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[impure_tale]

A recent matter appears to have spurred some discussion, and considering my involvement, I suppose that since one person has already apparently made his views quite public, it is only fair that I do the same, only conversely I will have the backbone to make it so that he can view and respond to my remarks.

To keep it brief I will spare you my usual style for something a little more stilted.

Some nights ago, my item warned me of my Inmate being in danger, and naturally I armed myself and went seeking him first in his cabin, which is where I found him, along with Captain Swing, who had bound and was presently torturing him, using a sharpened implement of some crude form to cut him open in multiple places. There was so much blood I could smell it upon entering the room. I spoke, alerting the culprit of my presence, and when I saw the whites of his eyes, I shot him.

I do not deny my doing so. I would also say that I do not apologize, but I do, quite humbly, to his Warden, because he is charged with Swing's protection and discipline, and by what laws the Wardens like to collectively hold one another to, I have therefore overstepped my bounds in defense of my own Inmate.

I did not find out about an incident between the two after the fact and seek Swing out to retaliate. I did not follow a lead built up on rumor and speculation and move to correct it. I did not attack an innocent. My Inmate was being flayed alive, and I acted. This is not a choice that I take lightly -- I have not killed a man since I was younger than all but a few of you on this ship, when I served my country in times of war. And as I intimated to Professor Snape in private conversation, if I were to have found an enemy combatant in the tent of a soldier for whom I was responsible, doing the same as Captain Swing was doing, I would have still done what I did a few nights ago.

I will conclude by re-iterating this: The well-being of my Inmate, and his continued progress, is of the utmost importance to me, and I intend to continue to protect him aggressively. That is fair warning to anyone who might intend to harm him, because for some of you it takes knowing that much to convince you to use common sense and forgo violence. That is not to say that every slight against him earns a pistol shot. If he has attacked you, then inform me, and I will punish him. If you defend yourself against his attack, he will be punished. No one here can claim I spoil my Inmate. I do not.

Torture, however, is not a defensive measure. If I had  caught anyone in Swing's position that night, they would be recovering from death toll right now.

All of this having been said, I submit myself to whatever measures the other Wardens see fit to level against me, though I maintain that the Doctor really is the only one with the right to state what those should be.

[Private to Iago]

...I do not know how you are recovering, but I shall come in to check on you soon. I am concerned, however, that the other Wardens may attempt to re-sort you over this. I will do my best to see to it this does not happen, but I apologize, Iago, if my rash decision comes to harm you further.

Comments

[pleasesmirk.livejournal.com]

I never once argued that I was taking a defensive measure. I never once argued that what I was doing at that time was right, nor that you did not have a right to stop me.

My objection was to the fact I knew nothing of the fact you were armed, with a weapon I barely understand, and prepared to kill me until you actually shot me. If you thought I was going to kill him, then I accept, yes, that was necessary. If I was armed with something more than a steel ruler, then I would have also accepted this. The reason I am objecting, and want something to be done, is because that was your first reaction, and was, in my view, disproportionate.

I have told nobody else anything but this on the matter. I have not lied or made something out to be something it was not. I'm not coming to write this to antagonise anything, but to make my objection exceptionally clear.

[impure-tale.livejournal.com]

I did not intend to insinuate that you were taking a defensive measure, merely clarifying that I will not attack someone who fights with my Inmate out of self-defense.

You claim my first reaction was disproportionate, but can you honestly tell me you'll do that again without thinking twice about it first?

And you did not see fit to make your objection exceptionally clear to me when you initially wrote it, did you?

[pleasesmirk.livejournal.com]

I know. I was merely clarifying that I wasn't trying to portray myself as an innocent victim in this.

I would have thought about it twice for the sheer fact I was caught. Why do you think it has been at least six months since I attempted to do such a thing, if not more. It is my warden's job to deter me from doing such things, through punishment, not yours through shooting me.

I wanted to make it clear to everyone else, first.

[impure-tale.livejournal.com]

Or you wanted to see if the matter might be handled without ever granting me a say in it.

Private

[heavenonthemind.livejournal.com]

I spoke with Swing and he claimed that he tortured Iago to protect me.

Private

[impure-tale.livejournal.com]

Then I think it's safe to say that he made the wrong decision, did he not?

Re: Private

[heavenonthemind.livejournal.com]

Yes, I suppose he did. Thank you, Marquis, for not blaming me.

[captain-jtkirk.livejournal.com]

You'll have no complaint from me.

[impure-tale.livejournal.com]

Sensible of you.

Private

[inhumandog.livejournal.com]

You saved me the trouble of doing it myself, behind your back.

I do not blame you for anything that might happen. Take pity on the poor soul they might reassign me to.

I was not aware Wardens had this power over one another, however.

Private

[impure-tale.livejournal.com]

Allowing the group as a whole power is better than what occurs when everyone is for themselves, unfortunately.

Private

[inhumandog.livejournal.com]

I disagree. But, of course, that is why I am still here.

Do not worry about me, Marquis.

a warden filter - because that's where most of it's addressed.

[kingfor-aday.livejournal.com]

Wait a second. Is nobody, seriously, objecting to this? Are we going to condone somebody being killed?

Alright, it was in defence of your inmate, I can see it wasn't an easy decision to make or a remotely easy situation to make, and I'm not about to take sides in a matter where I'm fairly sure you were both in the wrong. Deep in the wrong. Because to put it bluntly, you killed him, when you didn't have to. You made a conscious decision to kill him. That's not acceptable, as far as I'm concerned.

