You are the captain...

[Trek Writers Room]

Every week, I'll present a challenging Command Decision for you to consider. Choose between the available options, and if you like, track your answers over time to gain insight into your command style.

Scenario: While on shore leave on a non-Federation planet, your Chief Engineer committed a minor offense by speaking out of turn to a village elder. As a result, they have been sentenced to a one-year prison term.

Do you:
1. Leave them behind to serve their sentence, or
2. Beam them back to the ship and immediately leave the system?

Attempts to find legal remedies through negotiation have failed, leaving you with only these two options. What would you do?
Thoughts and comments are welcome.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

What are the conditions of the prison? Assuming it's humane, leaving them behind, rather than pulling a quick escape stunt, would buy goodwill and time to further negotiate.

I would ask the engineer what he/she would want me to do. If I know them like I think I do, they'd choose the same thing-their people are well-trained and trusted-and that way, it wouldn't feel like I was imposing the choice on them.

 

[Trek Writers Room]

Thanks for responding!

 

[CaptainCalvinCat]

That's a tough one. I'd probably try something like "eating the cake and having it in the refridgerator, too" - meaning "okay, the Chief-Engineer will be punished, but on our ship. If you want, you can beam up, too, see for yourself, that we do, as we say, but this person is the person, who keeps the ship running, so we kinda-sorta need that person. Plus, if you're inclined to say "No, the sentence must be served here" - I'd say "Okay, I do that. I beam down, you can put me behind bars, since I'm the captain, so I'm responsible for the acts of my crew."

 

[FredH]

Every week, I'll present a challenging Command Decision for you to consider. Choose between the available options, and if you like, track your answers over time to gain insight into your command style.

Scenario: While on shore leave on a non-Federation planet, your Chief Engineer committed a minor offense by speaking out of turn to a village elder. As a result, they have been sentenced to a one-year prison term.

Do you:
1. Leave them behind to serve their sentence, or
2. Beam them back to the ship and immediately leave the system?

Attempts to find legal remedies through negotiation have failed, leaving you with only these two options. What would you do?
Thoughts and comments are welcome.

Am I the Captain of a private ship, or a Starfleet vessel?

 

[Trek Writers Room]

Starfleet. Sorry I will make that more clear in the future! Thanks

 

[FredH]

Starfleet. Sorry I will make that more clear in the future! Thanks

Okay, thanks. And drat — if it were a private ship, I’d just beam the Engineer back and leave, and f*** those guys.

But as Starfleet — guess I’ve got to represent, and there’s no choice but the leave the Engineer — so long as I’m assured that they’ll be well-cared for and I can pick them up in a year.

(On the other hand, if I’m told their chances of surviving the miserable conditions are iffy, I’ll beam them back anyway and accept the consequences when I get back. I’m not keeping my freedom on the back of a friend’s imprisonment.)

 

[BillJ]

They serve their sentence. This isn’t remotely challenging,

 

[Trek Writers Room]

Okay, thanks. And drat — if it were a private ship, I’d just beam the Engineer back and leave, and f*** those guys.

But as Starfleet — guess I’ve got to represent, and there’s no choice but the leave the Engineer — so long as I’m assured that they’ll be well-cared for and I can pick them up in a year.

(On the other hand, if I’m told their chances of surviving the miserable conditions are iffy, I’ll beam them back anyway and accept the consequences when I get back. I’m not keeping my freedom on the back of a friend’s imprisonment.)

It is interesting how the "Starfleet" title can make all the difference between what you want to do and what you should do.

 

[FredH]

It is interesting how the "Starfleet" title can make all the difference between what you want to do and what you should do.

Very much so. It means you’re not there for yourself; you’re there for the Federation and its ideals, and how you act will reflect back on them.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I would beam the engineer back immediately. For several reasons:

- It's not like the local planetary officials can stop me, amirite? Hell, I'm not even breaking the Prime Directive.

- Who the hell sentences somebody to a year in prison for speaking out of turn? That's obviously an unjust law. Especially since the engineer probably had no idea that such draconian measures existed in the first place.

- As captain, my highest goal is to protect my crew. I wouldn't consider myself obligated to abandon one of my crew to a system of justice that is not only unjust on its face, but one that has no jurisdiction over him in the first place.

Worked for Picard in "Justice", and it'll work here. Easy peasy.

But as Starfleet — guess I’ve got to represent

Agreed. And, by getting my engineer back, I AM representing. I'm representing that I will not abandon my crew, and that I'll do whatever it takes to ensure their safety. I'm representing that I will leave no one behind.

