Elsa Bloodstone’s Necessity Defense for Committing Desecration of a Corpse

October 30, 2022

In Werewolf by Night, our heroes Elsa Bloodstone and Jack Russell were trapped in the Bloodstone family mausoleum during the hunt of the Man-Thing. In order to escape, Elsa broke open the crypt of her Aunt Francis in order to escape. Were her actions desecration of a corpse and were they legally justified?

Members of the Bloodstone family were buried in a Westminster family crypt, which is a crypt that can house multiple bodies. “Crazy” Aunt Francis was interned in her crypt since her death in 1922. Elsa smashed the front of the crypt in order to remove 1) an arm; 2) a skull; 3) a weapon; and 4) keys, as Aunt Francis believed she would return from the dead.

The law has long recognized that disturbing a dead body as a crime. Multiple California laws protect corpses from the exact actions Elsa took on the corpse of Aunt Francis. Cal. Pen. Code § 594.35 states:

Every person is guilty of a crime and punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 or by imprisonment in a county jail for not exceeding one year, who maliciously does any of the following:

(a) Destroys, cuts, mutilates, effaces, or otherwise injures, tears down, or removes any tomb, monument, memorial, or marker in a cemetery, or any gate, door, fence, wall, post or railing, or any enclosure for the protection of a cemetery or mortuary or any property in a cemetery or mortuary.

(b) Obliterates any grave, vault, niche, or crypt.

(c) Destroys, cuts, breaks or injures any mortuary building or any building, statuary, or ornamentation within the limits of a cemetery.

(d) Disturbs, obstructs, detains or interferes with any person carrying or accompanying human remains to a cemetery or funeral establishment, or engaged in a funeral service, or an interment.

Elsa’s actions to open her aunt’s crypt in order to gain access to its contents are the type forbidden by § 594.35. However, was her desecration of a corpse legally justified by the necessity defense in order to save the Man-Thing from the hunters trying to kill him?

The necessity defense is a six-part test based on public policy for a greater harm to be stopped by a lesser violation of a law. The factors include:

1. The act charged as criminal must have been done to prevent a significant evil;

2. There must have been no adequate alternative to the commission of the act;

3. The harm caused by the act must not be disproportionate to the harm avoided;

4. The accused must entertain a good-faith belief that his act was necessary to prevent the greater harm;

5. Such belief must be objectively reasonable under all the circumstances; and

6. The accused must not have substantially contributed to the creation of the emergency.

People v. Heath, 207 Cal.App.3d 892, 898 (Cal. Ct. App. 1989), citing People v. Pena, 149 Cal.App.3d at pp. Supp. 25-26, fns. omitted.

Elsa’s action were justified by the necessity of assisting Jack Russell in saving the Man-Thing. First, the act of disturbing Aunt Francis’ grave was done to prevent the significant evil of killing Ted Sallis (Man-Thing); Second, there was no other way out of the mausoleum; Third, the harm of removing items from a crypt was not disproportionate to the harm of Ted Sallis being killed; Fourth, Elsa had a good-faith believe her actions were necessary to prevent the death of Sallis; Fifth, her belief was objectively reasonable under the circumstances of trained monster hunters seeking to kill Sallis; and Sixth, Elsa did not contribute to the emergency of getting locked in the crypt or organizing the hunt.

The one problem for Elsa is she was willingly participating in the hunt, but she abandoned her participation after learning facts from Jack Russell.

Elsa Bloodstone could successfully argue her actions desecrating the century old corpse of her aunt were legally justified under the necessity defense to save the Man-Thing from being hunted to death.

Regarding Ted

Josh Gilliland

October 27, 2022

The Disney+ Halloween special Werewolf by Night has the first MCU appearance of the Man-Thing, who was referenced in the Agents of SHIELD episode “Nothing Personal.” In Marvel Comics, the Man-Thing is Dr. Theodore “Ted” Sallis, who was a scientist who tried recreating the Super Soldier serum with the help of a demon. Yes, an actual demon, as opposed to a vulture capital firm. Events turn sideways and Ted ends up as the Man-Thing guarding the Nexus of All-Realities, somewhere in the Everglades of Florida.

