Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2020 January 25

= January 25 =

Where is the highest court in the land world?
The highest courtroom above ground or sea level. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 01:25, 25 January 2020 (UTC)


 * There is a tennis court hanging off the side of a skyscraper hotel in Abu Dhabi, 1000+ feet above the ground. The photos are amazing. 2601:648:8202:96B0:0:0:0:4FFF (talk) 04:26, 25 January 2020 (UTC)


 * I'm guessing it would be in Tibet or Peru. (Do they have court houses in Tibet?) HiLo48 (talk) 05:32, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Well, La Rinconada, Peru is the highest permanent settlement in the world, at a height of 5100 m above sea level. Whether it has a courthouse or not eludes me at present. Alansplodge (talk) 10:45, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * A bit more Googling suggests that La Rinconada lacks even the most basic infrastructure, so I think your best bet might be El Alto in Bolivia; "the highest major metropolis in the world, with an average elevation of 4,150 m (13,615 ft)" and a population of 842,378. Alansplodge (talk) 14:50, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * (EC) According to Google, there is a Nagqu People's Court 那曲县人民法院 (31.469947, 92.072962) and a Nagqu Intermediate People's Court 那曲地区中级人民法院 (31.470102, 92.055598) in I think Nagqu Town. These appear to be at about 4500m. (I don't just mean because of the elevation of Nagqu, but also if you use the terrain function). Restrictions on geographic data in China and how it interacts with Google Maps means I'm not sure that these locations are exact but they're likely close enough for our purposes. Google also suggests here may be a Tibet Amdo People's Court 西藏自治区安多县人民法院 or a Amdo People's Court Zhihangju 安多县人民法院执行局 or a Tibet Amdo Duoma People's Court 西藏自治区安多县多玛人民法庭 which are probably higher 4600m+ (again based on the terrain) being part of Amdo County or Amdo Town. The smaller area makes it harder to be sure these really exist, still I do see some buildings near where Google says they are and a search for them especially the Chinese names also finds results. This may also depend on definitions. I believe some countries use a circuit court like system for low level courts in rural areas where a judge may travel to different locations to hear cases so you could argue that wherever said judge is hearing a case is a court. There can also be various tribal or traditional justice systems which may even have some degree of legal recognition for low level offences. Nil Einne (talk) 14:56, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * BTW, when looking in to this I used List of highest cities. The list linked to by Alansplodge is interesting but lacks settlements which aren't the highest in their country. Nil Einne (talk) 15:05, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I have added List of highest cities to the "See also" section of List of highest towns by country. Alansplodge (talk) 17:58, 25 January 2020 (UTC)