I don't think this can just be let to pass because, as much as I hate to say it, Swing is right, it was disproportionate. That amount of force, from what I have read from both parties, wasn't necessary. I understand that, yes, Swing did something horrible and disgusting, but killing him was not the right way of stopping him when there were other options avaliable. I don't think this was right, and I don't think we should let it pass.

a warden filter - he's defending his former Inmate d'aww

[captain-jtkirk.livejournal.com]

I have to ask, what would you have done in his situation?

I'll readily admit that in the same situation, I would have shot any person trying to harm my Inmate and while I also admit that the worst I would have done is stun the bastard, the Marquis can hardly claim to have the same option available to him. There's not the resources to produce phasers for every Warden here. He believes that he was working with what he had to his advantage, from what I gather.

I don't think that killing is the first option in any situation, you're right but it sounds like to me that he let the situation get the better of him and he reacted accordingly. And it sounds like a product of his time.

a warden filter - threadhoppin your faces

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

I'm with the good captain on this one. Would've killed the nutter too, like the Marquis said, even if the inmate wasn't my own.

a warden filter -

[kingfor-aday.livejournal.com]

I don't have a gun or a phaser, so neither are an option for me. I would have restrained him by force, and a proportionate amount of it. I would have handcuffed him and used the resources I had at my disposal, and the training I've had - which promotes the dealing with the high majority of situations without the need for recourse to any kind of arms, only restraint.

If I was armed, and was not strong enough to restrain him using the training I've had, I would have threatened him with a weapon. If there was any cause to use violence, I would have shot him non-fatally.

Murder is not justified, and we have to be rational enough not to let the situation get the better of us, no matter how angry or upset we are. We have to act sensibly, and not simply with our gut reactions.

I want to know how I am supposed to tell my inmate that murder is wrong, unless in situations where you have no other option to defend yourself, when we allow this? It's contradictory.

Warden filter

[tadwizard.livejournal.com]

I can't. If I had a gun and saw someone torturing my inmate, or even my inmate torturing someone else? I'd do whatever I could to stop it, and that might mean killing them. Don't know if I'd really be able to pull the trigger, but I know that depending on how dangerous the person is? Hesitation and giving them a warning is just an opening for them to get your gun away from you.

Warden filter

[kingfor-aday.livejournal.com]

No, it's standard practice. You don't shoot without warning unless the other person is severely better armed than you and you feel your life is at risk. Getting your gun away from you is why there should be less guns around this place, not why we should shoot first and ask questions later.

Killing someone is a last resort and not a first. Even if you are going to use a gun, shoot non-fatally. That's another good starting point.

Warden filter

[alzarian-youth.livejournal.com]

I think if nothing else, if that is his first reaction, he shouldn't be provided with such a lethal weapon. Lots of wardens here do well enough without any lethal weapons. The Doctors have done quite a bit with sonic screwdrivers against people and various aliens with perfectly murderous intent, after all.

Re: Warden filter

[kingfor-aday.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Marquis ignores filters just to be a dick.

[impure-tale.livejournal.com]

If I might interject. I have not suggested in my statement that I am innocent, which you appear to imply.

[kingfor-aday.livejournal.com]

Actually, I noticed that. Your honesty was appreciated, trust me, I was objecting to everyone else acting as if you'd done nothing wrong in the matter. I was objecting to that opinon, not accusing you of asserting it.

[doctor-scarf.livejournal.com]

I guess I should voice my opinions on this matter, shouldn't I.

Yes, Swing was torturing Iago. In that regard, the Marquis was right when it came to acting. You humans get so emotional-it makes sense that the Marquis would want to shoot Swing. After all, Iago was his inmate. It also makes sense that the Marquis would shoot to kill. After all, Swing obviously wasn't in his right mind, as shown by the torture. We all can agree that he had to be stopped. However, the question begs 'why didn't the Marquis just shoot to wound'. Again, we look back on emotion. In a moment like that, where a brief, quick decision has to be made. The Marquis did what he did. I don't blame him for killing my inmate.

As for regards to punishing the Marquis, the obvious answer is that we don't have any rules or regulations on that so we should let it go. However, I don't like the obvious answer so I'll make my point. I don't think we should punish him. The Marquis acted on what was best for his inmate. Isn't that what we're supposed to do anyway?

And frankly-I think this experience will be helpful to Swing. At least it will make him think twice about torture.

swing is a pissy, pissy little thing at times.

[pleasesmirk.livejournal.com]

Doctor. You can't seriously be excusing my murder... Nobody should let their emotions get the better of them to the point of killing someone.

Maybe there should be rules and regulations on this kind of thing, because... well, I caused Iago serious injury, I understand that, I do. But, maybe as much as I hate to admit it, I'm an inmate, you know what I did for a living, you can expect that off me. But surely someone in a position of authority should act better than killing someone - surely they should consider that twice. Or are you condoning it as an action, and the next time I come across someone doing something wrong that needs stopping, should I let my emotions get the better of me, and stab him in the back? No doublestandards, after all, Doctor.

[doctor-scarf.livejournal.com]

Swing, you would do the same. There's an expression: "he who is without sin shall cast the first stone." Keep that in mind.