In Werewolf by Night, Ted was captured by a cult of monster hunters as part of a ritualistic hunt to select a new leader after the death of Ulysses Bloodstone. The late Ulysses Bloodstone owned the Bloodstone relic, a mystic artifact that was used to hunt “monsters.” The Bloodstone relic was attached to Ted’s back and the hunt was “won” by whoever killed Ted in order to recover the relic and become the new leader of the hunter cult.

As a one swamp based poet once said, it is not easy being green. Dr. Sallis lived this maxim in being captured and hunted by the Bloodstone cult.

Hunting People is Murder

Somethings should not be need to be said, but hunting a human being for sport is murder if you succeed in the hunt, attempted murder if you try to kill the person, and a conspiracy to commit murder if you participate in the hunt with the objective of killing the person.

Murder is defined as the “unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought.” Cal. Pen. Code § 187. First Degree Murder is all murder that is perpetrated with explosive devices, weapons of mass destruction, armor piercing ammunition, lying in wait, or any willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing that includes kidnapping. Cal. Pen. Code § 189. Furthermore, anyone who attempts to commit First Degree Murder, but fails to do so, shall be punished with life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. Cal. Pen. Code § 664(a).

But wait, some will say the Man-Thing is not a human being. Exhibit A to counter this claim is the name given to Ted by a cruel society: MAN-Thing. Not The Thing, because he is not orange; Not Swamp-Thing, because that is a different company. No, Ted is called Man-Thing in a recognition of his humanity.

Hunting Dr. Ted Sallis was done because of his physical condition of being a giant swamp creature whose touch burns those who know fear. These are physical disabilities. While normally in the employment context, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted because Congress identified a history of irrational employment discrimination where society isolated and segregated individuals with disabilities. Board of Trustees of Univ. of Alabama v Garrett, 531 U.S. 356 (2001), citing 42 U.S.C. 12101(a)(2).

The ADA states that no “entity shall discriminate against a qualified individual on the basis of disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.” 42 U.S.C. § 12112. A “Qualified individual” is someone who, with or without reasonable accommodation, “can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires. ” 42 U.S.C. § 12111(8).

A “disability” is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1)(A). “Major life activities” can include any of the following, but are not an exhaustive list: caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(A). Major life activities also include bodily functions, such as normal cell growth, neurological, and other bodily functions. 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(B).

Ted appears unemployed and homeless. He cannot speak and has difficulty communicating. Moreover, he does not have normal cell growth, as evidenced by the swamp growing from his body and physical contact causes others to burst into flames if they experience fear. “Man-Thing” would be considered disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Dr. Sallis was targeted by a cult because of his status as a “monster.” He was kidnapped from a swamp and brought to the Bloodstone compound, possibly across state lines, in order to be hunted. The real monsters in this story were those wearing cloaks and masks, not ones covered in moss or fur.

Lower Decks Season Three Podcasts

Josh Gilliland

October 9, 2022

We are back reviewing each episode of Star Trek Lower Decks season three!

Star Wars Andor Podcasts

Josh Gilliland

October 4, 2022

Join our panel of lawyers and military professionals for our analysis of Andor.

Episodes 1, 2, and 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Podcasts

Josh Gilliland

October 3, 2022

Our panel of lawyers offer their legal analysis on each episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

In the Matter of the Parole of Emil Blonsky

Jordon Huppert

September 21, 2022

In episode 3 of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law we get a glimpse into the world of the parole system. But how accurate is it, is Jen’s argument valid, does someone with seven soul mates stand a chance at getting released from prison? Let’s dig in, and find out.

What Happened Last Time:

Before we delve into the real world of laws, let’s take a look at the episode itself. Spoiler alerts through episode 3 of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law abound from here on out, you’ve been warned. Jen finds herself fired from her job as an assistant district attorney, hired by the firm of GLK&H, and placed on the case of Emil Blonsky-AKA: The Abomination. Remember him from The Incredible Hulk (2008)? After his epic fight with The Hulk, Blonsky apparently found himself tried, convicted, and imprisoned. He now resides in the (presumably) federal prison run by Damage Control. During his stay, he has been corresponding with seven women who are his soulmates, and he wants to be released to go live with them. Jen met with him in the prison and is now 100% certain she can win the case. That brings us up to the start of the hearing, do we think Jen can win her case?

