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Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is an action-adventure video game developed by Silicon Knights and published by Nintendo. Originally planned for the Nintendo 64, it was switched to the GameCube for development and released on June 24, 2002. While the game features similar gameplay mechanics to that of Resident Evil, it distinguishes itself with unique features, such as "sanity effects". In the game, players take on the role of several characters as they battle a powerful entity who seeks to enslave humanity.
Eternal Darkness was not a commercial success, but was widely praised by reviewers and won numerous awards. Although a direct follow-up to the game was cancelled by Nintendo, who owned the game's copyright, and Silicon Knights later went bankrupt and disbanded, the game's writer and director Denis Dyack has been attempting to make a spiritual successor entitled Shadow of the Eternals.
Gameplay

The game is conducted from a third-person perspective. While the gameplay operates similar to Resident Evil – fighting monsters and solving puzzles to further explore a location, Eternal Darkness maintains notable differences in gameplay style, some of which distinguished it from other horror/survival games of its time. An in-game map tracks a player's bearings. The inventory system stores weapons and items that can be used to solve puzzles. Some of which can be combined with other objects, even enchanted with magick, for different effects.
Combat focuses on a simple targeting system. Players must lock-on to an enemy to attack it, but can focus on striking an enemy directly or attacking one of its limbs and remove it, thus hindering an enemy. Decapitating the heads on most enemies effectively blinds them. There are various classes of enemies the player must either defeat or avoid. Most enemies come in several different varieties. And subtle differences between each variety exist as well. On top of having different traits, each variety of enemy class also varies in appearance. Some of the more common enemies vary very little. Usually only changing in the hue of their skin. But the larger boss enemies tend to vary quite significantly.
The game features multiple paths that can be taken. This choice not only determines which of the game's three other antagonists are aligned to the story, but it also has subtle effects on the gameplay in subsequent chapters and later intermission periods. This can even have an affect on the relative difficulty of the game in certain situations. Most changes revolve around enemy placement, which has a rippling affect on how the player engages them. Red tinted enemies, for example, are tougher than their counterparts. Making the "red" story path a kind of unofficial hard mode. After the game is completed down one path, it becomes unavailable in future playthroughs, until the player completes all three paths.
The narrative of the game's story switches between two phases. The main phase focuses on a series of chapters in which players take control of a new character each time. The other phase acts as an intermission. The game features twelve playable characters, split between four distinct locations, and from different periods of time. Each of whom are different in terms of the game's three main parameters – health, sanity, and magick – and have access to a small selection of weapons that they can use in combat, though what they can use is determined by the time period, or era, that they lived in. For example, characters from the medieval era are restricted to mostly melee weapons such as swords, with the occasional crossbow or throwable. Meanwhile characters from more modern eras have access to more ranged weapons, including modern day firearms.

Magick
Magick can be used by most characters, and consists of spells that can be used to damage opponents, protect characters and heal them, and be used to solve certain puzzles. The player is also able to assign spells to buttons for quick-use during the game. After discovering a spell it can be used in subsequent chapters and intermission periods. All spells are fundamentally affected by what alignment rune is used to power them. The game incorporates four types – Red, Green, Blue, and Purple. Each alignment affects spells on a specific parameter. On top of that, they operate on a rock, paper, scissors principle of gameplay. All spells require the player to combine a series of Runes together in order to cast them. Runes can be freely experimented with by the player. This robust mechanic of experimentation has been praised by game critics as unique, and something that sets the magick system in this apart from most magic systems of most other game titles.

Sanity
The other distinctive gameplay aspect comes from "Sanity Effects", the game's standout concept that Nintendo patented.[2] Upon beginning the game's second chapter, players must keep watch on a Sanity meter – a green bar which decreases when the player is spotted by an enemy. As the bar becomes low, subtle changes to the environment and random unusual events begin to occur, which reflect the character's slackening grip on reality.
While minor effects include a skewed camera angle, heads of statues following the character, and unsettling noises, stronger effects include bleeding on walls and ceilings, entering a room that is unrealistic before finding that the character never left the previous room, the character suddenly dying, and fourth wall breaking effect such as "To Be Continued" promotions for a "sequel", and simulated errors and anomalies of the TV or GameCube. While the latter does not affect gameplay, they can be misconstrued by the player as being actual technical malfunctions.
Story
Setting
The story of Eternal Darkness takes place over four principal locations which the game skips back and forth between. They include an underground temple complex called the Forbidden City, in Persia; a Khmer temple in Angkor Thom, Cambodia; Oublié Cathedral in Amiens, France (not to be confused with Amiens Cathedral); and the Roivas Family Estate in Rhode Island, which also leads to an ancient underground city named Ehn'gha underneath the mansion. Each time a location is visited, it is done so in a different time period. Spanning from 26 BC to 2000 AD. Almost half of which take place in the 20th Century. Each different era and character offers a different periodic and personal perspective on the location.
Plot
The chapters found in the game are not discovered in chronological order. Instead, to make the narrative more dramatic, each chapter jumps around the timeline of the plot. However, within each of the 4 settings, the chapters do follow chronological order. This is because each setting has its own contained story. The story of 3 of the locations have a final objective of getting an artifact to the Roivas Family Estate.
Alexandra Roivas finds herself returning to her family's estate in Rhode Island after her grandfather, Edward Roivas, her only living relative, is found brutally murdered. Two weeks after returning, with the local police having gotten nowhere with the murder, Alex decides to investigate the mansion for clues, and stumbles upon a secret room containing a book bound with human skin called the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Deciding to read it, she finds it containing accounts of various people in the past, beginning with the story of Pious Augustus.
Pious Augustus, a respected Roman military commander, is sent to Ancient Persia to locate an important relic. Lured away from his men by mysterious voices, Pious found himself venturing into an underground temple complex called the Forbidden City. He comes across three artifacts. Each possessing the essence of a powerful godlike being referred to as "Ancients". Upon attempting to touch one of the artifacts, Pious finds himself corrupted by its power, whereupon he pledges his allegiance to the artifact's Ancient and begins working on summoning them into the universe.  The remaining two artifacts that Pious did not claim were put out of Pious' reach. One of the other artifacts represents the Ancient that is stronger than Pious', and the other represents the Ancient weaker than Pious'.
The artifact representing the weaker Ancient remained in the Forbidden city. A young Persian swordsman named Karim, ventures to the Forbidden City to locate a treasure for a woman that he loves. Upon finding it, he sacrifices himself in order to guard it. Pious returns to Persia in the middle ages to construct a Pillar of Flesh at the Forbidden City, as part of his master's plans. Roberto Bianchi, a Venetian architect travelling through the region, is captured by Pious' men. While conducting his work for them, he encounters the spirit of Karim, who entrusts him with the artifact in his possession. Centuries later, a Canadian firefighter Michael Edwards works with his team to extinguish several major oil fires in the Middle East, following the end of the Gulf War. He is approached by Roberto's spirit, who entrusts him with the artifact in his possession and instructs him to take it to the Roivas Family Estate. Michael then moves to destroy the Forbidden City with a magickally enhanced bomb. A few months later, Michael delivers the artifact to Edward Roivas in secret.
Meanwhile, the artifact representing the stronger Ancient is moved, by Pious, to Oublié Cathedral, in Amiens France, in order to prevent it from being used against him. First, though, Pious orders the assassination of Charlemagne the Frank, so his movement cannot impede his plans. A Frankish messenger named Anthony, who stumbles upon the plot, travels to the then small monastery in order to warn him of the danger to his life. Despite Anthony's best efforts, he arrives too late to save him, and dies from the spell he was afflicted with. When the location is a newly constructed Cathedral, Pious Augustus summons a creature called the Black Guardian, to protect the artifact that could defeat his master. A Franciscan monk named Paul Luther, visiting the region to view a holy relic at the cathedral, finds himself accused of murdering a fellow monk by the local Inquisition. Attempting to clear his name, he encounters the Guardian, which promptly kills him. During during World War I, Oublié Cathedral is converted into a field hospital. Peter Jacob, a field reporter making accounts about the war, notes that patients have been disappearing of late. Venturing into the catacombs, he finds himself encountering the Black Guardian and defeats it, recovering the artifact it was guarding. Sixty-nine years later, Edward is visited by a now elderly Peter Jacob who gives an account of his experience in Amiens before handing over the artifact in his possession.
While the other two artifacts are fought over between Pious and several unwitting souls, the "Corpse God" Mantorok, another powerful god-like being that can oppose Pious' master, has an artifact of its own. In the middle ages, Pious travels to a temple in Angkor Thom, Cambodia in order to deal with Mantorok. A young Khmer slave girl, named Ellia, finds herself trapped within the temple at the same time. While trying to find her way out, she is approached by one of Mantorok's servants, who entrusts her with the task of protecting the Ancient's essence within her body. Pious kills her shortly after. Centuries later, Dr. Edwin Lindsey, a noted archaeologist, ventures to Cambodia on an expedition to visit a hidden temple complex. After nearly being killed by Pious, who disguised himself in order to accompany him, Edwin finds Ellia's body and is entrusted by her spirit with Mantorok's essence, which he eventually delivers to Edward a few weeks later.
Alongside the struggle to claim the powerful artifacts of the Ancients, the Roivas Family Estate in Rhode Island, USA holds secrets of its own. Dr. Maximillian Roivas, a colonial ancestor of Alex and her grandfather, inherits his father's mansion in Rhode Island and decides to investigate its secrets. He soon finds a large cavern beneath the mansion, containing an ancient city within called Ehn'gha. He returns to the surface to get help, only to be considered delirious, and is sent to an asylum for the rest of his life. In the middle of the 20th century, Dr. Edward Roivas, a clinical psychologist at the time, inherits the Estate. Finding his way underground, Edward discovers the city incorporates magick machinery, and uses it to greatly damage the city with a powerful destructive spell. Knowing this is not enough, he decides to research what he can within the Tome for the final battle. After a decades long time skip, Edward is killed by one of Pious' servants.
Alexandra Roivas, having learned all she can from the Tome, decides to finish the fight. Recovering the artifacts from within the mansion, she soon ventures into Ehn'gha and uses them with the city's machinery, in order to summon a rival Ancient to fight Pious' master. Alex then engages Pious in combat, aided by the spirits of those written in the Tome, eventually defeating him and destroying the essence of his master, who is defeated by its rival. Edward's spirit then acts quickly to use Ehn'gha's mechanism to send back the summoned Ancient before it can cause any harm to the world.
After completing all three story paths, Edward Roivas narrates a revelation. All three paths are revealed to have occurred simultaneously in separate timelines. One of Mantorok's spheres of influence happens to be chaos, and with it, the ability to subtly manipulate time and space. It turned the other three Ancients against one another in mutual annihilation, and re-merged the timestreams into one complete victory. Now only Mantorok remains, slowly dying.
Development
When Silicon Knights began work on Eternal Darkness, their intention was to create a game "that was in the horror genre, but not categorized as survival/horror",[3] with then later labeling it as a "psychological thriller" during an early interview with IGN, as opposed to, what they referred to as, the "B-movie horror plots" of Resident Evil.[4] At the same time, Denis Dyack remarked during an interview about his decision to design the game with the intention of "messing with people's heads", after being inspired by media reports.[3]  The game was initially planned for the Nintendo 64 and to feature several characters, including "a Special Forces commando deep behind enemy lines", with the developers showing off the early builds during the 1999 E3 Expo;[5] Silicon Knights later changed their mind and rebuilt the game in order to make it a launch title for the Nintendo GameCube. It never made it as a launch title, as development was delayed.[6]
The music and sound effects of Eternal Darkness were composed by Steve Henifin. The soundtrack was made exclusively available through Nintendo Power magazine, with the disc containing 14 tracks from the game, many of which are extended versions of those heard in the game.[7] The game features voice-overs from several actors, some of whom are most notable for providing the voices of character in the Metal Gear series, and include Jennifer Hale, Neil Dickson, Cam Clarke, Kim Mai Guest, Greg Eagles, Paul Eiding and David Hayter.
Cut characters

