PT Is it illegal to be a Sith ?

When Mace goes to arrest Palpatine , what is he arresting him for?

Historically we know that the Sith have been a serious problem for the galaxy , so is the Sith a 'banned organisation'?
I would think so. I tend to think the Jedi would insist on it in their allegiance to the Republic.

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lol

a system that 'bans' or makes 'unlawful' a philosophical or religious belief that differs from that of the Jedi.

No wonder the Separatists wanted to leave such a totalitarian regime if that was the case.

 

I think the separatists were motivated by economic interest more than religious freedom.

the EU and The Rise of Skywalker establish that the Sith are criminalized.

I don’t think we can say whether or not being a Sith on its own is illegal based on the first six films.
according to Lucas the Sith Lords died out infighting before the Republic was formed.

 

“Being a Sith” wasn’t necessary the crime Windu was charging Sheev with. Rather, the crime may have been being the leader of the Invasion of Naboo and the Separatists.

 

he went to arrest him because he knew by then that the Sith were behind the war. they knew Dooku was a Sith, once he knew Palpatine was one he connected the dots

 

First you'd have to provide us with a solid definition of "legal" referring to the Republic. Do you have a written copy of the Republic's basic law or something? Or are you simply trying to impose your own country's legal system (I'm assuming it's the U.S. legal system) to another galaxy that may on the surface have similar values but could be VASTLY different in some respects.
Let's just for the sake of argument say the SW Republic is somehow based on American democracy, then I'd say "illegal" would not apply. Actions can be illegal, attitudes or mindsets not as far as I know. Can you in the U.S. be actually charged for having white supremacist beliefs if you don't hurt anyone? Can having a certain religion be "illegal"? Not sure but I doubt it, as long as that belief system doesn't lead to illegal behavior. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Palpatine until the end of the prequels didn't actually DO anything illegal. Yes, he was behind the separatist invasion, but that wasn't directly attributed to him. And again using "Earth" standards as reference, including "democracies", politicians and leaders have been known to get around laws and rules and simply "make something legal" that would normally be illegal, just as Palpatine did.
So is simply BEING a Sith illegal? My answer would be clearly NO.

 

Might depend on if the Republic regards "Sith" as a "religion" or as a "terrorist organization".

 

Sure, but as far as the movies are concerned, we don't see Palpatine engage in any "terrorist" activities. I have yet to hear about there being "terrorists" in SW. Villains, yes, bad guys, yes, oppressive dictatorships, yes. But I never heard or read the term "terrorist". Same as Sauron, Saruman and their armies aren't called "terrorists", they are simply "the enemy".
And the very definition would have changed under the new regime, the "First Galactic Empire", anyway. From the Empire's point of view, they are the legitimate government now. So the Rebels could very well be seen as "terrorists" by the official government. Stealing plans of a battle station that has not even destroyed anything yet? Sounds a little like a terrorist act to me.

 

Mace went to arrest Palps for not relinquishing the emergency powers that had been granted to him. Palps being a Sith lord only serves to exacerbate the situation of not giving up his emergency powers, but is not likely illegal.

 

I think the Revenge of the Sith novel covered this when Palpatine was all, ‘Last I checked the constitution, it doesn’t outlaw religious beliefs’. So he could be a Sith and it’d technically still be legal. That said, his being a Sith meant he wouldn’t give up his powers easily.

 

The first Darth Bane novel stressed that "The Sith are a banned organization". While Legends, the basic idea makes sense regarding the Jedi attitude that the Sith are fair game.

 

Actually I'm British , and there are banned organisations here, extremist groups etc.
And I believe this is the case in many other counries.

 

I think we can assume convincing the trade federation to act illegally is itself a crime. Palpatine is never put on trial of course, The Jedi are willing to to act on their own judgement.

 

I don't think so. But the Sith probably did illegal things.

 

WINDU: You're under arrest.

