How do you jail a magic user?

[frigidmagi]

It is a sad fact of human nature that some humans no matter what their station and position will always commit dark deeds. Add in magic and some are sure to feel just greater temptation to do things they know they should not do. Not every deed would deserve death.

That being said, what steps do you take to make sure these guys stay in jail and don't cause problems while in there?

[Comrade Tortoise]

It would depend on the magic user and what resources are available to jail them. In a D&D like universe, at least with wizards, it would be comparatively easy. Getting them into jail will exhaust their spells, and you can simply take their spellbook when they are subdued. Sorcerers it is more difficult, but that is what antimagic fields are for.

In other universes, it may be more difficult...

[Dark Silver]

Dependant upon the type of magic user, there's a few different ways to do it.

The most common and universal way to do it, would be to ward the fuck out of a cell or room to contain the mage in, make it impossible to work Magick in the room either via diverting the magical Weave from the area (in the WoD 1.0's case, diverting the flow of Quintessence), or binding the magic user for the term of his sentence to where he cannot access his powers.

World of Darkness Technocracy way? Bind the fucker in Primium Bonds or Cell, which makes him unable to affect his prison with magic.

[The Cleric]

Very carefully . And the best way would be to put them in jail, but promise full retribution (i.e. death) if they break out.

[Narsil]

Something that blocks magic would probably be useful, particularly anti-teleport fields (anti-apparation fields in Harry Potter, for example) with guards that are immune to, or empowered by, magic.

In certain universes, taking away the wand or staff would be a pretty bloody easy option.

[B4UTRUST]

Use of devices that would prevent the mage from concentrating long enough to fire off a spell...

[Hotfoot]

Different jails for different offenses. Low level magic users are not likely to be anywhere near as problematic as high level magic users, so simple magic dampening fields would be enough to keep them under control. Ideally, this is where you would send juvies and magic users guilty of misdemenors. Throw in rehabilitation and show them how to use their magical abilities for constructive ends, rather than criminal. Make sure all guards have spell resistant clothing and armor.

More serious crimes warrant more serious removal of powers and privlidges. Null magic fields, especially for solitary, so on and so forth.

For the more serious mage criminals, the ones guilty of mass murder, attempted world domination, or other such things, don't bother locking them up, kill them. Anyone powerful enough to pose a serious threat to an entire city and has decided that those lives don't matter is not someone we want walking around, period. Kill them and kill them now. You may only get one shot at it anyway.

[Scottish Ninja]

This has occurred to me a couple times while playing Oblivion; I get locked up and immediately break out again with an Open Lock spell and I'm on the loose again; so what's the use?

B4 seems to have the solution. Place various noise-making devices in the cell, which spew out random, loud sounds fairly often. Other treatments would be useful as long as they kept people from concentrating. It wouldn't be the most comfortable, or particularly just, but it would be a solution.

[Destructionator XV]

The random loud noise thing strikes me as being cruel and unusual.

The best thing to do is counter any spells: if you are writing the universe yourself, add something like a magical blocking field.

If no such thing exists in this world, perhaps put them in thicker cells: something that won't be easy to break through with multiple doors and alarms so you know if they are trying to use open lock spells to walk out.

[Josh]

The noisemakers are a staple of Shadowrun, but then cruel and unusual really doesn't bother Lone Star that much.

How to do it ethically, though? Countermagic is the only answer, as has been suggested. Wards and the like.

[frigidmagi]

This may be an unpopulat opinion but...

The loud and random noises aren't there to torture them, they're there to keep the prisoner from reducing his jailers to ash with a look. Prisoner comfort means nothing compared to

A: maintaining the safety of everyone in the jail, guards and visitors paramount over all.

B: keeping them in the jail until their sentence runs out.

If there's a better way then use it, but what if there isn't?

[Hotfoot]

It all depends on the power level involved. In the Elder Scrolls, after teleportation hasbeen removed, it's simple to keep magic users jailed: don't use locks! Put them in a cage that traps them through weight alone. Make the weight massive enough, and no spell in the game would let them escape.

[Dark Silver]

We could always just put the magic user in a belltower, and have the bells rung for constantly...


probably kill the poor soul, but he'd be effectively jailed and unable to cast spells.

[B4UTRUST]

Gilgul

[SirNitram]

In the rare instances that No Such Ministry has to jail a magic-user(Because if you've got their attention, they are far more likely to simply turn you from living mage into cold corpse in a huge hurry), they employ null-zones, natural areas where wizardry and Sidhe-granted magic can't be used. Cybermancy still can be, because it is literally impossible for any point on Earth to be free of Terra's own magic(Now, if you ship the guy to Mars...), but Cybermancy is magic that mankind and dwarfkind haven't been able to successfully use yet, with a tiny minority knowing how.