An Analysis Of The Legality Of Creating The Death Star And Using It To Destroy Planets
No Bothans were harmed in the production of this article.
(Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Over the weekend, I saw “Return of the Jedi” at the theaters for its 40th anniversary. When it was first released, it was the conclusion of a very popular trilogy where, once again, a Death Star (this one still under construction) was, once again, destroyed. Since then, the “Star Wars” franchise has been expanded with six more movies, TV shows, miniseries, books, and video games (to name just a few items). And society has changed in 40 years. So seeing it with today’s eyes as a lawyer, I left with some questions I want answered. Did the “Star Wars” universe have any laws, norms, or decrees that prohibited the creation of the Death Star and its ability to destroy planets? And how was Emperor Palpatine and the Galactic Empire able to finance and build the Death Star without major legal or actual resistance?
I need to include a disclaimer: My knowledge of the “Star Wars” universe is limited to the movies, a few videos on the internet, and the Lego games. So what I write may not be factually or canonically correct. If the “Star Wars” scholars among you find any significant errors, feel free to let me know.
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In the movies, the Death Star’s main weapon destroys the cities of Jedha and Scarif to test its capabilities. Later, the Death Star destroys the planet Alderaan, the homeworld of Princess Leia, even after she disclosed the location of the (later to be discovered abandoned) rebel base. The order to fire the weapon came from Grand Moff Tarkin, and it is assumed that he had approval from Emperor Palpatine.
A planet’s violent destruction has very severe consequences. There is the incalculable loss of life and historical artifacts. Also, millions of expatriates living in galaxies far, far away will suddenly lose their ancestral homeland and most will seek vengeance.
Another reason why blowing up a planet is bad is that it can endanger other planets. The massive explosion can cause planetary debris to fly all over space. The size of the debris can be extremely large and can travel at extremely high speeds. If an object large and fast enough were to hit another life-inhabited planet, the impact can create an extinction-level-event. A real-life example of this is the impact that killed the dinosaurs millions of years ago.
In light of the destructive consequences, the relatively minor (and possibly ego-driven) reasons for using the Death Star’s main weapon seems to suggest that the Galactic Republic or a similar intergalactic governmental organization does not have formal laws that prohibit (or at the very least regulate) planetary destruction. Or perhaps they do exist but Emperor Palpatine has the power to ignore them. If this is the case, unless the rebels can find a glaring flaw in the Death Star, their only other option is to create an equally powerful weapon for the purpose of deterrence.
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On Earth, it seems fairly obvious that weapons that can destroy the planet should be banned. While there is the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons that bans unnecessarily injurious weapons such as land mines, it ignores the elephant in the room, namely thermonuclear weapons, probably because it will be hard to enforce.
Another question is how Emperor Palpatine and the Galactic Empire was able to build, finance, and maintain the massive Death Star with little resistance.
According to Wookieepedia, the Death Star was funded by a conglomerate of factions, including the Trade Federation, the Muunilinst Banking Clan, the Techno Union, and — covertly — the Republic itself. It is safe to assume that if any of them invested a significant amount of time, money, or expertise, they will eventually want to use the finished product for their own purposes. While these groups may see eye-to-eye in most cases, eventually there will be a disagreement and someone will be upset.
The Death Star was built secretly and great lengths were taken to maintain secrecy. The major construction was done on a remote planet which was not only heavily defended but was also inhabitable, which drove away travelers in the first place. Major parts were built in separate locations and one group did not know what the other was doing. As many would have strong objections to the construction, the Empire made it clear that they did not want the Jedi to know.
Finally, even after the Death Star was completed, massive manpower is required to operate and maintain it. According to “Star Wars” reference books, the population of the Death Star was 1.7 million military personnel, 400,000 maintenance droids, and 250,000 civilians, associated contractors, and catering staff. With this many people, maintaining loyalty will be a challenge if they know that the Death Star is being used to conquer and destroy. While a mutiny is unlikely as the large military force can subdue small insurgent groups, even a few disillusioned people can engage in espionage or sabotage. In an alternate universe, if the rebels failed to destroy the Death Star, it is possible that it would stop functioning due to internal strife unless the leadership can find ways to keep all personnel extremely loyal.
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If a franchise becomes as popular as “Star Wars,” fans will find plot holes and ask questions. But it appears that in the “Star Wars” universe, during Anakin Skywalker’s lifetime, there was no legal prohibition on creating weapons of mass planetary destruction. For future “Star Wars” movies, maybe a system will be put in place that will remove the incentive to create a third Death Star, although I fear it will take more than the Force to accomplish.
Steven Chung is a tax attorney in Los Angeles, California. He helps people with basic tax planning and resolve tax disputes. He is also sympathetic to people with large student loans. He can be reached via email at stevenchungatl@gmail.com. Or you can connect with him on Twitter (@stevenchung) and connect with him on LinkedIn.