Just the Facts:

Could Jen win Blonsky’s release on parole in our world? Well, no. Unfortunately for Jen, the federal government abolished its parole system in the late 1980’s.[1] That means that Blonsky is in prison until his sentence is up. That answer would have made for a really dull episode though, and wouldn’t have been a particularly good start to the career of She-Hulk, attorney for GLK&H. So, it’s a good thing for her that Blonsky’s case isn’t happening in our world. Since this is the world of the MCU we can make some assumptions about how the laws work and call it creative license.

We never really find out what The Abomination was convicted of but we can make some educated guesses. Lucky for us, Josh Gilliland of The Legal Geeks already did that for us in his article Justice for the Abomination. When she meets with Blonsky in episode 2, Jen also starts to form the basis of what would have been a pretty good defense for Blonsky at his trial. Blonsky, it seems, was experimented on by the US government and turned from a decorated soldier into a crazed -well- Abomination. That would give Blonsky a very real chance of prevailing at trial under a theory that he was not in control of his actions because of the unknown side effect of a drug. (We the audience may know that Blonsky also had Samuel Sterns add some of the Hulk blood serum to the Super Soldier serum and that might be a problem, but it doesn’t seem likely the prosecution would know about that and be able to use it in a trial). So, let’s assume that Blonsky agrees to a plea bargain which gives him the option of parole after some number of years and he’s now legally eligible. So, in that world can Jen prevail?

The Law:

Apparently, she can. We know that because we see the ruling at the end of the episode. But how accurate is what we see? We get a short look at the preparation for the hearing at the end of episode 2 and a quick peek at what a hearing might look like in episode 3. Let’s start with the prep though. Jen comes into the case after it’s already started when she’s assigned the file by her boss. This means that there has already been several meetings between the firm’s lawyers and Blonsky: he’s signed a fee agreement, they’ve prepared the necessary application, filed that application with the Parole Board, and gotten a hearing date set. It’s not impossible, or even unlikely, that after signing a big name client the firm partner would pass the case off to a more junior associate which is how She-Hulk would become involved. From there a good first step is to review the file, which we see Jen doing, and then to meet with the client to introduce herself. We see Jen’s first meeting with Blonsky and it’s plausible. She goes over some of the basic law with him and they form a bit of a rapport. It’s not even out of the question that Blonsky would try to sell Jen on his case like he does. Even the walk into the prison is fairly realistic with the warnings and the security checks (though the laser grid isn’t quite what we have in our prisons and Blonsky’s cell is straight out of the MCU). Then we see the time skip to the hearing and, much as I would sometimes like to skip straight to the hearing in a case, that’s one of the least realistic moments in the episode. There’s a Hulk sized amount of work that goes into any hearing, and even assuming that some of it had been done before She-Hulk took her new job, there’s way more than a single meeting with the client that goes into it. Let’s assume, for the sake of the article, that She-Hulk’s predecessor did all the briefing and memo drafting and there’s just the hearing prep left. That still leaves meeting with all the witness to go over their testimony, and that includes Blonsky (but more on that in a bit), meeting with Blonsky as the client to prepare him for how the hearing is going to operate, and of course practicing in front of Nikki like we saw in episode 1. That’s hours of work, so it’s understandable that they wouldn’t put it in a half an hour episode.

