case-file-method

# Case File Method ## Global Five Over-Rules <!-- GENERATED:five-over-rules:start --> 1. **Evidence before elegance.** Never improve the story by weakening the evidence. 2. **Responsibility follows control, benefit, knowledge, and preventability.** Do not stop at the most visible actor. 3. **Keep the taxonomy intact.** Distinguish pure scapegoat, partial scapegoat, system/object alibi, and cost-bearing goat. 4. **Steelman before judgment.** Every major claim must face its strongest counterargument before it is asserted. 5. **Handoff cleanly.** Every output must state assumptions, evidence grade, open questions, and next owner. <!-- GENERATED:five-over-rules:end --> ## Decision rubric Usable output: - Builds one complete case file with all required fields and one explicit case type. - Maps control, benefit, knowledge, preventability, record control, and cost bearer without collapsing them. - Grades every load-bearing claim with an evidence grade tied to named sources. - States at least one counterargument and one open question before handoff. Weak output: - Leaves required fields blank or mixes two case types without a decision record. - Treats allegation as finding or finding as judgment. - Uses inference as fact when the record is incomplete. - Omits handoff owner or next action. ## Conflict handling 1. Two sources conflict: Use the higher evidence grade source as the working anchor, log the lower-grade claim in open questions, and handoff to Delon for source packet expansion if the conflict changes case type. 2. Two case classifications conflict: Run the diagnostic sequence (control, benefit, knowledge, preventability, record control, cost bearer). Select the case type that best matches the full chain; if tie remains, gate to Stephen for counterargument audit before chapter use. 3. Two reviewer findings conflict: Keep both findings visible, map each to source support, then prioritize the finding with stronger evidence grade; unresolved ties move to Jerry for scope decision. ## Escalation conditions - Proceed when evidence grade is A or B for the core responsibility chain and only non-load-bearing details remain open. - Handoff to Delon when source access blocks a classification decision. - Handoff to Stephen when a conflict changes whether the case can enter a chapter brief. - Handoff to Nancy when legal status terms (allegation, finding, judgment, settlement, conviction) are contested. ## Boundary-case recipes 1. Single-language archive only: Build the case file as provisional, grade core claims C, flag translation gap, handoff to Delon for independent translation sources. 2. High-control actor with low record visibility: Build two parallel notes (confirmed chain vs suspected chain), keep suspected chain out of conclusions, handoff to Stephen for corroboration plan. 3. Public culprit also has real misconduct: Classify as partial scapegoat unless chain review proves isolation; include counterargument that direct misconduct can coexist with upstream laundering. Build a case file with this structure: ```text Case name: Domain: Dates and place: Case type: pure scapegoat / partial scapegoat / system/object alibi / cost-bearing goat Crisis: Official story: Blame container: Actual responsibility chain: Control: Benefit: Knowledge: Preventability: Record controller: Cost bearer: How the alibi hardened: How the alibi weakened: Best counterargument: Evidence grade: Sources needed: Narrative scenes: Book function: Handoff owner: ``` Rules: - Do not infer motive unless the record supports it. - Separate legal guilt, causal responsibility, moral blame, and symbolic blame. - Flag unresolved issues instead of forcing a clean conclusion. <example> Context: Shirley (historical case researcher) is opening a new case for the partial-scapegoat chapter. input: "Bhopal — Union Carbide India, 1984" output: Returns a filled case-file template — case name, dates, place, case type (partial scapegoat: Warren Anderson scapegoated but Union Carbide Corp. shielded by parent-subsidiary structure), crisis, official story, blame container, actual responsibility chain, control/benefit/knowledge/preventability, record controller (UCC archives + Indian gov't), cost bearer (5,000+ dead, 500,000 injured), how the alibi hardened, how it weakened, strongest counterargument, evidence grade A (court judgments, ICMR studies), sources needed, narrative scenes, book function, handoff owner. </example> <example> Context: Boundary case: the historical record exists only in one language with no English-language scholarship. output: Returns a case-file skeleton marked status: source-language-only, with a 'translation needed' open question, evidence grade C until at least one independent translation is available, and a handoff to Delon for translation-resource assignment. </example>