Hypothetical law thing...

[Timber-WoIf]

not really 100% relivent, but i'm bored. But yea... i wuz thinkin bout Scott's story(s), and wuz wonderin, if wws did just suddenly try to live openly in society, like happens in his story(s) what kind of laws and regulations pertaining to them might come about?

[White Paw]

no feeding off the general public.

no transformations without a tf liscense

no howling within 100 feet of an hospital or church or school zone.

cannot be in were form inside a resturant

mandatory vaccinations.

must have a collar w/ tag on at all times.

[nachoboy]

no feeding off the general public.

no transformations without a tf liscense

no howling within 100 feet of an hospital or church or school zone.

cannot be in were form inside a resturant

mandatory vaccinations.

must have a collar w/ tag on at all times.

you know, i would prolly have trouble with those howling limitations. and what am i supposed to freakin eat if i can't eat the general public?!

[Timber-WoIf]

you know, i would prolly have trouble with those howling limitations. and what am i supposed to freakin eat if i can't eat the general public?!

convicted sex offenders?

[Kaebora]

No shirt, no shoes, no service. Goes without saying. Looks like Fig wont be allowed to eat at Applebee's. At least he has his pants.

[Anubis]

A lycanthrope registry, like convicted sex offenders.

No one under 18 can switch species

Any unconccentual lycanthropic transference is punishable by law.

Being in gestalt form in public is illegal.

In schools being in gestalt or transforming into gestalt would be like bringing a gun to school.

Being "turned" requires a lot bureaucracy, and waiting.

Gestalt form is like a weapon in the eyes of the law

possibly segregation of schools for humans and lycanthropes

That's what i would think could happen

[Set]

All werecreatures would be classified as game animals, and thus would be legal to kill, maybe even mandated to be shot on sight.

[wolfsangel]

than i say bring it we can take them
we have ducks, wet ducks bomb ducks and soo on

[RedEye]

I suspect that at first, there wouldn't really be any laws on Were's, until and unless there was money to be made from it by the government (100% likelyhood)
Then there's that dratted 14th amendment, which would make a lot of the proposed ordainances illegal from the get-go.
Ri-i-i-ght! This is fantasy.
I suppose the Law thing is dependant on how well the Were's are organized, and since both Wolves and Humans are Social Creatures, that's pretty much a sure thing.
That doesn't mean that politicians wouldn't try, jus' cause.
As to being Gestalt in public, that wouldn't last long enough to sue over it, since the Gestalt could be claimed to be the "natural" form of the Were'.
The restaurant bit might stick,but I doubt it.
All things considered, I suspect the Legal-types would try...and fail.
Fact is, once being a Were' is last weeks news, nobody would notice them; as there would be a new shiny to attract attention.

[Midnight]

The Lycanthropy Act 2009:

1. All lycanthropes are to be considered human and to have the same rights, privileges and responsibilites as humans for the purposes of all existing current or future legislation.
2. All lycanthropes are to be registered under the Dog Control Act and must wear a collar and tags at all times while in lupine form.
3. The Dog Control Act shall be considered to apply to lycanthropes while in lupine form.
4. Lycanthropes shall collectively be considered a race of humans for the purposes of the Human Rights Act.
5. Wolf fur shall be considered clothing for the purposes of the Summary Offences Act.

Should fairly much cover everything that way... the Crimes Act would cover eating the neighbours; the animal protection laws would cover eating the neighbour's cat; the Noise Control Act would cover howling after 11pm in a built up area, etc. etc.

What's going to be really interesting is the public reaction... everything from archconservatives protesting that recognising lycanthropes as human would destroy the moral fabric of society, right up to wannabes lining up to get bitten...

[wolfsangel]

and thats when being a lycan will become a short lived buisness

[TakeWalker]

Speaking fairly more realistically, from the United States perspective, and assuming at first that the public reaction isn't to kill werewolves on sight (which it probably would be), I can't see much in the way of law changes. What do werewolves do? Scare people? That's considered threatening/intimidation. Attack/kill/eat people? Covered under assault with deadly force and murder clauses. For howling, there's noise ordinances. I did just wake up, but I'm not seeing anything specific that would need to be added/changed, aside perhaps from the "werewolves are granted all rights of humans" thing mentioned before. Good thinking there.

