Maria had been disturbed from her evenings work by a telegram, from the office of a fellow leader. Curious, as ever, she'd immediately attended to it, finding within a witness statement request for an 'innocent', who had been gunned down. Something had somehow seemed somewhat off to Maria, and she'd immediately started to think about this particular 'innocent'. She'd seen the name about the place, she knew, and she soon remembered why. 

Deep in thought, she went to the streets, wanting to discuss the matter further. 

"So, ladies and gents, I've started to think. No, don't worry, nothing is going to explode or set on fire. Probably."

Maria tips a wink as one of her security detail rolls his eyes lightly. Dimitri had clearly spent slightly too much time around Maria, who could be downright clumsy at times. It was highly probably that he had actually had to extinguish some fire or other that Maria had inadvertently started at some point.

"But no, in all serious, the question I have asked myself, and the question that I seek to ask all of you, is this:

What defines innocence?"

Maria gives just a moment for her question to sink in. 

"Now, City Hall, with their records of all births and deaths, considers and records an innocent to purely be a person new to our world, who is not sponsored and who has been in our world for less than 48 hours. They are never to have shot nor trained a weapon and cannot have raised a hand to mug another. Their names are recorded in blue in the lists at City Hall. Are we happy with that definition, or do we think that maybe there might be more to it?"

Maria pauses again for just a second, careful to not let her speech run on too much. 

"What triggered my thinking particular in this case, was the following quote."

Maria pulls a small scrap of paper from her pocket, on which she had scribbled something she had heard a recent 'innocent' say.

Remy knew what was coming, he just wanted to live so he grabbed his ankles and said fuck me sideways boys. Anything to let me see another day. In the history of this world, you can't name a more inept leader.

"Can somebody who speaks of somebody - a leader in our world, nonetheless - in such a way, really have any claim on innocence? While their actions may not have hurt anybody, they arguably did use their words to attack another member of our world, and I don't think talking in such a manner really fits in with any traditional definition of innocence. 

So, in a case like this... do we consider a person an innocent? I'd personally argue not. I'd find it hard to believe that this was not a son or daughter, recently bereaved and looking to lash out in any way possible. But I'm curious as to the general opinion in cases such as these."

Johnny Marcone listens to his leader put her question to the crowd, while her faithful bodyguard puts out a small fire which had somehow begun smoldering in her suit pocket. "One day she'll remember to stub the cigar before she puts it back." he thought, smirking.

Flicking his cigarette, he pushes himself off the street lamp he'd been leaning against and addressed the crowd.

"Ordinarily I would say that this person absolutely fit the description of an innocent. Indeed many of our City laws expressly forbid attacks on young hoodlums like this. However, once they insult the head of a family, they forfeit their right to be protected by City laws in my opinion.

Respect is an expensive commodity in often too rare supply in our line of work and any deliberate show of disrespect deserves to be dealt with terminally."

"This person got what was coming to them."

Reasonable minds can differ but I don't think such rules are put in place to protect attention seeking idiots. Instead, they are meant to give people who are giving it an honest try to learn and get a sense for which family they'd like to join up with. Not that I would but if I talked like that to someone on the streets I'd fully expect them to shoot me sooner rather than later regardless of my age.  

There doesn't seem to be much disagreement here.  Seems like most people who've walked by and commented have had similar opinions.  

I would love to be different, and just argue the other side, but on this issue, I can't.  I think these idiots that come out here and are THAT disrespectful, should be shot as soon as they can be shot.  Without consequences.  

And frankly, if I happened upon one of these idiots at a time when they were able to be killed, I wouldn't hesitate.  There's just no place for such ridiculous disrespect to the point where their only purpose is to inflict as much damage as possible to a person (usually a crewleader or city head) via their pathetic and obviously limited vocabulary.  

That's not to say you cannot come out to these streets and openly disagree with a decision made by one of those fine people wearing those special suits.  Come on out.  Disagree.  

To that end - I don't really care if you come out here to insult me.  It's part of doing business.  But if you get to the point where you are using language like that referenced by Maria, then you have openly commented to the world that you do not seek any protection, and you are ready to die.  