The Hearing:

So, that takes us up to the actual hearing- or almost. While She-Hulk is doing all of her work the parole board is doing theirs. In our world, the hearing representatives would review the parole application for eligibility and prepare questions for the inmate. There are no live witnesses at our world’s parole hearings, just the inmate and the victim (or a representative for the victim) who can make a statement if they so chose. Instead of testimony, they rely on documents submitted by the inmate, the original sentencing judge, and the US Attorney who prosecuted the case. Clearly, the world of the MCU doesn’t work that way and the parole hearing board took witness testimony. We’ll also need to assume that none of the victims in Blonsky’s case chose to make a statement at the hearing, which of course doesn’t mean that they didn’t submit something in writing which wasn’t read during the portion of the hearing they showed in the episode. The show takes some liberties with how testimony was presented, breaking each witness’ statement up into pieces and mixing them all together. Even in the MCU world though there’s no practical way to do that. It’s more likely that the witnesses would get to make their complete statements, one at a time. The Board would be able to ask each witness questions as well as simply taking their statements. Since we’re making a series of assumptions about the differences between our world and the MCU we don’t know with any great certainty how witnesses adverse to Blonsky would be handled, but there are two possibilities. Either someone would serve in a prosecutorial type role and call them, or -more likely- the Board would have reviewed Blonsky’s records, from before and after prison, and could request or require the appearance of any other witnesses they wanted to hear from.

That takes us to Blonsky’s statement. As the one applying for parole, he would have the right to make a statement in both our world, and presumably the MCU. The purpose of this statement is to convince the Board that he is reformed and should be released from prison on parole. We see how he does this in the episode and it’s not a bad depiction of how I expect it would really be done except for a few things. First and foremost, Jen wouldn’t be surprised by Blonsky making a statement. If he really wants to win his parole the Board is going to want to hear from him about how he’s reformed and why he won’t reoffend if released on parole. Since that’s the ultimate question of the hearing and really only Blonsky can answer it, it’s a good idea to have him speak to the Board. As I mentioned above, Jen and Blonsky would have thought through his statement together and practiced his statement, so there’s really no reason Jen should be surprised by him wanting to give it. The other oddity is Blonsky turning into Abomination. It stretches belief that this wasn’t something he and Jen would have discussed beforehand. It’s a fairly obvious sticking point for the Board in releasing Blonsky so it’s something that he and Jen should have discussed ahead of time. Jen, being an accomplished assistant district attorney, would have had a pretty good idea what the State’s interest would be in keeping Blonsky in prison so she’s in a good position to help Blonsky think of counter arguments to it. Blonsky, wanting to be released, would be strongly motivated to tell his attorney that he could control his Abomination form. Jen could have set that argument up better ahead of time, so that the Board didn’t get scared, the guards didn’t rush into the room, and so no one got accidentally hurt. It also doesn’t help your case to freak out your lawyer. Proper preparation for that hearing and Jen can set the tone for how that is presented. If she’s standing next to him, not running around the room in what appears to be a near panic, and calm instead of worried; that attitude can be infectious to others in the room. Especially the Parole Board. Handled well, Blonsky transforming into a totally controllable Abomination in front of the Board and everyone can be the most powerful bit of testimony in the hearing. You then get to present a decorated war hero, who was turned into a monster by barely sanctioned science (remember there’s no one left who knows that he asked for the Hulk blood that ultimately makes him Abomination), but who has managed to conquer that monster and is ready to be released back into society. The bit with putting his shoes together is an especially nice touch to demonstrate how gentle he is and how much control he has. Handled poorly (and without plot armor), Blonsky is summarily shot/zapped/blasted by whatever security measures the prison has in place and that ends the hearing really quickly.

The End?

So, Blonsky is released with some conditions that he must follow. This in and of itself is pretty normal. Someone released on parole would have a parole officer who checks in on them from time to time and makes sure they’re following the law. Someone who commits a crime in a car might not allowed to have a driver’s license or drive a car. We have little way of knowing however, if the conditions of Blonsky’s release are normal in the MCU. There’s some evidence in the comics to suggest that people released from jail are put under conditions restricting the use of their super abilities, but the MCU hasn’t delved deeply into that issue. Perhaps we’ll see more in the upcoming Thunderbolts project. In the meantime, good luck Emil and your soul mates. Stay out of trouble.

[1] Those prisoners sentenced for offenses committed before November of 1987 and who were sentenced to over 30 years can still apply for parole since they’re grandfathered into the system.

Gundam Wing: Space terrorists or interstellar combatants?

Gage Dabin

September 20, 2022

In 1979, the world was introduced to Mobile Gundam Wing (Gundam Wing) — an anime that depicts a dystopian future of Earth in the year 0068 of the Universal Calendar. Within Gundam Wing, we are shown that a war rages between the Earth Federation and those subjected to live in space – the Principality of Zeon. So, how did an interstellar war come to existence?