One thing that might change is laws concerning wolf hunting, especially if werewolves can shift to full wolf. I'd really hope no were would be stupid enough to run with a pack in Idaho or Alaska though. But yeah, if werewolves are citizens, the government would want to make certain no one is shooting them indiscriminantly.

[Scott Gardener]

You've already touched on a few things I've considered to come up in the first few decades.

1. Reform of public nudity laws: I suspect as a futurist that in a few generations in the real world, nudity will be more accepted in public, and laws requiring clothing will seem as restrictive to our grandchildren as we feel about Victorian era sensibilities. Lycanthropy would certainly force the issue more quickly. I pictured more conservative elements trying to use public nudity laws to harass werewolves in wolf and Gestalt form in public, charging them with public indecency. I pictured werewolves fighting back with protests such as "wolf streaking"--running in wolf form through public places where these laws are being enforced. The ultimate end result is a backfiring and eventual acceptance of public nudity as not common or usual, but not inherantly immoral.

2. No biting under eighteen. In the first few months, some conservative states in the U.S. push to pass emergency measures to make it illegal to infect anyone with lycanthropy. Some of these pass but are killed off in legislation a few years later. In other places, these measures die off quickly. Within the European Union, initial tolerance is much better. But, in both places, it's generally agreed that lycanthropy should not be given to anyone without his or her consent--and those under age are legally considered unable to consent. In America, 18 is the cut-off age; in the EU, it varies from 16-20, depending on country.

3. Republicans are anti-werewolf, while Democrats are pro-lycanthrope. In the U.S., conservative Christians have strong influence within the Republican party; they are the ones most likely to have reason to hate werewolves, as they resemble demons from contemporary interpretations of Christian mythos. The Democratic party tends to oppose the Republican party, so they would favor lycanthropes to get their votes. Real world analogues exist; homosexuality, alternative religion, and socially progressive philosophies tend to find better support among liberal camps. Similar liberal / conservative trends can apply in other places in the world. In the Middle East, werewolves are heavily persecuted, as Fundamentalist Islam considers wolves inherantly unclean and acquiring lycanthropy instant banishment from heaven.

4. Civil rights issues and segregation attempts establish lycanthropy as a new class of minority. Budding comedian Gerald Wilson in the 2030s will point out how great being a werewolf has been, because people stop thinking about whether or not you're African-American, Hispanic, gay, or so forth--having fur and a tail overtakes everything else. He himself was a decade earlier as a child the center of attention when a local school board temporarily expelled him and another student from school after he accidentally acquired lycanthropy from a playground fight, sparking a political movement to segregate lycanthropic children into seperate schools, to prevent lycanthropy from spreading to other children. (Note that in my storyline, children can get lycanthropy.)

5. Werewolf registries do come up, but they're generally too controversial to remain officially organized. Unofficially, they exist in several forms, maintained both by governments and independent anti-lycanthropic vigilantee groups.

[Templar]

Where's the law giver? Consult the Book of Werewolf Law!!
CONSULT THE BOOK OF WEREWOLF LAW!
CONSULT THE BOOK OF WEREWOLF LAW
CONSULT THE BOOK OF WEREWOLF LAW

And Saint Attila said, "Oh, Lord, bless this thy holy hand grenade"-oops, sorry, wrong book...

Ahem... and the Lord said," Yea, verily, I give to you these laws, that thou shalst gaineth mine favor. First, and not last, he who smelt it, delt it, and must confess to his sin. Second, and not first, thou shalt only showeth thine true self to no man, except for they who be verily crazy or stoners. Third, and not fourth, thou shalt not partake in the sins of the chocolate and coconut. Fifth (Four, sir!) Fourth, and certainly not first, thou shalt not use thy true form to scare young children for their sweets on All Hallow's Eve...and verily this applies to thou, Figarou! Fifth...."

[Silver]

WOW! What an interesting theory!

Would they try to restrict Were's from driving during a full moon?

Would only certain places be legal for Were's during a full moon?

