Jawas: Disgusting creatures who a certain golden protocol droid can’t abide. C-3PO’s opinion of Jawa cleanliness aside, their reputation as enterprising scavengers is legendary in the galaxy far far away. However, Jawas don’t always acquire their treasured junk in strictly the most legal of ways. In the second episode of The Mandalorian, the Mandalorian learns firsthand about the Jawas’ preferred procurement method: Brazen theft.
After securing the cutest bounty in the galaxy, our intrepid…hero?…makes the long trek back to his ship, the Razor Crest, only to find it being ransacked and stripped clean by a group of Jawas. With his only ride off the planet being disassembled before his very eyes, the Mandalorian does what any well-adjusted member of a galactic warrior race would do: He opens fire with his rifle, disintegrating several of the diminutive thieves.
Despite being one of the funniest scenes in recent Star Wars history, could the Mandalorian resort to deadly force to protect his ship?
At first glance, the Mandalorian seemingly has a compelling case for opening fire on the Jawas. He’s on a dangerous planet escorting a relatively defenseless baby and suddenly finds himself outnumbered by the Jawas, who are clearly armed and in the middle of committing a brazen crime.
But under the law you unfortunately can’t just disintegrate your way out of all your problems. When it comes to using deadly force, the law is especially restrictive, limiting the circumstances in which you can kill another person. These rules are in place for a good reason, since we don’t want armed citizens running around acting like Han Solo in the Mos Eisley Cantina.
Virtually every state in the U.S. allows the use force to protect yourself or another person. However, given the high value placed on human life, the use deadly force is considered a last resort. For example, in Pennsylvania, you may use deadly force to defend yourself or another if you reasonably believe that such force is necessary to prevent great bodily harm or death. That reasonable belief requirement sets an intentionally high bar for using deadly force.
Here, even though the Mandalorian was heavily outnumbered and had a small (adorable) alien baby in tow, he wouldn’t be able to convincingly argue that he disintegrated in self-defense. Before opening fire, he was a good distance from the Jawas to the point that he needed to use a scope to see what they were up to. While some of the Jawas may have been armed, they carried short range ion weapons and were not firing towards him. In fact, the Jawas don’t make any threatening moves toward the Mandalorian until he starts his disintegration spree. It’s therefore going to be nearly impossible for the Mandalorian to claim some form of self-defense to justify his actions.
But what about defending the Razor Crest? It’s clear that the Mandalorian isn’t vaporizing poor Jawas because he thinks he’s in danger, he does it in order to protect his ship. On it’s face, this reaction seems rational. After all, he manages to catch the Jawas in the act of stealing a large amount of his property, including items from within his ship and large chunks of the ship itself. More importantly, the Razor Crest is his only way off the dangerous planet. Given those factors, shouldn’t he be able to protect it at all costs?
Although those are seemingly compelling reasons to use deadly force, the Mandalorian is stepping into some serious legal poodoo by doing so. While the law recognizes the inherent value in defending life, the idea of hurting or killing another person over a piece of property simply isn’t acceptable or legal in most places. In fact, only Texas law allows the use of deadly force to protect tangible movable property. That means that in 49 out of 50 states, it wouldn’t matter how valuable or important the Razor Crest is—disintegrating Jawas to protect it would not be a justified killing.
Even if Arvala-7, the planet shown in episode 2, uses a version of Texas law (which, given what we’ve seen of the planet, isn’t so far-fetched), the Mandalorian would still be in hot water. Despite its permissive nature, Texas law still has restrictions on the use of deadly force to defend property. Although Texas law allows the use of deadly force to prevent the commission of a theft, it requires that the theft be at nighttime. That fact might seem like a minor technicality, but it’s an important limiting factor in the statute. While I’m no expert in the planetary day/night cycle of Arvala-7, the Mandalorian confronts the Jawas in broad daylight. That means not even the law of the great state of Texas will protect the Mandalorian in this scenario.
Given the Mandalorian’s serious legal predicament, he can only hope that he gets a judge like C-3PO, whose disdain for Jawas clearly outweighs his commitment to law and order. Alternatively, the New Republic could rally around a change in the law, making for deadly force to defend property, so long as it is done hilariously by way of disintegration.