 

[FredH]

Oh, you never said: Are we assured of the prisoner’s well-treatment?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Oh, you never said: Are we assured of the prisoner’s well-treatment?

You really can't be.

Even if the local officials assured me that my engineer will be treated well, why the hell should I believe them? Any legal system so unjust and cruel as to sentence somebody to prison for speaking out of turn, is not likely to treat their prisoners well.

 

[FredH]

You really can't be.

Even if the local officials assured me that my engineer will be treated well, why the hell should I believe them? Any legal system so unjust and cruel as to sentence somebody to prison for speaking out of turn, is not likely to treat their prisoners well.

Surely I can get a sense of how similar cases have gone in the past. This can’t be the first time. Have others who’ve spoken out of turn been released completely unscathed, or were they tortured/killed etc? That’ll be the determinant for me, I think.

If others have been jailed for this and came out completely unharmed, mentally or physically, then for Prime Directive reasons I probably have to go along with it.

If they haven’t, I’m beaming the engineer back now.

 

[Trek Writers Room]

That's a tough one. I'd probably try something like "eating the cake and having it in the refridgerator, too" - meaning "okay, the Chief-Engineer will be punished, but on our ship. If you want, you can beam up, too, see for yourself, that we do, as we say, but this person is the person, who keeps the ship running, so we kinda-sorta need that person. Plus, if you're inclined to say "No, the sentence must be served here" - I'd say "Okay, I do that. I beam down, you can put me behind bars, since I'm the captain, so I'm responsible for the acts of my crew."

Wow, that's dedication to your crew! Thanks for the comment and "follow"

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Have others who’ve spoken out of turn been released completely unscathed, or were they tortured/killed etc? That’ll be the determinant for me, I think.

If previous inmates had indeed been mistreated, do you really think the officials on the planet would allow word to get out?

Hardly. They'd ruthlessly crush any such news.

So even if I don't hear any reports about such mistreatment, I'd assume that there had indeed been some, but the local government suppressed the word.

Oh, and as I said, the Prime Directive doesn't apply here. I, as captain, am under no obligation to allow my engineer to be mistreated. This planet is aware of the Federation, and presumably is also warp capable, so the Prime Directive is null and void in this case.

 

[FredH]

Eh. If the Soviets and contemporary Russia couldn’t prevent word of this sort of thing getting out—and they couldn’t, since we know all about it— I doubt these guys can.

 

[FredH]

Worked for Picard in "Justice", and it'll work here. Easy peasy. :shrug

They were going to kill the kid, not just lock him away for a year. That makes a big difference.

Frankly, a year’s confinement and time to reflect might have been good for him, if such had been offered to him. But it wasn’t.

 

[FredH]

If previous inmates had indeed been mistreated, do you really think the officials on the planet would allow word to get out?

Hardly. They'd ruthlessly crush any such news.

So even if I don't hear any reports about such mistreatment, I'd assume that there had indeed been some, but the local government suppressed the word.

Oh, and as I said, the Prime Directive doesn't apply here. I, as captain, am under no obligation to allow my engineer to be mistreated. This planet is aware of the Federation, and presumably is also warp capable, so the Prime Directive is null and void in this case.

The Prime Directive doesn’t stop applying when warp is achieved; you’re still not supposed to interfere uninvited (see Picard not intervening to save Worf’s ship during the civil war). You’re just not supposed to contact them before that.

And again, big ugly stuff usually gets out, otherwise we wouldn’t know about atrocities in modern-day authoritarian-country prisons that they deny, and we certainly do. It’s got nothing to do with whether they “allow” it — generally speaking, it’s going to get out, especially if it’s not an isolated incident.

 

[Shawnster]

They serve their sentence. This isn’t remotely challenging,

Is it the sentence that eliminates the challenge? What if it was a death sentence like Wesley faced in "Justice"?

- Who the hell sentences somebody to a year in prison for speaking out of turn?

A more enlighten civilization than the ones that sentence people to death for falling into a flower bed.

I wouldn't consider myself obligated to abandon one of my crew to a system of justice that is not only unjust on its face, but one that has no jurisdiction over him in the first place

Aren't they, though? When you as a civilian travel to another country, aren't you under that country's jurisdiction even though you don't live there? It's not like you can ignore their laws. Same with the military. If a Japanese or French saikor visits the US, aren't they under US jurisdiction and subject to US laws? They can't expect to commit a crime and not face prosecution in a US court. They don't have diplomatic immunity.

Why would Starfleet be treated differently? Why would any planet welcome a visit by Starfleet if any Starfleet personnel can commit a crime on the planet and not face punishment?

As to the original question, this is a diplomatic situation. A bad one too. The best course might be to let the officer serve time.