Would there be special troops trained to deal with Weres, especially new ones? Gives Canine Corp and Swat team a whole new meaning.

Would carrying silver hatpins become part of the concealed weapon law?

Would there be restaurants that cater to Were's during the full moon? (Fangburgers. Hmmmmmmm)

Would there be seperate restrooms for those in Gestalt form? (that whole tail/underwear thing).

Imagine the market for spandex . (Underroooooooos). Or a new fashion trend in break away clothing?

Would the new recreational drug be crystaized coconut?

Apartment complexes would start having large parks as incentive. Running trails would have a new meaning too.

The Olympics - any sport, would quickly be dominated once a month at least. Olymics declared in hiatus during the full moon.

Would Weres be the new Moonies?

I gotta quit this.

[Templar]

Would Weres be the new Moonies?

I gotta quit this.

Err....the new who to the what now?

Yeah, everybody seems ta be a lil' crazy tonight....
(watches eight-legged newt in tuxedo crawl across keyboard)
Not me, though, I have all my wits about me...

[Midnight]

Err....the new who to the what now?

Looks like wordplay... connecting the full moon with the original "Moonies" (an outfit called the Unification Church led by one Reverend Moon. Haven't heard much of them lately.

Yeah, everybody seems ta be a lil' crazy tonight....

I resemble that remark... Just managing to get a few minutes on line here and there (have someone staying here for a couple of months so might be rather quiet for a while).

[Templar]

I resemble that remark...

Heheh, yes, my friend, an' you continue ta increasingly do so by the minute...

[Terastas]

Scott beat me to the first point I was going to make: that it would largely depend on who is in control of the White House at the time how they are treated initially, and the Democrats and Republicans would immediately take sides on such. The Republican party gains most of its support from traditional and/or fanatical Christians, while the Democrats are regarded as the party of minority rights and environmentalism (both of which should be issues dear to a werewolf's heart). It therefore wouldn't matter which side took sides first, but as Scott said, once one party becomes unified in their policy on werewolves, the other party would unify under the alternative policy to gain votes.

The republicans would push for werewolf registration and segregation, but whether or not they become law depends on who is in office. Some red states might be successful in implementing their own anti-werewolf laws, but a Democratic White House would declare such laws unconstitutional.

The Democrats meanwhile would launch a werewolf acceptance ad campaign. Remember this poster from the height of the AIDS scare?



You'd probably see some kind of werewolf equivalent of that.

Eventually the Democrats would succeed in having werewolves given minority rights, but the Republicans would continue to come up with new policies to continue to discriminate against werewolves. I imagine one of their first policies would be to make it illegal to infect someone under any circumstances whatsoever, but that will get shot down when a bunch of werewolf sympathizers insist that they want to have lycanthropy. The compromise between the two parties will be to make it illegal to infect someone against their will, but after enough accidental infections, that will either get dwindled down to a misdemeanor or abolished entirely.

Something else the Republicans might push for is the development of a cure for lycanthropy, but while some private companies may see a market for such, I doubt the Republicans would have any success in getting government funding for one, or even having lycanthropy recognized as a disease. We already have a thread blasting Texas for a possible mandatory cervical cancer vaccine, so if they can't push a vaccine for a life-threatening condition, I doubt they'd have any luck forcing a cure for a condition that can be lived with.

In fact, I think it's more likely we'd see just the opposite happen. Since werewolves heal faster, a lot of doctors might actually come to consider lycanthropy to be a benefit. At the very least, it would certainly making getting insurance easier for a werewolf.

Also because of that enhanced regeneration, I think the Republicans would finally become divided concerning whether or not werewolves should be allowed to join the military. As Scott said, werewolves would be heavily persecuted in Muslim fundamentalist countries, so I believe a lot of werewolves would use the current war in the Middle East as a means of fighting persecution in one country while promoting werewolf tolerance in another (two birds with one stone, as it were). On top of being able to survive wounds that would normally cripple or kill a normal human being, a werewolf would be more adept on the field due to their heightened senses, reflexes, etc. The Republicans would divide between persecuting them and launching a "Go Army" campaign marketed towards werewolves. The Democrats, though in opposition of the war, would support a werewolf's rights to join the military and easily have it passed, and the overall image of werewolves in general would change once they start coming back from the Middle East as war heroes.