Joseph De Molay appeared in numerous demonstration versions seen during development of the game, and was playable for visitors to the 2001 E3 demo. There is material showing Joseph in both the Forbidden City and Oublié Cathedral.[8] The game's launch was delayed in 2001, as the developers were forced to change the Arab world setting in a quarter of the game's levels, following the events of the September 11 attacks.[6] Writers Dyack and Ken McCulloch were forced to drop the use of Joseph De Molay within these levels, as it was believed that his character and setting would have created the potential for controversy over including a reference to the Crusades so soon after a major terrorist attack. They instead created Karim, a whole new character unrelated to the Crusades at all, for the new setting of the levels.[1][9][10][11] It is believed that Joseph may have a brief appearance in the final game (in non playable form) as the soldier that Pious defeats before Roberto's chapter.  This character is not named, however, and seems to appear in the credits as "Defeated General" (voiced by Richard Doyle).
In addition to these changes, the developers also decided to ditch the use of a fifth Ancient in the story, but retained elements of the fifth alignment for use in the finished game.[12] The fifth alignment's primary color designation was yellow. In-game, yellow appears on unaligned runes and disintegrating enemies. Though the Ancient itself was excluded, its role in the story was repurposed and added onto Mantorok's, which is why Mantorok plays both a superior and inferior role to the other three Ancients. Implying that the unnamed yellow Ancient was going to fulfill one of those two.[13]
Release
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was first released and published by Nintendo on June 24, 2002 in North America, October 25, 2002 in Japan and November 1, 2002 in Europe. It was the first video game published directly by Nintendo, rather than a third-party developer, to be rated M (Mature) by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
Short films
In 2002, Nintendo and Hypnotic, a film entertainment company, established a filmmaking contest in which contestants submitted ideas that would be later funded into short films if selected.[14] Hypnotic also purchased the rights to produce a film or TV series based on the IP.[15] The contest looked for ideas that evoke the same kind of psychological horror that the game intends to evoke, but the films were not directly based on the Eternal Darkness characters or storyline.
The contest drew over 500 submissions.[16] Ten finalists were selected and were granted $2,000 each to produce their respective short films. The grand prize for the contest was $20,000, and was selected by a panel of industry experts. The finalists were unveiled between May 23 and July 4, 2002.[17] A second prize, the viewer's choice award, was awarded on the basis of its popularity among the online audience.
The grand prize winner of the contest was Patrick Daughters, for the film Unloved. The viewer's choice award went to the film Cutting Room Floor by Tyler Spangler and Michael Cioni.[17] Other videos featured on the official website included Article Number One by Julian Cautherley, Dinner with Kip by Chris Schwartz, Del by Chris Milnes, Suburban Nightmare by Christopher Reves, Darkness Visible by David McMillan, Corner of the Eye by Peter Hunziker, Carnal Noise by Francisco Aliwalas, and << (pronounced "rewind") by Rich Gallup.
Reception
Reviews and sales
Reception
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem received a near-universal critical acclaim upon its release, with aggregated review scores of over 9/10 at both GameRankings and Metacritic.[18][19] Upon review, IGN gave Eternal Darkness one of its Editor's Choice Awards[27] and, in its review of the game, stated "Simply put, an amazing achievement that shouldn't be overlooked. Games do not come any better than this."[28]
Eternal Darkness sold less than half a million copies worldwide.[29] In Japan, the game has sold 17,748 copies as of December 31, 2006.[30]
Awards
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem won many awards, including the "Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development" award at the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards presented by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in 2003, where it was also nominated for "Console Game of the Year," "Innovation in Console Gaming," and "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction."[31] At GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002, it was awarded "Best Sound on GameCube", "Best Story on GameCube", and "Best Graphics (Artistic) on GameCube";[32][33][34] the game was also nominated for "Best Music on GameCube", "Best Action Adventure Game on GameCube", and "Game of the Year on GameCube".[35][36][37] GameSpy's Game of the Year Awards gave it their honorary "Day of the Tentacle (Cthulhu) Award".[38]
Retrospective
In 2006, Nintendo Power ranked Eternal Darkness as the 101st top game on Nintendo systems,[39] while the readers of IGN had it voted as the 96th best video game of all time on all systems;[40] in 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine had it listed as the 48th best Nintendo game.[41] The game was ranked as the seventh best game for the GameCube by X-Play in 2006,[42] as the fifth best GameCube game by IGN in 2007,[43] as the tenth best GameCube game by ScrewAttack that same year,[44] and placed fourth on the list of top GameCube games in the January 2009 issue of Game Informer.
Both X-Play and Game Informer in 2007 in 2006 ranked it as the fifth scariest game of all time.[45][46] In other lists, ScrewAttack ranked the fake "Corrupt Data" sanity effect as the ninth top "OMGWTF" moment in gaming in 2008,[44] while Alex Roivas was included among the 50 greatest heroines in video games by Tom's Games in 2007[47] and ranked as the 40th greatest heroine in video game history by Complex in 2013.[48]