And I'm happy to oblige.  

I don't believe six of one equals half a dozen of the other in this world. Folks seem to get their knickers in a wad over youngsters getting shot or protection orders being violated, but how many here can claim they've never had an ancestor below Made get wiped out over some petty war while they slept? It happens all the time. ALL the time.

And as far as disrespect goes, if someone comes to the streets cussing a leader and is given a death sentence...yeah, don't go crying to my boss that I played golf at the funeral of a rogue that shot at me. His kin and I had shaken hands and wished each other well long before anyone even noticed my antics. Be glad I didn't take a steamer on the casket...which I've seen done and go unpunished.

Always on the lookout for kin of Malachi, Gillian scans the crowd.

Folks seem to get their knickers in a wad over youngsters getting shot or protection orders being violated, but how many here can claim they've never had an ancestor below Made get wiped out over some petty war while they slept? It happens all the time. ALL the time.

Well protection orders are a different story...

A leader has put their backing behind protecting those members of a fallen family. That means they should have however many days the protection order was issued for to find a family that fits their style. If someone violates that and shits on the issuers authority then they deserve to be called a dickhead repeatedly in the streets by as many people who care to say it. (They should actually be shot for lack of common sense but I think name calling will work in instances they're not.)

Hmmm....protection orders.  

I totally respect protection orders.  But I don't think it changes my opinion.  Let me think...

Nope. It doesn't change my opinion.  I don't think a protection order gives you free reign to act like a jackass.  And I don't think protection orders are meant to protect ass holes.  Just saying.

Protection orders are put in place to protect those who aren't around when a tragic event occurs.  They are very general and do not take into account the fact that somebody will then come back around and start acting so disrespectfully.  

So, what I'd like to see happen in such cases, and what I'd do if I were to issue a protection order is this:  I'd offer protection until such time as somebody proves that they don't deserve it.  Then I'd communicate to the community that ass hole such and such has decided to mouth off to the point where it's gotten tremendously disrespectful, and therefore has decided he is not in need of protection.  And remove them from the list.  Done.  

And if somebody happens to kill one of these idiots prior to me being able to remove that person from the list...then so be it. 

You cannot hide behind a protection order to spew your nonsense.  

Maybe I should have been a little clearer in what I said. I have no problem if the kin of someone killed wrongfully under a protection order comes back raising hell. People who are acting an ass while under protection should obviously be dealt with.

Actually, let me double correct myself. If someone issues a protection order then the punishment for violating it should apply to every damn one. Nothing should be buried and every punishment should be equal. Some people dying and some living are bullshit and I fully understand if some unfortunate souls kin comes back disrespectful. Someone in power issued it and everyone who agrees with it should fully well enforce the punishment. I absolutely hate rules/punishments that are "open to interpretation" and I believe a lot of warranted anger comes from that.

Now this doesn't count if someone under protection is being disrespectful.

It's curious, isn't it Maria? Personally, I don't believe that any single person in our life can ever be considered innocent. From the moment we arrive on these shores we have the contacts to make drug deals regularly, we commit crimes and do jobs for well known criminal organisations. From the perspective of this thing of ours - nobody is ever innocent.

City hall however certainly has a different perspective. They don't really look at the minor stuff as a loss of innocence. The way they seem to view innocence is if one of us does some form of damage to another one of us. But that's kind of strange isn't it? City hall doesn't care if you steal some old lady's purse, they don't care if you knock over a 7-11, they couldn't give two shits if you commit felonies or even take part in bigger more organised jobs. Which is an odd peculiarity if you ask me, because I'd always assume City Hall would actually care about the city outside of our thing. Obviously someone somewhere is paying them enough to not give a fuck, or we'd be in a lot more trouble with the cops than we are right now.

Anyway - I got a bit off track there but my point was that I don't believe innocence is something that actually exists in our world, it is simply a convenient word to show that the person in question has not physically harmed any business in this thing of ours. By City Hall's standards - yes, that person was innocent. But does that then mean that the person in question doesn't deserve to die, just because City Hall deems them innocent? Hell no. They still ignored one of the fundamental aspects of this thing of ours, and fully earned themselves a swim.