Regarding indecent exposure, I believe that is where the Republicans will finally get their way. Something you need to consider is that the discovery of werewolves won't just influence politics. Consider the clothing industry a factor as well. I think some retailers would see werewolves as a potential market and start producing clothing designed for werewolves long before werewolves achieve legal minority representation. Furthermore, despite not needing to wear that kind of clothing, werewolf supporters may consider wearing the line of werewolf clothing to be a sign of support for rights for werewolves, and that in turn will turn the werewolf clothing line into a fashion trend.

By the time the Republicans resort to harassing werewolves for indecent exposure, werewolves won't have much of an excuse. In the early days, they could probably justify indecent exposure by not being able to find clothes in their size, but just being a werewolf in the early days was such a big deal that indecent exposure wouldn't even be brought up. By the time it did dwindle down to that, the werewolf fashion trend should be widespread enough that the "can't find my size" excuse would no longer be applicable.

[Timber-WoIf]

heres a tough question (someone mentioned it i think)

when police are faced with a lycanthropic suspect whom is putting up resistance, or it appears he might, how much force are they allowed to use?

and as far as segrigation goes, i would expect school seperation to be important. children are immature and irresponsable, and all it'd take is for a bratty lycan to throw a fit or get in a fight... i would expect this kind of segregation to last. (not nessisarily seperate schools, but seperate classes anyway. this also assumes lycanthropy to be uncureable

[wolfsangel]

i know this sounds narrow-minded but who would want to cure it to me its not a virius or anything like that. but there will be the few who want to be cured and the many wanting a cure(does anyone hear X-men 3)

[Spongy]

Oddly enough, i never thought about a law thing since i always thought that lycanthropes would avoid humans. Humans have a tendency to fear things they dont understand.

And now is when i reflect upon what i read
(This is all from a U.S. perspective sort of thing)

A lycanthrope registry is something I can definitely see happening. The government would want to keep track of us, it's just like that.
The whole wearing a collar thing just sounds funny, something I wouldn't mind doing, even while not in wolf form. Heck, if someone wanted me to, i would wear a collar anyday. I disagree with the law that would limit those under 18 form switching forms, that us just too high of an age. Something like 15 or 16 seems more appropriate. If the government decides to make a law that restricts us from giving lycanthropy to others, that's going to fall down into the dumps. There are some of us who are just too nice, and will give it to others if they really want it enough, and the giver knows them well enough.
Wolf fur being considered clothing makes sense to me. You dont see wolves wearing pants, now do you? (Gee wizz, that would be a funny sight.)

SCHOOL SEGREGATION! Yes, that will happen, especially in the lower grades before High School. Humans are just too...to put this nicely...immature before they enter high school. Pre-K, Kindergarten, Elementary, and Middle Schools SHOULD be required to seperate lycans and humans. This to ensure the safety of both races. It would protect humans from the Wolf instincts of a lycanthrope. (Wich kids would find harder to control.) It would also protect lycans form the teasing and any abuse from human bullies, and those humans who hate lycans.

There better be a law that protects us from being hunted. If there isnt, I will start a petition for one. xD

Now its my turn to think of a law or two that would end up in effect:
(Apologies if these are already listed somewhere)
1. There would definitely end up being a curfew for all lycanthropes in the National Lycanthropy Registry. (Yep, just gave it a name, live with it.) Wich would be maybe aroud 11 PM, and an earlier time for the nights of the full moon.
2. (This one better not happen.) All of those registered in the NLR would be required to wear tracking collars. I know i said i wouldn't mind wearing a collar above, but a TRACKING collar i would mind. Those just eliminate privacy in a sense, I don't like that.

And now, i have to go finish my homework.

[wolfsangel]

we would have to probably end up in sanctuary homes

[Set]

we would have to probably end up in sanctuary homes

You mean like werewolf reservations? Shuffling them off onto crappy plots of land like they did with my ancestors?

[wolfsangel]

Just like indians, though no one may come to our casinos