Several retrospective articles demanded a follow-up game. IGN included Eternal Darkness on their 2008 list of "horror franchises that should rise from the grave",[49] GamesRadar included Eternal Darkness among the games "with untapped franchise potential" in 2009,[50] and UGO included it on a similar list of games "that need sequels" in 2010.[51]
Legacy
Cancelled sequel
Denis Dyack, designer of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and Too Human, said "absolutely yes" in July 2006 regarding the question of a possible sequel. He stated that Silicon Knights had intended for Eternal Darkness to be a stand-alone game, but the company has always intended to make more games set in the Eternal Darkness universe involving the Ancients.[52][53] At Microsoft's Spring 2008 Showcase, Dyack confirmed that a return to the Eternal Darkness brand could be on the cards: "There is a chance; we love all the games we work on. We don't want to be pigeon-holed [into a genre], we want to be known for strong content...There's a strong chance we'll return to it, but there's no announcements yet."[54] In November 2011, Silicon Knights claimed they wanted to focus on one of their most requested titles for the next generation of consoles. This combined with the fact Nintendo had trademarked the title once again, spawned rumours that another Eternal Darkness game would be made as a launch title for the Nintendo's Wii U console.[55] However, the project was cancelled due to Silicon Knights' legal troubles with Epic Games.[56]
In December 2012, Nintendo extended their ownership on the Eternal Darkness trademark for the fifth time, indicating that the company still has interest in the property.[57] Any chances for a sequel, at least under Silicon Knights, were terminated on May 9, 2013, after Silicon Knights filed for bankruptcy, closed its office, and sold off its equipment.[58] Nevertheless, Nintendo reregistered its trademark on July 29, 2013, with a new document that indicated that it might be a downloadable game. When asked about this by GameSpot, Nintendo declined to answer.[59]
Shadow of the Eternals
On May 3, 2013, it was announced that Precursor Games, staffed by many former Silicon Knights members, had begun a crowdfunding campaign through PayPal, seeking $1.5 million to create a spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness under the title Shadow of the Eternals, to be released for Microsoft Windows and Wii U.[60] The game would be released in 12 two- to four-hour long episodes, with Denis Dyack acting as the game's chief creative officer.[61][62][63] On May 13, a secondary fund-raising campaign was launched on Kickstarter, aiming to receive $1.35 million within 36 days.[64][65] Eventually, being only halfway through their funding campaign in early June, as a result of "a host of a new exciting opportunities that will make the game better than [Precursor Games] envisioned," the company decided to shut down both funding campaigns on Kickstarter and their official website whilst refunding all the accumulated money back to their contributors, and promised to relaunch a new campaign a few weeks later with "a reveal of these exciting new developments."[66] Later in June, Precursor's founding member, and co-designer of both Eternal Darkness and Shadow of the Eternals, Kenneth McCulloch was arrested and pleaded guilty on charges of child pornography; the studio immediately severed all ties with him.[67] Another Kickstarter campaign was launched on July 25 aiming for a $750,000 goal this time. Instead of 12 episodes, the game was intended to be released as one 8- to 10-hour experience.[68]
The game was announced as follows: "When Detective Paul Becker is called to one of the bloodiest gang massacres in Louisiana state history, only two survivors remain from a brutal conflict between two rival cults. As Becker begins his interrogations of the suspects, their combined recollections will uncover the truth about the 'Eternals'. Featuring an ensemble cast of heroes and villains, Shadow of the Eternals will span over 2500 years of history throughout Egypt, England, Hungary, and the United States. Players will question the perception of reality as they try to balance the mechanics of combat, magick, and sanity events to progress through the adventure. Shadow of the Eternals will take players on a memorable journey throughout time; weaving historical fact with disturbing fiction to create an experience unlike any other."[60] On May 10, a nine-minute gameplay trailer was shown.[69][70] In creating the look of the game, Precursor Games purchased art assets from Silicon Knights which were going to be used on the Eternal Darkness sequel before it was canceled. Though Nintendo still owns the rights to Eternal Darkness as well as the patent for the game's unique "Sanity Meter", Precursor Games head Paul Caporicci stated that the studio were in "constant communication" with Nintendo, who are supportive of the project.[71]
As of September 30, 2013, Shadow of the Eternals was delayed indefinitely due to lack of funding on Kickstarter.[72][73] The Escapist commented: "What seemed like a fairly obvious slam-dunk sequel to a classic game has instead been a circus of multiple failed crowdfunding campaigns, child pornography, and outright lack of faith in the developers. It certainly must be a discouraging experience for everyone involved, but that's the double-edged blade of crowdfunding: the crowds occasionally [do] not want your game."[74] Kyle Hilliard of Game Informer wrote, "Despite good intentions, and the excitement surrounding the prospect of a sequel to Eternal Darkness, Shadow of the Eternals has been plagued with issues since its original announcement. It's disappointing, but not too surprising that Precursor has decided to put the game on hold. I would still like to see the final game someday, but I am not confident that we will be seeing or even hearing from the game anytime soon."[75]
In October 2014 it was reported that Denis Dyack had created a new entertainment company Quantum Entanglement Entertainment. One of the company's first projects will be relaunching the development for Shadow of the Eternals. Dyack is also considering Shadow of the Eternals as a film and television property.[76]In January 2018, QEE was quietly shut down and the production of Shadow of the Eternals was put on hold. Dyack renamed the company as Apocalypse Studios and announced a new free-to-play RPG game for the PC titled Deadhaus Sonata.[77][78]

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Who made Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem?


Part of a series of articles aboutClassical mechanics

F
→

=
m

a
→

{\displaystyle {\vec {F}}=m{\vec {a}}}

Second law of motion

History
Timeline

Branches
Applied
Celestial
Continuum
Dynamics
Kinematics
Kinetics
Statics
Statistical

Fundamentals
Acceleration
Angular momentum
Couple
D'Alembert's principle
Energy
kinetic
potential
Force
Frame of reference
Inertial frame of reference
Impulse
Inertia/Moment of inertia
Mass

Mechanical power
Mechanical work

Moment
Momentum
Space
Speed
Time
Torque
Velocity
Virtual work

Formulations
Newton's laws of motion
Analytical mechanics Lagrangian mechanicsHamiltonian mechanicsRouthian mechanicsHamilton–Jacobi equationAppell's equation of motionUdwadia–Kalaba equationKoopman–von Neumann mechanics
Core topics
Damping(ratio)
Displacement
Equations of motion
Euler's laws of motion
Fictitious force
Friction
Harmonic oscillator

Inertial/Non-inertial reference frame
Mechanics of planar particle motion

Motion(linear)
Newton's law of universal gravitation
Newton's laws of motion
Relative velocity
Rigid body
dynamics
Euler's equations
Simple harmonic motion
Vibration

Rotation
Circular motion
Rotating reference frame
Centripetal force
Centrifugal force
reactive
Coriolis force
Pendulum
Tangential speed
Rotational speed

Angular acceleration/displacement/frequency/velocity
Scientists
Galileo
Huygens
Newton
Kepler
Horrocks
Halley
Euler
d'Alembert
Clairaut
Lagrange
Laplace
Hamilton
Poisson
Daniel Bernoulli
Johann Bernoulli
Cauchy
vt

