I have been playing BM for almost 6 years now, on every continent currently in existence except the Colonies. I have 19 trust medals, as well as 9 trust and 11 roleplaying.
I do not have court-room experience exactly. I am on the Judicial Board of my university, and also serve as a Resident Advisor. In that capacity, I para-professionally do conflict mediation. Also, when I'm not on the "judging" side of my university's disciplinary process, I am often on the other side. As an RA, I am contractually bound to serve as a testifying witness to any event I document should it be addressed in a judicial hearing. Moreover, I am required to file a formal report concerning any event within 24 hours of my observing it; reports which form the basis of the judicial process.
Outside of the "official" judicial process, I am expected to prevent things from reaching that stage. I oversaw a hall notorious as a party location and epicenter of vandalism. Before me, it averaged $500 of vandalism a year. Under me, it had $50 of vandalism. This was in some part due to my practice of engaging existing hall cliques and communities to re-invest in their physical environment, and also due to my willingness to hunt down any violators.
Which brings me to another point: I am experienced with BM's judicial system. I have filed a fair number of Titan reports. I vigilantly observe the Inalienable Rights, and am frequently "that guy" who sends out OOC messages bugging people about not touching IRs. I believe in detailed research, and so try to do my best to ensure that maximal information conditions are achieved. As an RA, my reports are notorious for their detail and precision: I have a very low acquittal rate on cases I documented precisely because I thoroughly investigate prior to reporting, but, when I do report, I am very thorough.
Finally, I am a believer in new players. Possibly my proudest achievement thus far IG is the realm of Terran. Not because we've prospered (though that's cool too), but because we have a disproportionate number of new players. Whenever new players join the realm, I contact immediately, and follow up at about a week, a month, and 100 days. I actively contact new players and encourage them to run for offices, get involved, etc. While this may seem unrelated, I believe it is, because it demonstrates my attitude towards BM. I do not care about "winning." Look at my list of realms on my family page: Irombrozia, Massillion, Oligarch in it's last days, Meridian Republic... the only realms with which I strongly associate that aren't completely doomed are Riombara and Terran, and my relationship with Riombara is... stormy (observe that I listed Meridian Republic and Irombrozia...). What I care about is making BM a fun place for the players around me, a place where exciting things happen that make you want to log on each day, and a place where new players arrive and get connected to the community.
In sum, I believe I would be a good "Magistrate" because:
1. Abundant experience in BM in general
2. Significant experience in conflict mediation
3. Significant experience in various venues for formal judicial processes within a non-legal community context
4. Significant experience with BM's former conflict resolution system
5. Exceptionally detailed and thorough investigator
6. Community-play driven ethos
Concluding sidenote:
I argued against this system when it was being discussed. But now that it's here, it's here, and I want to help make it work. In my job at uni, I'm not anonymous. Everyone knows it was me who wrote up their friend last weekend, or what have you. I know how vitriolic those environments can be, and I am pleased to say that of the 10 memebers of my building's staff, I was one of only 2 who were re-hired, largely because I "dealt with the public" much better. Having my name associated with a controversial decision just doesn't bother me. Note my tagline on my profile: stodgy old man in training. Damn kids can grumble all they want, but I'll do my job.
Family Page:
http://www.battlemaster.org/UserDetails.php?ID=10403
