User:Morder/The Measure Of A Man

The Enterprise must defend Data's status when Starfleet demands his reassignment for study.

Act One
Upon arriving at the newly-built Starbase 173 aboard the Enterprise, Lt. Commander Data is approached by Commander Bruce Maddox, a Federation cyberneticist whom Data has met before: Maddox was the sole member of a Starfleet special admissions panel to oppose Data's admission to Starfleet, on the basis that Data was not a sentient life form.

Commander Maddox explains that he wants Data to help him understand better how Dr. Noonian Soong was able to overcome certain engineering challenges when designing Data's positronic brain. Data is intrigued until he discovers that it is Maddox's intention to "dump" Data's memories from his positronic brain into the Starbase 173 main computer, then deactivate and disassemble him in hopes of garnering enough technical knowledge to construct more Soong-type androids. Data concludes that Maddox does not posses sufficient technical knowledge to carry out this procedure safely, and therefore refuses to undergo it. Maddox, prepared for this eventuality, produces orders from Starfleet Command separating Data from the Enterprise, transferring him to Starbase 173, and compelling Data to submit to the procedure.

Act Two
In private, Picard, recognizing Starfleet's inherent interests in the creation of more Soong-type androids, attempts to persuade Data into submitting to Maddox's procedure. Despite Picard's approach being the opposite of Maddox's – with the application of much more carrot than stick – Data counters, intimating that asking him to submit to a dangerous and potentially destructive experiment for the benefit of Starfleet is tantamount to compulsorily requiring all Starfleet officers to have their biological eyes replaced with cybernetic implants, such as the type utilized by Commander Geordi La Forge.

Swayed by the gravity of Data's argument, Picard turns for help to the Starbase 173 office of Starfleet's Judge Advocate General, headed by Captain Phillipa Louvois – who had previously prosecuted Picard with zeal during the court martial following the loss of the USS Stargazer. Louvois contends that while Data can refuse to participate in the experiment, the transfer itself cannot be stopped. Picard articulates his concern that that once Maddox has Data in his clutches, as it were, anything could happen; Louvois therefore suggests, alternatively, that Data could resign his Starfleet commission. Rather than risk his memories, Data chooses resignation to participating in the experiment.

Maddox learns with displeasure of Data's impending resignation, and angrily counters that Data is the property of Starfleet – not an individual, sentient being with rights within the Federation – and is no more able to refuse his procedure and resign from Starfleet than the Enterprise's computer is able to refuse a refit.

Act Three
Surmising that there might be established law to support Maddox's position, Captain Louvois, after some research, initially finds for Commander Maddox "based on the Acts of Cumberland passed in the late 21st century." Picard requests a formal hearing to challenge the ruling; however, because the Judge Advocate General's Office staff on Starbase 173 consists of only Captain Louvois and "one terrified little Ensign," Louvois convenes a hearing on condition that Enterprise personnel serve as legal counsel during the proceedings: Captain Picard is to defend Data and a reluctant Commander Riker is pressed into representing Commander Maddox. Riker initially refuses to prosecute on the grounds that Data is a comrade and friend; however, Louvois' direct threat of ruling summarily in favor of Maddox strongly compels him to do so.

Act Four
Riker, as prosecutor, demonstrates that Data is, in fact, a man-made, constructed being; after compelling Data to bend a rod of parsteel – despite Picard's objection, based on the fact that many creatures in the Federation are possessed of mega-strength – Riker removes Data's left hand for Captain Louvois' examination. Riker then abruptly deactivates Data, proclaiming "Pinocchio is broken; its strings have been cut."

Act Five
During a recess, Captain Picard recounts Riker's devastating prosecution to Guinan in Ten Forward. Guinan aptly observes that were Maddox to prevail in the proceedings and go on to become successful in replicating Data – despite the value this would represent to Starfleet – Maddox's success would almost certainly result in the creation of an entirely new race of "disposable creatures;" beings whose welfare and needs would not require consideration. Picard quickly concludes that victory for Maddox would have far more sinister repercussions throughout the Federation; that this fledgling race could potentially become a race of slaves. This grim realization galvanizes Picard and ultimately changes his tack in the defense phase of the hearing.

Back in the courtroom, Picard begins Data's defense by quickly dismissing Riker's arguments that Data is a constructed being:


 * "Commander Riker has vividly demonstrated that Commander Data is a machine; do we deny that? No, because it is not relevant – we too are machines, merely machines of a different type. Commander Riker has also demonstrated that Data was built by a man; do we deny that? No. Children are 'constructed' from the 'building blocks' of their parents' DNA. Are they property?"
 * - Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Picard goes on to grind away at Commander Maddox's views about Data; in doing so, Picard maneuvers Maddox into conceding that Data fulfills most of the cyberneticist's own criteria for sentience – intelligence and self-awareness – and dramatically coerces the scientist into admission that the remaining criterion, consciousness, is too nebulous a concept to precisely determine whether the android is in possession of it or not. Having cemented his argument for Data's sentience, Picard summarizes his final contention that to create a sentient race that is considered "property" is to sanction slavery – a profound violation of the basic principles and ideals of the United Federation of Planets:


 * "Your honor, the courtroom is a crucible; in it, we burn away irrelevancies until we are left with a purer product: the truth, for all time. Now someday, [Commander Maddox] – or others like him – will succeed in replicating Commander Data. It is the decision that will be made today that will determine how we regard this creation of our genius. It will reach far beyond this courtroom and beyond this one android; it will forever define what kind of a people we are – what he is destined to be. It will forever shape the boundaries of personal liberties and freedoms within this Federation: expanding them for some, dramatically curtailing them for others. Are you prepared to sentence [Commander Data] – and all who come after him – to servitude and slavery? Your honor, Starfleet was established to seek out new life: well, there it sits. Waiting."
 * - Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Ultimately, Captain Louvois rules in favor of Data:


 * "It sits there looking at me, and I don't know what it is. This case has dealt with metaphysics, with questions best left to saints and philosophers. I am neither competent, nor qualified, to answer those. I've got to make a ruling – to try to speak to the future. Is Data a machine? Yes. Is he the property of Starfleet? No. We've all been dancing around the basic issue: does Data have a soul? I don't know that he has. I don't know that I have! But I have got to give him the freedom to explore that question himself. It is the ruling of this court that Lieutenant Commander Data has the freedom to choose."
 * - Captain Phillipa Louvois

Data formally refuses to undergo Maddox's procedure after the ruling is given, and Maddox, in turn, cancels Data's transfer orders. Data encourages Maddox to continue his work; Data is still intrigued by some of what Maddox is proposing, and suggests he may agree to the procedure, once he is certain Maddox can perform it safely.

After the victory, Riker, deeply affected by the gravity of nearly costing a friend and colleague his life, prefers the solitude of the Enterprise's bridge wardroom to Data's victory celebration on the holodeck. However, Data seeks out Riker to express his gratitude at the personal injury Riker had endured that saved him.