Classical mechanics describes the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, and astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars and galaxies.
If the present state of an object is known it is possible to predict by the laws of classical mechanics how it will move in the future (determinism) and how it has moved in the past (reversibility).
The earliest development of classical mechanics is often referred to as Newtonian mechanics. It consists of the physical concepts employed by and the mathematical methods invented by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and others in the 17th century to describe the motion of bodies under the influence of a system of forces.
Later, more abstract methods were developed, leading to the reformulations of classical mechanics known as Lagrangian mechanics and Hamiltonian mechanics. These advances, made predominantly in the 18th and 19th centuries, extend substantially beyond Newton's work, particularly through their use of analytical mechanics. They are, with some modification, also used in all areas of modern physics.
Classical mechanics provides extremely accurate results when studying large objects that are not extremely massive and speeds not approaching the speed of light. When the objects being examined have about the size of an atom diameter, it becomes necessary to introduce the other major sub-field of mechanics: quantum mechanics. To describe velocities that are not small compared to the speed of light, special relativity is needed. In case that objects become extremely massive,  general relativity becomes applicable. However, a number of modern sources do include relativistic mechanics into classical physics, which in their view represents classical mechanics in its most developed and accurate form.[note 1]
Description of the theory

The following introduces the basic concepts of classical mechanics. For simplicity, it often models real-world objects as point particles (objects with negligible size). The motion of a point particle is characterized by a small number of parameters: its position, mass, and the forces applied to it. Each of these parameters is discussed in turn.
In reality, the kind of objects that classical mechanics can describe always have a non-zero size. (The physics of very small particles, such as the electron, is more accurately described by quantum mechanics.) Objects with non-zero size have more complicated behavior than hypothetical point particles, because of the additional degrees of freedom, e.g., a baseball can spin while it is moving. However, the results for point particles can be used to study such objects by treating them as composite objects, made of a large number of collectively acting point particles. The center of mass of a composite object behaves like a point particle.
Classical mechanics uses common-sense notions of how matter and forces exist and interact. It assumes that matter and energy have definite, knowable attributes such as location in space and speed. Non-relativistic mechanics also assumes that forces act instantaneously (see also Action at a distance).

Position and its derivatives

The position of a point particle is defined in relation to a coordinate system centered on an arbitrary fixed reference point in space called the origin O. A simple coordinate system might describe the position of a particle P with a vector notated by an arrow labeled r that points from the origin O to point P. In general, the point particle does not need to be stationary relative to O.  In cases where P is moving relative to O, r is defined as a function of t, time. In pre-Einstein relativity (known as Galilean relativity), time is considered an absolute, i.e., the time interval that is observed to elapse between any given pair of events is the same for all observers.[1] In addition to relying on absolute time, classical mechanics assumes Euclidean geometry for the structure of space.[2]
Velocity and speed

The velocity, or the rate of change of position with time, is defined as the derivative of the position with respect to time:

v

=

d

r

d

t

{\displaystyle \mathbf {v} ={\mathrm {d} \mathbf {r}  \over \mathrm {d} t}\,\!}

.
In classical mechanics, velocities are directly additive and subtractive. For example, if one car travels east at 60km/h and passes another car traveling in the same direction at 50km/h, the slower car perceives the faster car as traveling east at 60 − 50 = 10 km/h. However, from the perspective of the faster car, the slower car is moving 10km/h to the west, often denoted as -10km/h where the sign implies opposite direction. Velocities are directly additive as vector quantities; they must be dealt with using vector analysis.
Mathematically, if the velocity of the first object in the previous discussion is denoted by the vector u = ud and the velocity of the second object by the vector v = ve, where u is the speed of the first object, v is the speed of the second object, and d and e are unit vectors in the directions of motion of each object respectively, then the velocity of the first object as seen by the second object is

u

′

=

u

−

v

.

{\displaystyle \mathbf {u} '=\mathbf {u} -\mathbf {v} \,.}

Similarly, the first object sees the velocity of the second object as

v
′

=

v

−

u

.

{\displaystyle \mathbf {v'} =\mathbf {v} -\mathbf {u} \,.}

When both objects are moving in the same direction, this equation can be simplified to

u

′

=
(
u
−
v
)

d

.

{\displaystyle \mathbf {u} '=(u-v)\mathbf {d} \,.}

Or, by ignoring direction, the difference can be given in terms of speed only:

u
′

=
u
−
v

.

{\displaystyle u'=u-v\,.}

Acceleration

The acceleration, or rate of change of velocity, is the derivative of the velocity with respect to time (the second derivative of the position with respect to time):

a

=

d

v

d

t

=

d

2

r

d

t

2

.

{\displaystyle \mathbf {a} ={\mathrm {d} \mathbf {v}  \over \mathrm {d} t}={\mathrm {d^{2}} \mathbf {r}  \over \mathrm {d} t^{2}}.}

Acceleration represents the velocity's change over time.  Velocity can change in either magnitude or direction, or both. Occasionally, a decrease in the magnitude of velocity "v" is referred to as deceleration, but generally any change in the velocity over time, including deceleration, is simply referred to as acceleration.
Frames of reference

While the position, velocity and acceleration of a particle can be described with respect to any observer in any state of motion, classical mechanics assumes the existence of a special family of reference frames in which the mechanical laws of nature take a comparatively simple form. These special reference frames are called inertial frames.
An inertial frame is a frame of reference within which an object interacting with no forces (an idealized situation) appears either at rest or moving uniformly in a straight line. This is the fundamental definition of an inertial frame. These are characterized by the requirement that all forces entering the observer's physical laws originate from identifiable sources caused by fields, such as electro-static field (caused by static electrical charges), electro-magnetic field (caused by moving charges), gravitational field (caused by mass), and so forth.
A key concept of inertial frames is the method for identifying them. For practical purposes, reference frames that do not accelerate with respect to distant stars (an extremely distant point) are regarded as good approximations to inertial frames. Non-inertial reference frames accelerate in relation to an existing inertial frame. They form the basis for Einstein's relativity.  Due to the relative motion, particles in the non-inertial frame appear to move in ways not explained by forces from existing fields in the reference frame. Hence, it appears that there are other forces that enter the equations of motion solely as a result of the relative acceleration. These forces are referred to as fictitious forces, inertia forces, or pseudo-forces.
Consider two reference frames S and S'. For observers in each of the reference frames an event has space-time coordinates of (x,y,z,t) in frame S and (x',y',z',t') in frame S'. Assuming time is measured the same in all reference frames, and if we require x = x' when t = 0, then the relation between the space-time coordinates of the same event observed from the reference frames S' and S, which are moving at a relative velocity of u in the x direction is:

x
′

=
x
−
u
t

{\displaystyle x'=x-ut\,}

y
′

=
y

{\displaystyle y'=y\,}

z
′

=
z

{\displaystyle z'=z\,}

t
′

=
t

.

{\displaystyle t'=t\,.}

This set of formulas defines a group transformation known as the Galilean transformation (informally, the Galilean transform). This group is a limiting case of the Poincaré group used in special relativity. The limiting case applies when the velocity u is very small compared to c, the speed of light.
The transformations have the following consequences:
v′ = v − u (the velocity v′ of a particle from the perspective of S′ is slower by u than its velocity v from the perspective of S)
a′ = a (the acceleration of a particle is the same in any inertial reference frame)
F′ = F (the force on a particle is the same in any inertial reference frame)
the  speed of light is not a constant in classical mechanics, nor does the special position given to the speed of light in relativistic mechanics have a counterpart in classical mechanics.
For some problems, it is convenient to use rotating coordinates (reference frames). Thereby one can either keep a mapping to a convenient inertial frame, or introduce additionally a fictitious centrifugal force and Coriolis force.
Forces; Newton's second law

Newton was the first to mathematically express the relationship between force and momentum. Some physicists interpret Newton's second law of motion as a definition of force and mass, while others consider it a fundamental postulate, a law of nature.[3] Either interpretation has the same mathematical consequences, historically known as "Newton's Second Law":

F

=

d

p

d

t

=

d

(
m

v

)

d

t

.

{\displaystyle \mathbf {F} ={\mathrm {d} \mathbf {p}  \over \mathrm {d} t}={\mathrm {d} (m\mathbf {v} ) \over \mathrm {d} t}.}

The quantity mv is called the (canonical) momentum. The net force on a particle is thus equal to the rate of change of the momentum of the particle with time. Since the definition of acceleration is a = dv/dt, the second law can be written in the simplified and more familiar form:

F

=
m

a

.

