articles
you've already created for us." I handed them over. I said, "Before you
ask, those cover national, federal, and constitutional law, and all the
states and territories. And then many other countries, and
international law. Ah, I er, apologize for the extra work. I don't do
half measures." He said, "Indeed you don't! Another office you WILL
need." I just groaned. They chuckled.
It happened. I received a Juris Doctorate, and PhDs in Constitutional
Law, International Law, and Political Science. I said to Hawk, "If I
get sick of this, does it make me illegal?" He said, "For us birds of a
feather, yes." Pokes, and hugs and kisses with love.
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Grant
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