James Levin
| USS Challenger | ||
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 LOST | ||
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Science Officer
Stats
- Date of Birth: 234303.12
- Gender: Male
- Species: Human
- Place of Birth: Kentucky, Earth
- Hair: Brown (parted to his right)
- Eyes: Blue
- Height: 6 feet
Family History
- Mother: Susan Levin (born 2313) nurse
- Father: Samuel Levin (born 2310) Professor of Federation History, University of Kentucky
- Siblings: None
- Spouse: Dr. Rachell Maiam Levin (born 234509.13, married 237505.22), resigned from Starfleet 237806.30)
- Children: Michael Jason Levin (born 237806.20)
Current Status
- Current Rank: Ensign
- Duty Post: Chief Science Officer
- Current Vessel: USS Challenger NCC-12886
Previous Tours Served
- USS Prophecy NX-1-9999, Science Officer, 237705.29 – 237708.13
- Unassigned, aboard USS Isannah NCC-14988, 237708.13 – 237710.14
- USS Isannah NCC-14988
Personal History
- Educational Background
- University of Pennsylvania, 2361-2364
- Law School, University of California, 2364-2367
- Graduate Courses, University of California, 2372-2373
- Starfleet Academy, 2374-2377
- Degrees Held
- B.A., Modern Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
- B.S., Astrophysics, University of Pennsylvania
- J.D., University of California, San Francisco School of Law
- M.S., Astrophysics, University of California
- B.S., Biological Studies, University of California
- Major, Science Qualifications, Starfleet Academy, focus in Astrophysics
- Minor, JAG Qualifications, Starfleet Academy, focus in Interstellar Law
- After graduating from law school, Levin worked at a small firm in San Francisco. After several months and having had time to gain his footing, Levin was first assigned to the case of a court-martialed Starfleet officer. After several years, he enrolled in graduate science courses, where he literally ran into Rachell Maiam, then working on her medical degree. Over time, defending court-martialed officers became his focus, and, amid the paranoia that swept much of the Federation, especially the Sol system, in the months and years leading up to the Dominion War, he began to feel that a number of his clients were being found guilty before their trials, leading to a growing paranoia only added to by the cryptic mutterings his father about “needing someone to guard the guards.” Despite his misgivings about certain things he’d encountered while in law, Levin and Maiam both submitted applications to Starfleet Academy following the outbreak of the Dominion War, and were accepted. They married during their time at the Academy.
Promotions
- Ensign: 238303.15
- Lieutenant(JG): 238306.01 Chief Science Officer
- Lieutenant:
- Lt. Commander:
- Commander:
- Captain:
- Admiral:
Professional History
- 237705.29: Assigned to USS Prophecy as Science Officer
- 237708.13: Comes aboard USS Isannah (Details of the Prophecy mission classified: The Isannah was attempting to find/rescue the Prophecy, whose experimental drive system had malfunctioned, leading to a mutiny and a firefight between the two ships)
- 237710.09-237712.11: Assists in preparation of defense for the court martial of Captain Nsala of the USS Prophecy. (Court martial records classified)
- 237710.14: Transferred to USS Isannah as Chief Science Officer.
- 237710.14-237712.11: Acts as Isannah JAG Liasion during investigation of the Prophecy mission; investigation suddenly closed (Investigation details/records classified)
- 237806.19: Has two near-death experiences while leading an away team on Deladrel. Encounters a well-produced anthropological forgery that eventually leads to some ridicule in the science community for his initial belief in it. One member of his away time, William Pullman, is nearly killed. This, combined with his own close encounters with death, begin to worry him.
- 237806.20: Son, Michael Levin, is born
- 237806.23: Promoted to full Lieutenant
- 237810.16: Transported with other officers from Isannah to and from an advanced alien vessel of unknown origin, presumed to be another galaxy. (“Orange Room Incident” records never filed; presumed lost during crew transfer to Ranger-A)
- 237902.22: Reassigned to Ranger-A along with crew of the Isannah, assumes post as Chief Science Officer. Later suffers heart attack on the bridge, spends rest of tour in Sickbay after being placed on temporary medical leave.
- 237908.10: Released from SB118 Sickbay after routine tests; ordered to take six months leave for medical purposes.
- 238003.01-238302.11: Professor of Interstellar Law, Starfleet Academy
- 238302.11: Put on indeterminate leave following remarks to students and media.
- 238302.17: Officially charged with publicly slandering superior officers and insubordination; refuses to enter a plea, saying, “This trial is unjust; I will only lend it validity by acknowledging its authority.”
- 238302.28: Found guilty on all charges, officially removed from professorship, demoted to ensign, placed on indefinite leave within San Francisco area pending assignment.
Supplemental
Information on Court Martial
During interview about the announced publication of his book on the intertwining of the fields of law and science, 238302.10: LEVIN: Quite frankly, I’m quite surprised that this is being published, and not because it’s a bad book. REPORTER: What do you mean by that? LEVIN: Well, there’s a lot people – I don’t want to mention anyone specifically, but higher-ups – who don’t like it if you say anything that you don’t agree with, and try to keep you from saying it. REPORTER: Are you saying that there are parts of your book that will be controversial? LEVIN: No, not controversial, I don’t think, but critical, where it starts to discuss the political side of the law. The Federation and Starfleet do a lot of good, but they’re not perfect. If they don’t like you, you’d damn well better watch out. REPORTER: Do you mean to imply that there are certain members of the Starfleet hierarchy that use their positions to pursue personal vendettas? LEVIN: What I’m trying to say is – OK, before I was in the ‘Fleet, I worked here as an attorney, mostly doing court-martial defense. Now, this was during the infiltration scare leading up to the Dominion War, so everyone was stabbing everyone in the back. And I saw a lot of guilty men get convicted, but I also saw a lot of innocent men get convicted – and when you’ve defended both, you can tell which is which. And the innocent ones, the prosecution knew they were innocent, but they’d done something, or said something, or made an enemy of someone with power, and next thing you know, they’re sitting in a brig, charged with something they didn’t do, while the real criminals are sitting free.
Remarks to students immediately before being placed on indefinite leave, 238302.11:
“I’m being allowed to talk to you today in order to explain why I’m being placed on indefinite leave. They decided it would be best, perhaps because of the questioning attitude I hope to have instilled in each and every one of you, to have me explain to you that I had ‘publicly slandered my superior officers’ and was going to be placed on leave until they figured out what to do with me. But here’s the problem with that: if I slandered my superiors, which is what I’m accused of doing, it implies that I knowingly spoke falsehoods, that I knowingly lied. And I did no such thing. Every word that I uttered, so far as I am concerned, is the truth. I mentioned no names, I didn’t say, Admiral So-and-So is a liar and a cheat, because that wasn’t what I was saying. But they say I lied, which is the biggest lie of all, because anyone who understood the situations I referred to would know that I was, in fact, uttering words that every fiber in my body held to be true – the only slander here is that which is being committed unto me, by accusing me of that act, by punishing me for it before trial (and taking me from this class is a punishment, no matter how rowdy you may believe yourselves to be). So, class, I will leave you with this: My father used to ask me, “We have guards, but who guards the guards?” I pose the same question to you. I want an essay on the topic, from any angle, even if you say that the entire statement is ludicrous, no less than ten pages, by the end of the semester. Thank you. I’ll be going for a little while now, be nice to my substitute, but not too nice.”
Updated by Toni Turner April 14, 2006'