Equestrian Justice System

[Bendy 1,821]

How would the Ponies' justice system deal with a psychopathic Pony, that's basically Ted Bundy. (If you don't want to vomit, don't look up this man. He's done truly disgusting things) He's been taken away to prison by Royal Guard, but many innocent Ponies have been killed by him. 

 

I imagine live imprisonment until he dies of old age, or possible execution in certain places in (common Fanon name of the planet) Equis. I think even in the canon universe (or canon like anywat) of MLP FIM, a Pony like this would either get live imprisonment or be executed.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Rush

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,825]

Execution shouldn't be canon. I think life sentence should be it. Remember  it's a kids show and the writers would not have execution in it. Psychopathic ponies should just be locked up forever. 

[Fhaolan 4,494]

The standard operating procedure in Equestria appears to be imprisonment. And imprisonment in ways not available in real life. We have not been told whether Sombra, Discord, or Nightmare Moon actually experienced time passing while they were 'imprisoned' in their rather odd ways. They seemed to be aware that time had passed, but whether they experienced it or not is still in question. Plus there is reference to high security prisons (Tartarus), and mental health facilities (as per Screwloose).

[Noazark 67]

I think there might be some spell to turn a psychopath into a normal pony. We did see an infatuation spell, so mind control and behavior changing spells shouldn't be too far from possible.

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

We can also consider banishment as a possibility. Execution would be out of place in Equestria, as well as dungeons. They could lock a psychopathic pony away in stone or the Frozen north, or even send him to the moon, but punishments like these seem to be reserved for the more powerful baddies, not your run of the mill pony. I agree that they may have a spell to turn him back to a normal pony, but somehow I don't think even the ponies would repay blood with friendship. Banishment has it's flaws too, such as where they would banish the killer to, but it is still my favorite theory, being at a midpoint between realistic and compatible with the MLP universe. 

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

With guys like Discord and Sombra I don't think that's really so much representative of any sort of legal system so much as them just being very powerful and dangerous entities and the spells used on them were the only possible way they could be stopped.

[The Prime Reaper 180]

Government is monarchy, there is no constitution at all.

Democracy not yet reached in which Equestria is still primitive.

Court is seemed only to be directed by the monarchy, itself.

Capital punishment is not in presence but prisons didn't locate yet.

[Mand'alor Dash 2,225]

Plus there is reference to high security prisons (Tartarus),

Actually, Tartarus is the Greek term for the land of the dead. Or, as Christianity has renamed it: Hell.

 

Ponies have hell.

 

Now, I do agree that imprisonment or banishment seems to be the de facto punishment for anything bad that happens in Equestria. Fluttershy mentions in A Bird in the Hoof that she's afraid of dungeons, banishment, and dungeons within banishment, meaning that all three of these things (or at least the first two) are commonly used as punishment by the Equestrian government.

 

Death penalty? Maybe not, but bear in mind that this is a medieval society, and that executions were very common back in the medieval era.

 

Mind control spells bring with them even more disturbing implications and moral SNAFUs than the death penalty does. I'd rather that can of worms be forever sealed up, then locked, then have the key buried, then have a stone fortress built on top of the place where it was buried.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

Actually, Tartarus is the Greek term for the land of the dead. Or, as Christianity has renamed it: Hell.

 

Ponies have hell.

Yes and no.

 

Tartarus is a section of the Underworld where the Titans and some crazy horrific monsters from the times before the gods are imprisoned. As well as some people who particularly offended the gods somehow and have to spend eternity suffering some ironic punishment. Most people go to the Elysian fields when they die, which is a far more pleasant section of the Underworld.

 

From Twilight's dialogue it seems that Tartarus in the "Ponyverse" is about storing the crazy horrific monsters.

[Fhaolan 4,494]

Actually, Tartarus is the Greek term for the land of the dead. Or, as Christianity has renamed it: Hell.

Technically, no. Originally in Greek myth Tartarus was the name of one of the several primordial gods: Chaos, Gaia, Eros, and Tartarus. At least according to Hesiod. Tartarus' realm took on his name, the same way Hades and Hel did, and at first became the prison of the next generation, the Titans, as well as several other deity-class creatures when the Olympians took over. It was later that it took on non-deities for punishement when Tartarus, Erebus, and Hades became all mixed up and interchangeable in myth. Tartarus is also the home (but not the prison) of several other dieties such as Nyx, Hemera, Thanatos, and Hypnos.

 

The Christian 'Hell' is an English translation of two separate places Sheol and Gehenna (or Ga Hinom). Like several things in English Christianity, it was translated that way to make it easier for the pagans to understand the concepts as a prelude to conversion, and they were already very familiar with the Nordic 'Hel', or to be specific to the place rather than the diety: 'Helheim'. Of the two underworlds, Gehenna is the one you're looking for, the place of punishment. Originally it was an actual physical place just outside of Jerusalem where child sacrifice was practiced, and eventually took the role as a place where the wicked were punished by burning them alive and leaving the corpses unburied.

 

The interesting bit in MLP's mention of Tartarus is Twilight's pronunciation. In the English version at least, Twilight pronounces it very specifically 'Tar-Tor-Us' instead of 'Tar-Tar-Us', making it sound like Tartaurus. Which makes me think of the Bull, Taurus, and therefore the other Greek myth creature that has shown up in MLP: minotaurs.

[GreyScholar 1,584]

Government is monarchy, there is no constitution at all.

Democracy not yet reached in which Equestria is still primitive.

Court is seemed only to be directed by the monarchy, itself.

Capital punishment is not in presence but prisons didn't locate yet.

Equestria is far from primitive, even if the land is ruled by diarches and is a monarchy. I think can be established for fact that this government is far less messed up than it is in the real world... counting the USA.

 

Crime rate is low, though I'd suspect not completely nonexistent. All ponies who want a job it seems can gain a job and thus unemployment would be low as well. Though there is rich and poor I do suspect it's far less pronounced than it is in our world.

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That, though it is not shown and just headcanon, and I feel there's a council with a House of Lords of the House of Commons ((which the Senate and House of Representatives are based off)) that create the laws... admittingly more for efficiency's sake as over the years I do not feel Princess Celestia want to deal with running the government all by herself during her 1000 years of rule. Thus she gets other ponies to deal with most of the paperwork and politics, perhaps even setup a system where her subjects can vote for them.

Edited October 22, 2013 by EquestrianScholar