{\displaystyle \mathbf {F} =m\mathbf {a} \,.}

So long as the force acting on a particle is known, Newton's second law is sufficient to describe the motion of a particle. Once independent relations for each force acting on a particle are available, they can be substituted into Newton's second law to obtain an ordinary differential equation, which is called the equation of motion.
As an example, assume that friction is the only force acting on the particle, and that it may be modeled as a function of the velocity of the particle, for example:

F

R

=
−
λ

v

,

{\displaystyle \mathbf {F} _{\rm {R}}=-\lambda \mathbf {v} \,,}

where λ is a positive constant, the negative sign states that the force is opposite the sense of the velocity. Then the equation of motion is

−
λ

v

=
m

a

=
m

d

v

d

t

.

{\displaystyle -\lambda \mathbf {v} =m\mathbf {a} =m{\mathrm {d} \mathbf {v}  \over \mathrm {d} t}\,.}

This can be integrated to obtain

v

=

v

0

e

−
λ
t

m

{\displaystyle \mathbf {v} =\mathbf {v} _{0}e^{\frac {-\lambda t}{m}}}

where v0 is the initial velocity. This means that the velocity of this particle decays exponentially to zero as time progresses. In this case, an equivalent viewpoint is that the kinetic energy of the particle is absorbed by friction (which converts it to heat energy in accordance with the conservation of energy), and the particle is slowing down. This expression can be further integrated to obtain the position r of the particle as a function of time.
Important forces include the gravitational force and the Lorentz force for electromagnetism. In addition, Newton's third law can sometimes be used to deduce the forces acting on a particle: if it is known that particle A exerts a force F on another particle B, it follows that B must exert an equal and opposite reaction force, −F, on A. The strong form of Newton's third law requires that F and −F act along the line connecting A and B, while the weak form does not. Illustrations of the weak form of Newton's third law are often found for magnetic forces.
Work and energy

If a constant force F is applied to a particle that makes a displacement Δr,[note 2] the work done by the force is defined as the scalar product of the force and displacement vectors:

W
=

F

⋅
Δ

r

.

{\displaystyle W=\mathbf {F} \cdot \Delta \mathbf {r} \,.}

More generally, if the force varies as a function of position as the particle moves from r1 to r2 along a path C, the work done on the particle is given by the line integral

W
=

∫

C

F

(

r

)
⋅

d

r

.

{\displaystyle W=\int _{C}\mathbf {F} (\mathbf {r} )\cdot \mathrm {d} \mathbf {r} \,.}

If the work done in moving the particle from r1 to r2 is the same no matter what path is taken, the force is said to be conservative. Gravity is a conservative force, as is the force due to an idealized spring, as given by Hooke's law. The force due to friction is non-conservative.
The kinetic energy Ek of a particle of mass m travelling at speed v is given by

E

k

=

1
2

m

v

2

.

{\displaystyle E_{\mathrm {k} }={\tfrac {1}{2}}mv^{2}\,.}

For extended objects composed of many particles, the kinetic energy of the composite body is the sum of the kinetic energies of the particles.
The work–energy theorem states that for a particle of constant mass m, the total work W done on the particle as it moves from position r1 to r2 is equal to the change in kinetic energy Ek of the particle:

W
=
Δ

E

k

=

E

k
,
2

−

E

k
,
1

=

1
2

m

(

v

2

2

−

v

1

2

)

.

{\displaystyle W=\Delta E_{\mathrm {k} }=E_{\mathrm {k,2} }-E_{\mathrm {k,1} }={\tfrac {1}{2}}m\left(v_{2}^{\,2}-v_{1}^{\,2}\right)\,.}

Conservative forces can be expressed as the gradient of a scalar function, known as the potential energy and denoted Ep:

F

=
−

∇

E

p

.

{\displaystyle \mathbf {F} =-\mathbf {\nabla } E_{\mathrm {p} }\,.}

If all the forces acting on a particle are conservative, and Ep is the total potential energy (which is defined as a work of involved forces to rearrange mutual positions of bodies), obtained by summing the potential energies corresponding to each force

F

⋅
Δ

r

=
−

∇

E

p

⋅
Δ

r

=
−
Δ

E

p

.

{\displaystyle \mathbf {F} \cdot \Delta \mathbf {r} =-\mathbf {\nabla } E_{\mathrm {p} }\cdot \Delta \mathbf {r} =-\Delta E_{\mathrm {p} }\,.}

The decrease in the potential energy is equal to the increase in the kinetic energy

−
Δ

E

p

=
Δ

E

k

⇒
Δ
(

E

k

+

E

p

)
=
0

.

{\displaystyle -\Delta E_{\mathrm {p} }=\Delta E_{\mathrm {k} }\Rightarrow \Delta (E_{\mathrm {k} }+E_{\mathrm {p} })=0\,.}

This result is known as conservation of energy and states that the total energy,

∑
E
=

E

k

+

E

p

,

{\displaystyle \sum E=E_{\mathrm {k} }+E_{\mathrm {p} }\,,}

is constant in time. It is often useful, because many commonly encountered forces are conservative.
Beyond Newton's laws
Classical mechanics also describes the more complex motions of extended non-pointlike objects. Euler's laws provide extensions to Newton's laws in this area. The concepts of angular momentum rely on the same calculus used to describe one-dimensional motion. The rocket equation extends the notion of rate of change of an object's momentum to include the effects of an object "losing mass".
There are two important alternative formulations of classical mechanics: Lagrangian mechanics and Hamiltonian mechanics. These, and other modern formulations, usually bypass the concept of "force", instead referring to other physical quantities, such as energy, speed and momentum, for describing mechanical systems in generalized coordinates.
The expressions given above for momentum and kinetic energy are only valid when there is no significant electromagnetic contribution. In electromagnetism, Newton's second law for current-carrying wires breaks down unless one includes the electromagnetic field contribution to the momentum of the system as expressed by the Poynting vector divided by c2, where c is the speed of light in free space.
Limits of validity

Many branches of classical mechanics are simplifications or approximations of more accurate forms; two of the most accurate being general relativity and relativistic statistical mechanics. Geometric optics is an approximation to the quantum theory of light, and does not have a superior "classical" form.
When both quantum mechanics and classical mechanics cannot apply, such as at the quantum level with many degrees of freedom, quantum field theory (QFT) is of use. QFT deals with small distances and large speeds with many degrees of freedom as well as the possibility of any change in the number of particles throughout the interaction. When treating large degrees of freedom at the macroscopic level, statistical mechanics becomes useful. Statistical mechanics describes the behavior of large (but countable) numbers of particles and their interactions as a whole at the macroscopic level. Statistical mechanics is mainly used in thermodynamics for systems that lie outside the bounds of the assumptions of classical thermodynamics. In the case of high velocity objects approaching the speed of light, classical mechanics is enhanced by special relativity. In case that objects become extremely heavy (i.e. their Schwarzschild radius is not negligibly small for a given application), deviations from Newtonian mechanics become apparent and can be quantified by using the Parameterized post-Newtonian formalism. In that case, General relativity (GR) becomes applicable. However, until now there is no theory of Quantum gravity unifying GR and QFT in the sense that it could be used when objects become extremely small and heavy.[4] [5]
The Newtonian approximation to special relativity
In special relativity, the momentum of a particle is given by

p

=

m

v

1
−

v

2

/

c

2

,

{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} ={\frac {m\mathbf {v} }{\sqrt {1-v^{2}/c^{2}}}}\,,}

where m is the particle's rest mass, v its velocity, v is the modulus of v, and c is the speed of light.
If v is very small compared to c, v2/c2 is approximately zero, and so

p

≈
m

v

.