 * This is difficult to determine, largely due to the ambiguity of the term "highest". Are you asking which courtroom consistently has the largest number of persons under the influence of narcotics per session, or is it more the extent to which the audience is known to indulge in them before or during a trial? I'm also curious as to why you specified courtrooms that are above sea level; to the best of my knowledge, merfolk are generally not known to partake in recreational drug use. Then again, I don't claim to be an expert on Atlantean society, so take my words with a grain of salt. Kurtis (talk) 12:35, 26 January 2020 (UTC)
 * There's a courthouse in New York City that stacks piles of courtrooms like firewood so the highest is hundreds of feet above ground, does another courtroom beat whatever the exact number of feet is? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 14:14, 26 January 2020 (UTC)
 * I honestly couldn't tell you. My reply was written purely in jest. The answers you've received thus far seem promising. Hope you find what you're looking for. :) Kurtis (talk) 18:45, 26 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Well, the Willis Tower has 110 storeys and is 442 m tall, so based on that ratio, a building would need over 1,100 storeys to get near the elevation of Nagqu Town in Tibet. Alansplodge (talk) 18:49, 26 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Two different kinds of highest. I've read that Trump Tower Chicago once had the world's highest residence even though some Kansas basements are further from sea level. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 21:59, 26 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Obligatory Bugs Bunny reference: The Fair-Haired Hare. Xuxl (talk) 18:23, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Trump impeachment trial
Hi, when will we know wether Trump will be impeached or not? 2001:4C4E:1D12:1100:BB:9041:E54B:8B64 (talk) 11:55, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * He has already been impeached. Details here. The question, if you want to call it that, is whether he will be convicted. Like any legal proceeding, it will last as long as it lasts, but a rough schedule is suggested here. Matt Deres (talk) 14:04, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * There is a theory that the impeachment and the delayed trial were designed by the Democratic Party Establishment (DPE) to drag the trial across the first few Democratic presidential primaries to help their candidate Joe Biden get the nomination, by keeping his main opponents (Senators Warren, Sanders, and Klobuchar) locked up in the Senate dealing with the trial while Biden is out on the campaign trail stumping for votes. Under that theory, the trial might be allowed to finish just after Super Tuesday.  I wondered whether conviction/removal would help Trump's reelection chances (since he could then campaign full time instead of whatever he does as President), but apparently conviction can also make him ineligible for a second term, if the Senate votes that way. FWIW, something similar happened with William Musto, who was re-elected after a criminal conviction (and after sentencing) but the courts stopped him from serving.  That's unlike Marion Barry who was arrested in a drug sting while serving as mayor of Washington DC, went to prison, and was elected to and served another term as mayor after getting out.  Oh well--I liked the idea of someone holding office while in prison.  2601:648:8202:96B0:0:0:0:4FFF (talk) 21:39, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Being elected to office whilst in prison is not unheard-of. See Bobby Sands, who, along with some of his fellow inmates (Anti H-Block), did exactly that. Eliyohub (talk) 10:50, 26 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Louis Riel was elected to the Parliament of Canada three times while he was wanted for murder. He actually showed up there once and signed the register, before making a quick departure.  By the time he was caught and executed, more than 10 years had passed and this time the charge was treason. --142.112.159.101 (talk) 23:20, 26 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Recently of course, there's the semi famous cases of Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín who while not convicted, have been indicted and are living in self-imposed exile and were initially unable to serve as MEPs in part because they would almost definitely had been arrested if they returned to Spain to perform the requirements. Carles Puigdemont was of course also re-elected to the 12th Parliament of Catalonia in the 2017 Catalan regional election and some wanted to reelect him President of the Government of Catalonia. Oriol Junqueras who also did most of that while actually in prison rather than exile, although again not convicted until recently. (I'm pretty sure after any elections.) Jordi Sànchez i Picanyol did a bunch of similar stuff. Probably there are others too. Nil Einne (talk) 11:21, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Separate question Can an impeached president run for the next election? Can a formerly-impeaches president be made a vice president by a future president? 67.175.224.138 (talk) 02:01, 1 February 2020 (UTC).

"This war, like the next war, is a war to end war" - alleged David Lloyd George quotation
Our article The war to end war says "the British politician David Lloyd George is reported to have said, "This war, like the next war, is a war to end war", referenced to page 365 of A Book about American Politics by George Stimpson. The source actually says "Prime Minister Lloyd George is reputed on doubtful authority to have said about 1917 'This war, like the next war, is a war to end war'". Can anyone come up with a better source for this alleged quotation? Indeed, what or who was the doubtful authority on which Stimpson relied? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 12:02, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * I've found it, and it was a spoof. In Ethics Beyond War's End edited by Eric Patterson we read "David Lloyd George is said to have commented sardonically in 1916, 'This war, like the next war, is a war to end war.' While this witticism appears to have been placed in the British prime minister's mouth by the writer E. V. Lucas, it's ironic message is nonetheless a reminder that a war fought and concluded with the best intentions - the intentions to do justice and to establish the foundation of a stable peace - may be, ultimately, no more than a link in the chain of cases of a future conflict". This is referenced to E. V. Lucas Reading, Writing, and Remembering : a literary record, which in turn says the phrase is from "Quoth the Raven: an unofficial history of the war by Lucas and George Morrow. It is very clear from Reading, Writing and Remembering that it is a spoof or satire. DuncanHill (talk) 12:34, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Here it is in Quoth the Raven, made me read through Queen's Hall September 19, 1914. The passage directly above should have given the hint.&mdash;eric 13:54, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * I can't read Quoth the Raven at the link given (copyright reasons). I was familiar with the Queen's Hall Speech (I have a copy), and many other of LlG's war speeches, which is what made me suspicious, it doesn't sound like something LlG would have said about the Great War. DuncanHill (talk) 14:18, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Archive has it. Pretty embarrassing i went looking for the Queen's hall speech. Didn't realize some couldn't view HathiTrust, will try and remember to link to Archive.&mdash;eric 15:15, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks - I found Reading, Writing and Remembering on Archive but hadn't found Quoth the Raven. DuncanHill (talk) 15:28, 25 January 2020 (UTC)