The Earth’s overpopulation and lack of communal resources forced the Earth Federation to begin to create orbital habitats in space. These orbital habitats, named Sides, grew from clusters of small colonies to large self-sustaining populations that were controlled by the distant Earth Federation. The Principality of Zeon knew that the Earth Federation’s claims that it accurately could understand and represent the struggles of those in the Sides were hollow. This is because the Earth Federation leaders were living comfortably on Earth.

The Gundam’s were not from Earth but were built in outer space to help equal the playing field against their Earthern counterparts. Despite the Principality of Zeon’s stance being akin to Patrick Henry’s claim of “no taxation without representation” we are presented with questions that must be answered. First, what laws create the legal framework that apply to the situation presented? Are there any even available? If international law is to apply, what kind of conflict exists between Earth and those outside of it? Secondly, what is the legal status of the Principality of Zeon? Lastly, is the creation of the Gundam Wing Suits in direct violation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty? Answering these will help decide how and what protections if any that the Gundam pilots would be treated with.

Celestial Law

Celestial law is a relatively newer area of law which means its framework is still under development. Currently, states have agreed via the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty) to follow certain guidelines when it comes to conducting their affairs off world. Article 1 of the Outer Space Treaty holds that states will follow international law when it comes to applying the laws laid out within the Treaty. Furthermore, within the Annex to the Outer Space Treaty we see that the Treaty incorporates resolutions from the United Nations preventing actions that support acts of aggression and other breaches of the peace. Now, that we know that celestial law has incorporated international law into its framework between states it gives us our needed springboard.

A. International Armed Conflict

International armed conflict (IAC) is the most straightforward classification of conflicts. Under Common Article 2 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions IAC occurs when two sovereign states enter an inter-state conflict with one another. This status is affirmed even if one of the states in the conflict does not declare “war.” A simple example would be World War II where multiple sovereign states engaged in conflict against one another. It also applies to situations when one sovereign state partially or totally occupies territory of another sovereign state regardless if the occupation doesn’t include violence. Ultimately, when analyzing if an IAC is occurring, we look to actual events occurring on the ground. No formal declaration or conflict threshold is required to establish the creation of an IAC. At first glance with Gundam Wing, this is perceived to be the conflict between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. However, the status of the Principality of Zeon makes this analysis murkier.

B. Non-international Armed Conflict

A non-international armed conflict (NIAC) occurs when a sovereign state is involved in an armed conflict with a non-state group. An example would the U.S. fighting against the Taliban or ISIS. The protections and responsibilities are laid out in Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Unlike IAC, there is a threshold of conflict that has to be reached in order to distinguish NIAC from internal disturbances like riots, banditry, etc. This distinction is adopted from both Additional Protocol (AP) II 1(2) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslovia’s The Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic case. The first threshold that has to be passed is the minimum form of conflict. To be a NIAC it has to be of such a collective character that the government is obligated to use military forces to counteract the insurgency. Second, the non-governmental groups have to be considered “parties to the conflict” meaning that they have a command structure and have the capacity to conduct military operations. AP II Art. 1(1) offers a slightly different analytical framework for NIAC: “which take place in the territory of a High Contracting Party between its armed forces and dissident armed forces or other organized armed groups which, under responsible command, exercise such control over a part of its territory as to enable them to carry out sustained and concerted military operations.” These aspects of NIAC are crucial and can turn how we approach the situation that is transpiring between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon.

C. Combatants Defined.

The conflict frameworks provide the arena for determining what kind of combatants are to be allowed within their borders. However, not every fighter, soldier gets the ability to be classified as a combatant. Article (4) of AP II states that to be classified as a combatant one must: 1) wear arms openly; 2) wear a fixed symbol; 3) adhere to a chain of command; and 4) adhere to the principles of armed conflict. Typically, members of groups involved in NIACs against sovereign states are not given combatant status which means those individuals lose POW rights – an issue we wont discuss here. This will tie into how we look at both the members of the Earth Federation and those with the Principality of Zeon.