{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} \approx m\mathbf {v} \,.}

Thus the Newtonian equation p = mv is an approximation of the relativistic equation for bodies moving with low speeds compared to the speed of light.
For example, the relativistic cyclotron frequency of a cyclotron, gyrotron, or high voltage magnetron is given by

f
=

f

c

m

0

m

0

+
T

/

c

2

,

{\displaystyle f=f_{\mathrm {c} }{\frac {m_{0}}{m_{0}+T/c^{2}}}\,,}

where fc is the classical frequency of an electron (or other charged particle) with kinetic energy T and (rest) mass m0 circling in a magnetic field. The (rest) mass of an electron is 511keV. So the frequency correction is 1% for a magnetic vacuum tube with a 5.11kV direct current accelerating voltage.
The classical approximation to quantum mechanics
The ray approximation of classical mechanics breaks down when the de Broglie wavelength is not much smaller than other dimensions of the system. For non-relativistic particles, this wavelength is

λ
=

h
p

{\displaystyle \lambda ={\frac {h}{p}}}

where h is Planck's constant and p is the momentum.
Again, this happens with electrons before it happens with heavier particles. For example, the electrons used by Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer in 1927, accelerated by 54V, had a wavelength of 0.167nm, which was long enough to exhibit a single diffraction side lobe when reflecting from the face of a nickel crystal with atomic spacing of 0.215nm. With a larger vacuum chamber, it would seem relatively easy to increase the angular resolution from around a radian to a milliradian and see quantum diffraction from the periodic patterns of integrated circuit computer memory.
More practical examples of the failure of classical mechanics on an engineering scale are conduction by quantum tunneling in tunnel diodes and very narrow transistor gates in integrated circuits.
Classical mechanics is the same extreme high frequency approximation as geometric optics. It is more often accurate because it describes particles and bodies with rest mass. These have more momentum and therefore shorter De Broglie wavelengths than massless particles, such as light, with the same kinetic energies.
History

The study of the motion of bodies is an ancient one, making classical mechanics one of the oldest and largest subjects in science, engineering and technology,
Some Greek philosophers of antiquity, among them Aristotle, founder of Aristotelian physics, may have been the first to maintain the idea that "everything happens for a reason" and that theoretical principles can assist in the understanding of nature. While to a modern reader, many of these preserved ideas come forth as eminently reasonable, there is a conspicuous lack of both mathematical theory and controlled experiment, as we know it. These later became decisive factors in forming modern science, and their early application came to be known as classical mechanics.
In his Elementa super demonstrationem ponderum, medieval mathematician Jordanus de Nemore introduced the concept of "positional gravity" and the use of component forces.

The first published causal explanation of the motions of planets was Johannes Kepler's Astronomia nova, published in 1609. He concluded, based on Tycho Brahe's observations on the orbit of Mars, that the planet's orbits were ellipses. This break with ancient thought was happening around the same time that Galileo was proposing abstract mathematical laws for the motion of objects. He may (or may not) have performed the famous experiment of dropping two cannonballs of different weights from the tower of Pisa, showing that they both hit the ground at the same time. The reality of that particular experiment is disputed, but he did carry out quantitative experiments by rolling balls on an inclined plane. His theory of accelerated motion was derived from the results of such experiments and forms a cornerstone of classical mechanics.

Newton founded his principles of natural philosophy on three proposed laws of motion: the law of inertia, his second law of acceleration (mentioned above), and the law of action and reaction; and hence laid the foundations for classical mechanics. Both Newton's second and third laws were given the proper scientific and mathematical treatment in Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Here they are distinguished from earlier attempts at explaining similar phenomena, which were either incomplete, incorrect, or given little accurate mathematical expression. Newton also enunciated the principles of conservation of momentum and angular momentum. In mechanics, Newton was also the first to provide the first correct scientific and mathematical formulation of gravity in Newton's law of universal gravitation. The combination of Newton's laws of motion and gravitation provide the fullest and most accurate description of classical mechanics. He demonstrated that these laws apply to everyday objects as well as to celestial objects. In particular, he obtained a theoretical explanation of Kepler's laws of motion of the planets.
Newton had previously invented the calculus, of mathematics, and used it to perform the mathematical calculations. For acceptability, his book, the Principia, was formulated entirely in terms of the long-established geometric methods, which were soon eclipsed by his calculus. However, it was Leibniz who developed the notation of the derivative and integral preferred[4] today.

Newton, and most of his contemporaries, with the notable exception of Huygens, worked on the assumption that classical mechanics would be able to explain all phenomena, including light, in the form of geometric optics. Even when discovering the so-called Newton's rings (a wave interference phenomenon) he maintained his own corpuscular theory of light.
After Newton, classical mechanics became a principal field of study in mathematics as well as physics. Several re-formulations progressively allowed finding solutions to a far greater number of problems. The first notable re-formulation was in 1788 by Joseph Louis Lagrange. Lagrangian mechanics was in turn re-formulated in 1833 by William Rowan Hamilton.
Some difficulties were discovered in the late 19th century that could only be resolved by more modern physics. Some of these difficulties related to compatibility with electromagnetic theory, and the famous Michelson–Morley experiment. The resolution of these problems led to the special theory of relativity, often still considered a part of classical mechanics.
A second set of difficulties were related to thermodynamics. When combined with thermodynamics, classical mechanics leads to the Gibbs paradox of classical statistical mechanics, in which entropy is not a well-defined quantity. Black-body radiation was not explained without the introduction of quanta. As experiments reached the atomic level, classical mechanics failed to explain, even approximately, such basic things as the energy levels and sizes of atoms and the photo-electric effect. The effort at resolving these problems led to the development of quantum mechanics.
Since the end of the 20th century, classical mechanics in physics has no longer been an independent theory. Instead, classical mechanics is now considered an approximate theory to the more general quantum mechanics. Emphasis has shifted to understanding the fundamental forces of nature as in the Standard model and its more modern extensions into a unified theory of everything.[5] Classical mechanics is a theory useful for the study of the motion of non-quantum mechanical, low-energy particles in weak gravitational fields. Also, it has been extended into the complex domain where complex classical mechanics exhibits behaviors very similar to quantum mechanics.[6]
Branches
Classical mechanics was traditionally divided into three main branches:
Statics, the study of equilibrium and its relation to forces
Dynamics, the study of motion and its relation to forces
Kinematics, dealing with the implications of observed motions without regard for circumstances causing them
Another division is based on the choice of mathematical formalism:
Newtonian mechanics
Lagrangian mechanics
Hamiltonian mechanics
Alternatively, a division can be made by region of application:
Celestial mechanics, relating to stars, planets and other celestial bodies
Continuum mechanics, for materials modelled as a continuum, e.g., solids and fluids (i.e., liquids and gases).
Relativistic mechanics (i.e. including the special and general theories of relativity), for bodies whose speed is close to the speed of light.
Statistical mechanics, which provides a framework for relating the microscopic properties of individual atoms and molecules to the macroscopic or bulk thermodynamic properties of materials.
See also

Dynamical systems
History of classical mechanics
List of equations in classical mechanics
List of publications in classical mechanics
Molecular dynamics
Newton's laws of motion
Special theory of relativity
Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Field Theory

Notes

Further reading

*

Crowell, Benjamin.  (an introductory text, uses algebra with optional sections involving calculus)
Fitzpatrick, Richard.  (uses calculus)
Hoiland, Paul (2004).
Horbatsch, Marko, "".
Rosu, Haret C., "". Physics Education. 1999. [arxiv.org: physics/9909035]
Shapiro, Joel A. (2003).
Sussman, Gerald Jay & Wisdom, Jack &  Mayer,Meinhard E. (2001).
Tong, David.  (Cambridge lecture notes on Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalism)

 Movies and photos of hundreds of working mechanical-systems models at Cornell University. Also includes an  of classic texts on mechanical design and engineering.
 Free videos of actual course lectures with links to lecture notes, assignments and exams.
Alejandro A. Torassa,

When did the field of classical mechanics originate?