SIDIOUS: Really, Master Windu, you cannot be serious. On what charge?

WINDU: You're a Sith Lord!

SIDIOUS: Am I? Even if true, that's hardly a crime. My philosophical outlook is a personal matter. In fact - the last time I read the Constitution, anyway - we have very strict laws against this type of persecution. So I ask you again: what is my alleged crime? How do you expect to justify your mutiny before the Senate? Or do you intend to arrest the Senate as well?

WINDU: We're not here to argue with you.

SIDIOUS: No, you're here to imprison me without trial. Without even the pretense of legality. So this is the plan, at last: the Jedi are taking over the Republic.

Revenge Of The Sith Novel 2005.

 

Weren’t the death watch called terrorists? We’ve certainly seen groups that employed a dictionary definition of terrorism in the galaxy.

 

it seems good old Lucas and Stover didn't think being a Sith legally was a problem at any rate, what the house of mouse thinks *shrugs*

guess it doesn't matter, nothing is consistent anymore.

I guess if in future novels Darth Vader is called a Rhodian born with a human head that will be that. People will just nod along and go 'yes, yes I agree'

 

Err - besides being a Sith it's kind of obvious.

Dooku was an enemy of the republic and under arrest if he was caught. By revealing that Palpatine was a Sith lord that means he is Dooku's master and hence the one behind the war. He would have been arrested for treason (the same thing Palpatine accused Mace of).

 

Err-

not because he was a Sith, but for starting a war.

The Republic probably didn't care he was a Sith, I would suppose the majority don't even know what a Sith even is.

 

The Sith could not be illegal because it was thought they where extinct.

Lets not forget Palpatine had no intention of stepping down from office once the war ended- that’s the premise of his arrest. Him being a Sith Lord is the icing on the cake

 

... what?

 

As others have mentioned, whether or not the Sith were outlawed, Windu knew a Sith Lord was behind the Separatist Movement and a high-ranking Separatist mentioned to another Jedi who probably mentioned it to Windu that a Sith Lord was also controlling the Republic. Anakin--who Windu knew was close to Palps--revealed that he had reason to believe that Palpatine was the Sith Lord, and since Rule of Two, the apprentice had been killed, blah blah Windu connected the dots. So the charge would have been treason, not membership in a banned religion or terrorist group.

But more than that, it was a case of Windu and the other masters acting then, and justifying it later. They weren't interested in a smoking gun, it was the Jedi acting on their own because they knew that Palpatine was too powerful and the civil apparatus of the Republic had been exhausted. If Windu killed Palpatine, he could make up whatever story about the situation he wanted to, much like Palpatine did after the plan failed. Of course, the mere fact he attacked the Jedi was proof he was the Sith Lord.

 

I actually talked about this in the Did the prequels ruin the Jedis thread.

In AOTC, Dooku told Obi-Wan that the senate was under the influence of a sith who'd worked with the trade federation. When discovering that Palpatine is a sith, Anakin tells this to Mace and tells him his conclusion that Palpatine is the sith they've been looking for (which Obi-Wan says later as well to Padme, that Palpatine is the sith they've been looking for, and Yoda later calls Palpatine by the name Sidious which was the name Dooku told Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan later talked with Mace and Yoda about). I'd suggest they're arresting him for those reasons.

 

But you also have to take into account what the Sith Lord had done. He orchestrated an illegal war in order to rise to power. He was behind the assassination attempt of a Senator. Had he not been a Sith lord, he would still have been guilty of criminal activity.

Context of Mace's comment about Palps being the Sith they were looking for, is in they now know he was the one behind everything. He was the Sith who was controlling the Senate. Replace Sith Lord with any other descriptive title, and the crimes remain. Palps being a Sith Lord is most likely secondary to the crimes committed.

Palps being a Sith is played up for "dramatic" effect within the movies. Nothing is established to conclude that it is illegal to be a Sith. Only that the Sith are the natural enemy of the Jedi.