So what are they?

The conflict between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon should be classified as a NIAC not an IAC. Why? At first blush, it seems that the two warring parties are sovereign states. The Earth Federation representing the states on Earth and the Principality of Zeon representing those within the Sides in space. However, the Sides were not designed to be inherently separate from Earth, but rather serve as an extension of Earth’s population and was maintained and operated by the Earth Federation. This means that the Principality of Zeon’s claim for independence exists on land, even if thousands of miles away, belonging to the Earth Federation making the situation a NIAC. The establishment of the conflict being a NIAC reduces the legal protections afforded to the individuals aligned with the Principality of Zeon especially those piloting the Gundam Wing Suits.

The Principality of Zeon members exist within a gray area of the law when it comes to status in the conflict. As stated above, the NIAC determination tends to preclude individuals from receiving combatant and POW status as the Geneva Conventions don’t apply to them except for AP II. So, even if Principality of Zeon members met this criteria, which I think they would satisfy, they still wouldn’t get combatant protection. However, they may get a generic status as a fighter and get protections under national laws for directly participating in hostilities. This means the Earth Federations law would have a lot of controlling weight here on how they would be classified and what rights they might have. What can be guaranteed though for those who fight for the Principality of Zeon is that they would get the protections afforded under Common Article 3 which ensures they won’t get tortured and their human dignity would be respected.

Out of this world

Gundam Wing Suits do not violate the Outer Space Treaty because they do not violate international law. International law contemplates the evolution of weapons and their use in both IACs and NIACs. The boundary lines for weapons really tends to focus on how the state or armed group chooses to use them. This means that an important factor in their use is to see if there is a human element that can differentiate between the targets to ensure a war crime isn’t committed. Here, the pilots of the different suits both for the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon have the means to distinguish between civilians and those fighting in the conflict. Further, the suits and their weapons are not designed to inflict superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering upon their opponents.

Watching the Gundam series, the individual suits are able to wreak havoc at a scale that one could equate to that of a nuclear bomb. Yet, the Gundam Wing Suits are not to be banned under the potential classification of being weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Why? Wouldn’t it make sense that we banned something that could kill that many people? It does. But even in today’s world we still have nuclear weapons despite having a nuclear proliferation treaty that seeks to prohibit further development of this weapon system. Nuclear weapons exist within a gray area of international law; just know they play a critical role in global security despite the collective dislike of their existence. The suits don’t violate the treaty because they haven’t been classified as a WMD, and they are not nuclear based which would be a breach of the 1967 Outer Space treaty. Thus, they are still permitted to exist regardless of their ability to cause havoc at an unprecedented level.

Conclusion

Celestial law is the last frontier of law to be developed. With the application of international law, we are given a basic framework to build upon moving forward. International law provides us the basic left and right limits on how states and armed groups are to act in space, especially when it comes to conflict. This is needed because without guard rails we would see an abundance of issues that wouldn’t have any punishment mechanisms to deter these actions.

International law helps us understand that the conflict between the Earth Federation and Principality of Zeon is a NIAC based on one being a state and the other being an armed group rising up within the other’s territory. Because this is a NIAC this means they don’t get the maximum level of protection because they are not in an IAC and not combatants. From AP II to Common Article 3 to the Earth Federation’s national laws helps us see that Principality of Zeon members get basic protections if and when they are captured during their conflict. This means that

The Gundam Wing suits themselves don’t violate international law regardless of how dangerous people may believe them to be. They have a human pilot which helps them distinguish between protected classes and can make crucial decisions on using certain attacks. Further, the suits are not inherently designed to cause superfluous injury nor unnecessary suffering. Lastly, these suits are not nuclear based, and even if they were to be classified as a WMD I do not see them being banned because we have yet to even a universal ban on nuclear weapons. New weapons will always be a part of war to meet the needs of the conflict at hand. The Gundam Wing suits are just a clear example of this. Their deployment may change the international law frameworks that currently bind the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. Yet, the Gundam Wing suits are not a violation of IHL and the pilots and members of the Principality of Zion are afforded some protections due to the nature of the conflict.

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