The New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case is a political controversy in the United States concerning an incident that occurred during the 2008 election. The New Black Panther Party and two of its members, Minister King Samir Shabazz and Jerry Jackson, were charged with voter intimidation for their conduct outside a polling station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Department of Justice later narrowed the charges against Minister King Shabazz and dismissed the charges against the New Black Panther Party and Jerry Jackson. The decision to dismiss the charges led to accusations that the Department of Justice under the Obama administration was biased against white victims and unwilling to prosecute minorities for civil rights violations. These charges have been most notably made by J. Christian Adams, who in May 2010 resigned his post in the Department of Justice in protest over the Obama administration's perceived mishandling of the case, and by his former supervisor Christopher Coates.
Counter-accusations were made, including claims that the actual incident was relatively minor but had been blown out of proportion by individuals and groups with political motives. Then-AG Eric Holder denied claims that his Justice Department considers the race of an alleged victim when deciding which cases to pursue. The case and its handling by the Department of Justice was investigated by the United States Commission on Civil Rights which released its report in December 2010[1], the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility which released its report in March 2011[2] and the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice which released its report in March 2013[3].
Incident and initial response

The conduct for which members of the New Black Panther Party were accused of voter intimidation took place on Election Day in November 2008, at a polling station in a predominantly African-American, Democratic voting district of Philadelphia.[4]
Two members of the New Black Panther party, Minister King Samir Shabazz, and Jerry Jackson, stood in front of the entrance to the polling station in uniforms that have been described as military or paramilitary.[5][6] Minister King Samir Shabazz carried a billy club, and is reported to have pointed it at voters while both men shouted racial slurs,[7] including phrases such as "white devil" and "you're about to be ruled by the black man, cracker."[8]
The incident drew the attention of police, who around 10:00 am, sent King Samir away in part because of his billy club. Jackson was allowed to stay, in part because he was a certified poll watcher.[9] Stephen Robert Morse, a journalist and filmmaker, upon arriving at the scene, pulled out a Flip video camera and focused on Samir Shabazz.[10] The incident gained national attention after being uploaded to YouTube and quickly going viral. No complaints were filed by voters about the incident, although poll watchers witnessed some voters approach the polls and then turn away, apparently in response to the New Black Panther Party members.[11]
Legal proceedings
The Department of Justice became aware of the incident on Election Day and started an inquiry. Under the Bush Administration, a criminal investigation into the incident was started, but later dropped.[12] In January 2009, less than two weeks before the Bush Administration left office, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice filed a civil suit under the Voting Rights Act against four defendants, namely, Minister King Samir Shabazz, Jerry Jackson, NBPP chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz, and the NBPP itself. The lawsuit accused them of using uniforms, racial insults and a weapon to intimidate voters and those who were there to assist them. The case remained open when the Obama administration took office a few weeks later.
In April 2009 Bartle Bull, a former civil rights lawyer who was serving as a poll watcher at the polling station where the incident occurred, submitted an affidavit at the Department of Justice's request supporting the lawsuit, stating that he considered it to have been the most severe instance of voter intimidation he had ever encountered.[7] When none of the defendants who were charged appeared in court to answer the charges, the career attorneys pursuing the lawsuit assumed that they would win it by default. However the move to pursue a default judgment was overruled by two of their line superiors, Loretta King, who was acting Assistant Attorney General, and Steve Rosenbaum, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General.[5]
Legal precedents
Since the Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965, only a handful of cases under the act have been pursued by the Justice Department. One such case filed by the Department during the Bush Administration, known as United States v. Brown, was one of the first voting rights cases which involved a white plaintiff and a black defendant. The case precipitated deep divisions within the Justice Department. Some employees felt that the voting rights act was passed because historically, it was minorities who had been disenfranchised and that the department should therefore focus on cases filed by minorities, while others felt that it was intended to protect all voters in a race-neutral manner. Employees who worked the Brown case have described being harassed by colleagues due to the widespread belief that civil rights laws should not be used to protect white voters. One Justice Department official stated that "The Voting Rights Act was passed because people like Bull Connor were hitting people like John Lewis, not the other way around."[10]
Controversy over political involvement
In October 2010, a draft report from the Civil Rights Commission was posted on the political website TPM Muckraker, stating that political officials had been extensively involved in the decision to dismiss the case, and that the Department of Justice had attempted to conceal their involvement.[13] Civil Rights Commission chairman Gerald A. Reynolds confirmed the draft was authentic, but claimed it was not the most current version of the draft, and declined to immediately release the newest version or describe what revisions had been made to it.[14] The Justice Department denied the allegations in the report.[13]
Reactions to dismissal
Following their decision to narrow the scope of the case to an injunction against Minister King Shabazz, a spokesman for the Department of Justice stated that "Claims were dismissed against the other defendants based on a careful assessment of the facts and the law."[15] The Department of Justice also stated that the "facts and the law did not support pursuing the claims against three of the defendants", and that "As a result, the department dismissed those claims."[16] Questions about the validity of this explanation have served as the basis for subsequent controversy over the case, which has been investigated by the United States Commission on Civil Rights,[5] Republican members of congress,[4] and two internal investigations within the Department of Justice.[10]
In response to this controversy, the New Black Panther Party suspended its Philadelphia chapter, and repudiated Minister King Shabazz in a posting at its website.[17] The party stated that Shabazz made "an honest error" by bringing a billy club to the polling station, and that because of his doing so he had been suspended from the New Black Panther Party until January 2010.[18]
Reactions in Congress
Some Republican members of Congress have been critical of the decision to narrow the scope of the case, including Representatives Frank Wolf of Virginia and Lamar Smith of Texas. Wolf was quoted by the Washington Times as asking, "If showing a weapon, making threatening statements and wearing paramilitary uniforms in front of polling station doors does not constitute voter intimidation, at what threshold of activity would these laws be enforceable?" Smith expressed skepticism at the Obama administration's stated justification for narrowing it, stating "The administration still has failed to explain why it did not pursue an obvious case of voter intimidation. Refusal to address these concerns only confirms politicization of the issue and does not reflect well on the Justice Department."[16]
In July 2009, Smith requested a meeting with the head of the Justice Department's Voting Rights Section in order to discuss whether political appointees had been involved in the decision to narrow the case, stating that news reports contradicted the Justice Department's earlier claim that political appointees had not been involved, and that earlier congressional inquiries about this had been unsuccessful.[19] Smith and Wolf also requested that the voter intimidation charges which had been previously been dropped be refiled.[20] In January 2010, after several unsuccessful attempts at obtaining the requested information from the department, Wolf sought a resolution of inquiry that would have forced the Justice Department to provide Congress with the details of why it narrowed the case. In a vote along party lines, the resolution was defeated 15-14.[21]
In July 2010, seven Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to committee chairman Senator Patrick Leahy, calling for a hearing on potential "widespread politicization and possible corruption" in the Justice Department in regard to its decision to narrow the case. The letter quoted the testimony of J. Christian Adams (see below) that within the Civil Rights Division of the department there was "open hostility toward equal enforcement in a colorblind way", and requested a hearing to determine whether Adams' accusation was accurate.[4]
Department of Justice Internal Investigations
On August 28, 2009, in response to the complaints raised by Representative Smith, the Department of Justice's internal Office of Professional Responsibility opened an inquiry into the department's handling of the case.[22] Smith praised the decision, stating "I am pleased that someone at the Justice Department is finally taking the dismissal of the New Black Panther Party case seriously."[23]
On September 13, 2010, the Department of Justice's inspector general Glenn A. Fine announced he was opening a second investigation, focusing not on the New Black Panther case specifically but on the more general question of whether the Justice Department enforces voting rights laws "in a non-discriminatory manner",[24] as well as whether voting section employees have been harassed for investigating or prosecuting particular matters.[25] Smith and Wolf also expressed approval of this decision.[24]
Civil Rights Commission
The United States Civil Rights commission is an eight-member panel. According to the New York Times, the commission is controlled by six-member conservative bloc that was appointed during the Bush administration.[5] On June 16, 2009, the commission sent a letter to the civil rights division of the Department of Justice questioning their decision to drop the case, stating "Though it had basically won the case, the Civil Rights Division took the unusual move of voluntarily dismissing the charges. The division's public rationale would send the wrong message entirely — that attempts at voter suppression will be tolerated and will not be vigorously prosecuted so long as the groups or individuals who engage in them fail to respond to the charges leveled against them."[16] The commission received a response to its letter on June 20 from Portia Roberson, the Department of Justice's director of the Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison. Her response stated that the case was dropped because "the facts and the law" did not support pursuing it. According to the commission, Ms. Roberson's letter did not respond to the commission's question whether there were any past cases in which the department's Civil Rights Division had dismissed charges against a defendant accused of voter intimidation, and what its evidentiary and legal standards were for dismissing such charges.[26]
On August 7, 2009, The Civil Rights Commission sent a second letter to the Department of Justice, stating that the department had been "largely non-responsive" to its previous inquiry, accusing it of failing to cooperate with investigations into why it dropped some of the charges, and again requesting the detailed information which the commission had requested in its first letter.[26] In early September 2009, after still not receiving what it considered a satisfactory response from the department, the commission voted to investigate "the merits of the NBPP enforcement actions (regardless of how the decisions were made) and the potential impact on future voter-intimidation enforcement by the department." In a third letter to the department, the Civil Rights Commission asked Attorney General Eric Holder to name a Justice Department official to provide the information necessary for its investigation.[27]
In December 2009, the Civil Rights Commission subpoenaed J. Christian Adams and Christopher Coates, the lead attorneys who had been involved in prosecuting the New Black Panther Party, to testify on why some of the complaints had been dismissed.[28] The Department of Justice (DOJ) directed Adams and Coates not to comply with the subpoena, stating that the authority to initiate criminal prosecution of anyone lies with the DOJ, not with the Civil Rights Commission.[29]
Later that month, Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez removed Coates from his post and transferred him to the U.S. attorney's office in South Carolina.[28] Perez subsequently disallowed Coates from testifying before the Civil Rights commission, stating this was because his post in South Carolina caused him to not be "the appropriate witness to testify regarding current [Civil Rights] Division policies", leading the Washington Times to accuse Perez of transferring Coates specifically in order to remove him from the commission's subpoena jurisdiction.[30]
In October 2010, Michael Yaki, one of the two Democratic commissioners, walked out of a meeting in protest. In doing so, Yaki deprived the panel of a quorum and delayed a vote on a draft report, which Yaki claimed, is unfairly biased against the Obama administration. Yaki described the panel as a "kangaroo court".[14]
In December 2010, the Civil Rights Commission released a report concluding that their investigations had uncovered "numerous specific examples of open hostility and opposition" within the Department of Justice to pursuing cases in which whites were the victims. The report accused the Department of Justice of failing to cooperate with investigations into its reason for dropping the case, stating "While the department has issued general statements that it enforces the laws without regard to race, these assurances do not confirm, deny or explain the specific allegations of misconduct […] Unfortunately, the department has thus far refused to address many of these specific claims or to provide the type of information that would allow the commission to properly review the decision making relating to the NBPP lawsuit."[31][32]
J. Christian Adams

