(Note, there is no such thing as parole for criminals in the RSE it's self; Punishment varies for the member governments, but not by much. Oddly, though, Prisoners of War, at least officers, can often be given Parole if they give their word of honour, and for the duration of the war, at that.):

Crime	Punishment
Concealed Weapon	It is legal to carried concealed weapons in the RSE.
Weapon Traffic	10 years in prison.
Smuggling [1]	2 years of rehabilitation
Drug Possession	2 years of rehabilitation
Drug Traffic	20 years in prison
Grand Larceny	10 years in prison
Armed Robbery	15 years in prison.
Piracy	Death
Rape	Death
Psychic Mind Rape [2]:	Death
Man Slaughter	20 years in prison
Murder 2	30 years in prison
Murder 1	Death
Kidnaping	Death
Slavery	Death
Genocide [3]	Special

[1] A rather interesting case of the Navy interfering with Imperial law; It is said that the Countess of Kriesdale specifically requested the ridiculously low penalty for smuggling because she wanted smugglers out on the spaceways; Catching them was a valuable source of live-action training for the Royal Ralsiian Navy in peacetime. This speculation about the exact nature of how this law came about is borne out by the fact that the RRN actively pursues smugglers with a sort of manic pleasure to the chase; Almost like a foxhunt, one can expect entire fleets to come spilling out in pursuit of a single ship suspected of smuggling, forming up in the battle-lines and essentially, the heavy elements of the fleet drilling, while the light ships and the battlecruisers and other fast vessels go dashing about to track down the smuggling vessel and capture it, often in a flurry of shots intentionally aimed to miss so as to "thrash" the vessel in certain directions; For smugglers under hot pursuit by a large detachment of RRN ships, the experience can be exceptionally harrowing, and fleeing vessels have been accidentally atomized before, but the agressive pursuit of smugglers is RRN tradition, and the practice it provides is important for the fleet; Despite the air of the hunt about it, it is conducted very seriously, as though a real engagement as opposed to a police action.
There have been several attempts to increase the penalty, but none have gone through; However, ships captured with contraband onboard will be possessed permanently by the navy, and if it's drugs or weapons, the crew is subject to drugs and/or weapons charges as well. This largely stops any complaints about the law, and perhaps reveals a pragmatic real reason; If the penalty is light and smugglers continue to attempt to smuggle, if they are caught, the money from the captured ship and cargo, if the cargo can be sold, goes largely into Imperial and Naval coffers; A nice addition to standard funding for the Royal Ralsiian Navy.
[2] Violation of a person's thoughts by a psychic without their prior permission.
[3] Genocide is not distinguished from multiple counts of first degree murder by the RSE. The end result for the convicted, is, of course, the same as for one count of Murder 1.

Executions: The execution of commoners is performed by an eight-soldier firing squad from a local garrison or unit with the lieutenant delivering the final blow with his pistol if the volley was not fatal. The execution of nobility consists of beheading by a sword made of Admontium.

Notes on Ralsiian Re-habilitation: It essentially consists of probation with electronic monitoring, and a requirement to attend weekly counseling and therapy sessions as dictated by the judge, along with weekly so-called "Law and Society" meetings, which are pretty much propaganda but involve no actual mental-reprogramming techniques, along with meetings with a rehabilitation officer to check on progress, and usually a limitation of the person to not leaving their home system or system convicted in without prior permission for the duration of the rehabilitation.

Dueling: Note that dueling is legal in the Ralsiian Star Empire, and commonly consists of shield fighting, with the opponents using daggers and shields which only allow objects traveling under a certain speed to slip under them. This requires a complex form of fighting to slip the blade under an opponent's shield to slash and stab which is a virtual artwork; And a very deadly one. Non-shield dagger fighting, sword duels, and pistol duels are also accepted, with dueling laws similiar to those of New Coventry.

[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]

Writeup by Marina O'Leary (LusankyaN@aol.com ).

Reformatting by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune ).

Copyright © 2001, Marina O'Leary. All rights reserved.