META rights have advanced exponentially in the past twenty years. With the Meta Protection Acts having been codified in 2004, there have been many social strides in accepting people of all shapes, sizes, and supernatural abilities. However, it has recently come to light that one of our supernatural siblings have been under attack.
Ghosts. There are many myths surrounding the afterlife, but ghosts are one aspect that many people may not realize are closer to reality than not. There are ghosts who walk amongst us, and the Justice League has even employed ghostly members to help keep the intergalactic peace. As such, you would think that the Meta Protections Acts protect our phantasmal peers. However, you would be wrong.
The United States Supreme Court took on a case this past week, the second ever full trial that the Supreme Court has ever taken on. In this historic case, the Ghost Investigation Ward (the GIW for short) was sued by the Justice League for a violation against the Meta Protection Acts. The Justice League claimed that contractors under the GIW kidnapped the Ghost King and tortured him for weeks on end. Of course, the GIW tried to arguet that due to the Anti-Ecto Acts, this was simply them protecting the country from an "ectoplasmic threat".
The majority of the court case centered around presenting evidence of the GIW and their contractor's crimes while also showing that Anti-Ecto Acts are unconstitutional and in direct violation of the Meta Protection Acts. The Ghost King himself, a young looking man by the name of Phantom, attended the trial as a witness.
"I understand that death scares many people," Phantom said while being cross-examined, "and oftentimes we change after we die. Many ghosts can appear frightening to humans because we aren't contained to just skin and bone and flesh. Yes, ectoplasm and emotion make up a majority of what we are, but there is still a consciousness that controls our actions. All ghosts, no matter how inhuman they seem, were human once."
(If you would like to watch the trial, you can find it here.)
This reporter was among the many people moved by King Phantom's words. While the trial itself was long and hard, ultimately the Supreme Court ruled that the Anti-Ecto Acts were unconstitutional and the GIW guilty of violating the Meta Protection Acts. Public apologies from various politicians at all levels of government for letting such a heinous law pass under their nose. We will be keeping an eye on any further developments as work is done to dismantle the GIW and its labs scattered across the United States. For now, we at the Gotham Gazette would like to reaffirm our support for our ghostly friends.