On May 14, 2010, Adams resigned from his post as a trial attorney for the voting section of the Department of Justice. In his resignation letter and a subsequent article written by him for the Washington Times, Adams stated that the reason for his resignation was his disapproval of the department's handling of the Black Panther case, and more specifically their demand that he not comply with the subpoena from the Civil Rights Commission.[33][34]

In testimony before the Civil Rights Commission, Adams stated "I was told by voting section management that cases are not going to be brought against black defendants on [behalf] of white victims."[35] Adams accused the lawyers who ordered the narrowing of the case of having not read the documents describing the facts and applicable law before making this decision, and claimed that his superiors had instructed him and others in the voting section to no longer bring any cases against minority offenders. Adams said, responding to the claim that the New Black Panthers' actions in Philadelphia were an "isolated incident":To the contrary, the Black Panthers in October 2008 announced a nationwide deployment for the election. We had indications that polling-place thugs were deployed elsewhere, not only in November 2008, but during the Democratic primaries, where they targeted white Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters."[34]
Responding to Adams' testimony, Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez stated there was insufficient evidence to support the case;[5] Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler stated that "The department makes enforcement decisions based on the merits, not the race, gender or ethnicity of any party involved."[6]
Critics of Adams' testimony have questioned Adams' impartiality as he was hired during the Bush administration. He has subsequent to his employment at the DOJ worked as a conservative activist, and argued forcefully for voter ID legislation and has without evidence alleged that there is an "alien invasion" at the voting booth.[36] Adams has pointed out that several independent reviewers of his performance in the Department of Justice had concluded that he was a "model attorney" who enforced voting laws in a race-neutral fashion, and that the reviewers reaching this conclusion included Loretta King, who supervised the dismissal of the Black Panther case.[37]
Abigail Thernstrom

Abigail Thernstrom, the vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, has been a vocal critic of the investigations over the Black Panther case. In an interview with CBS News, Thernstrom said that she believes "the evidence is extremely weak" that the Department of Justice has discriminated against white voters.[38] Thernstrom explained her opinion on the case in an article for National Review, in which she refers to the New Black Panther Party case as "very small potatoes".[39] She stated, "There are plenty of grounds on which to sharply criticize the attorney general — his handling of terrorism questions, just for starters — but this particular overblown attack threatens to undermine the credibility of his conservative critics."[40]
Thernstrom's stance has been sharply criticized by other conservatives,[41] such as federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy,[42] who wrote a response to Thernstrom in a later issue of National Review. He points out that a year earlier Thernstrom had been among those criticizing the Obama administration's decision to dismiss the case, and that she had not explained the reason for her reversal of opinion. McCarthy referred to the comment by Bartle Bull, who witnessed the incident, that it was the most blatant form of voter intimidation he had ever encountered in his life, as well as the fact that it was highly unusual for the case to be dismissed after a default judgment against the defendants had already been won.[43] In reply to McCarthy, Thernstrom clarified her opinion by stating that "I still have questions about DOJ's conduct, and I remain interested in knowing more about why the department declined to pursue the case." However, she added that as she learned more about the case, she became doubtful it was as severe an example of voter intimidation as it first appeared to be, and was of the opinion that "the incident was not of sufficient importance to be the primary focus of our yearlong project."[44]
Christopher Coates

In his testimony before the Civil Rights Commission, Adams stated that his accusations could be corroborated by Christopher Coates,[11] the former head of the voting section of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division who had led the original investigation of the New Black Panther Party.[45] The Department refused to allow Coates to testify.[11] In September 2010, Coates was granted whistleblower protection and testified before the Civil Rights Commission in defiance of his supervisors' instructions.[46]
Coates' testimony included accusations similar to those made by Adams, stating, "I had people who told me point-blank that [they] didn't come to the voting rights section to sue African American people."[46] He compared the New Black Panther case to an earlier case from 2006, in which Department of Justice attorneys expressed anger at having to investigate Ike Brown, a black Democratic politician in Noxubee County, Mississippi accused of discriminating against white voters. Coates testified that the Justice Department's administration's decision to drop the Black Panther Case "was intended to send a direct message to people inside and outside the civil rights division. That message is that the filing of voting cases like the Ike Brown and the NBPP cases would not continue in the Obama administration."[47] Coates testified that one of his superiors appointed by the Obama Administration had prohibited him from asking job applicants if they would enforce the voting laws in a race-neutral manner.[48] Attorney General Holder denied these claims, stating "The notion that we are enforcing any Civil Rights laws, voting or other, on the basis of race, ethnicity, or gender is simply false."[47][49]
Some civil rights officials in the Obama Administration expressed the view that Voting Rights Act was specifically intended to correct historic injustices against minorities.[10] The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Washington Post pointed out that although the Department of Justice dismissed Adams' testimony as that of a partisan hired during the Bush Administration, Coates is of a different pedigree and cannot be ignored as easily. Coates worked for the American Civil Liberties Union for nearly 20 years, receiving the Thurgood Marshall Decade Award from the Georgia NAACP in 1991,[45] and was hired by the Justice Department during the Clinton Administration in 1996.[46]
Media coverage
The Black Panther case had been receiving more coverage from conservative media outlets than from other ones.[50] A Newsweek op-ed implied that this is because the case was not newsworthy, and that the conservative media is attempting to stage "an effective piece of political theater that hurts the Obama administration".[51]
Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which lists the NBPP as a hate group, described the conservative media's handling of the case as amounting to a "tempest in a teacup".[50] Republican Linda Chavez described the video as damning but relatively minor. She stated that because the story has pictures, it was the kind of story that you can run over and over again.[52]
The Washington Times, which covered the case in detail, accused the media of failing to cover the story because liberal sources are reluctant to criticize the Obama Administration.[53] According to a July 2010 article by the Washington Post Ombudsman, the Post received numerous complaints from readers about their lack of coverage of the story, and agreed that the case deserved more coverage than it received and would be given more in the future. The Post stated that the delay in coverage was "a result of limited staffing and a heavy volume of other news on the Justice Department beat."[54]
New Black Panther Party chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz accused Fox News of contributing to racial tensions as part of "a right-wing Republican conspiracy",[55] and other members of the New Black Panther Party made similar accusations, referring to the station as "Fox Jews".[9]

Further reading

 which first brought it to national attention
 about the case from U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
 official website

When did the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case take place?