Justice Meredith Spencer
Justice Meredith Spencer is the presiding judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington who oversees the case Intellectual Property Alliance v. Project Hail Mary. The lawsuit, brought by a coalition of copyright holders, software companies, and patent holders, challenges the Hail Mary Project's practice of copying every copyrighted piece of software and every digitally available literary work without payment or licensing. Spencer represents the normal functioning of the legal system, which is systematically overridden by the extraordinary authority granted to Eva Stratt.
The Trial and Stratt's Legal Defenses
When the bailiff announces the court is in session, Spencer takes her seat and asks the plaintiff if they are ready for trial. The plaintiff's table is crowded with well-dressed lawyers, while Stratt sits alone at the defense table, typing on her tablet. Spencer asks Stratt where the rest of her legal team is, and Stratt replies that she is the defendant, not a counselor, and moves to dismiss. Spencer tells Stratt she cannot make motions yet and asks if she is ready to proceed. Stratt says she is ready. The plaintiff's counsel, Theodore Canton, begins his opening statement, describing how the Hail Mary Project has copied every copyrighted piece of software and every digitally available literary work without payment or licensing, and that many of their technological designs violate patents. Stratt interrupts, asking if she can make motions now. Spencer says technically, but it is irregular. Stratt again moves to dismiss. Canton protests, and Spencer asks on what grounds. Stratt says she does not have time for the lawsuit because they are building a ship to save the human species, and the three astronauts need the collected knowledge of humankind to be prepared for any possible line of study. Canton argues that his clients do not dispute the noble nature of the project but object to the illegal use of copyrighted material and patented mechanisms. Spencer tells Stratt she will comply with the law. Stratt replies, "Only when I want to," and holds up a sheet of paper, claiming an international treaty grants her personal immunity from prosecution for any crime anywhere on Earth, ratified by the U.S. Senate two months earlier. She then holds up a second piece of paper, a preemptive pardon from the president of the United States for any and all crimes she is accused of within U.S. jurisdictions. The bailiff takes the papers and hands them to Spencer, who examines them and confirms they are exactly what Stratt says they are.
Stratt's Departure and the Collapse of the Proceeding
Stratt says she is only there as a courtesy and did not have to come at all, but since the software industry, patent trolls, and everyone else related to intellectual property banded together in one lawsuit, she figured it would be fastest to nip it in the bud all at once. She grabs her satchel and says she will be on her way. Spencer tells her to hold on, that this is still a court of law and she will remain for the duration of the proceedings. Stratt says, "No, I won't." The bailiff walks forward and says he will have to restrain her if she does not comply. Stratt asks, "You and what army?" Five armed men in U.S. Army fatigues enter the courtroom and take up station around her. Stratt says she has the U.S. Army, and that is a damn fine army. The scene ends with Stratt walking out of the courtroom, the legal system having been rendered powerless by the extraordinary authority she wields.
Narrative Role and Significance
Justice Spencer's role in the narrative is to represent the rule of law and the normal functioning of legal institutions. Her courtroom is the setting where the conflict between legal procedure and the exigencies of the existential crisis plays out. Spencer attempts to conduct the trial according to standard procedure, but she is repeatedly outmaneuvered by Stratt, who has been granted authority that supersedes all normal legal constraints. The scene demonstrates the extent of Stratt's power: she has personal immunity from prosecution for any crime anywhere on Earth, a preemptive presidential pardon, and the backing of the U.S. Army. Spencer's inability to compel Stratt to remain in the courtroom illustrates that the normal legal framework has been suspended in the face of the Astrophage crisis. The judge's role is thus to serve as a foil to Stratt, highlighting the extraordinary measures that have been taken to save humanity and the cost to normal legal and political processes.
