Editing Civilizations in Babylon 5 (section)

===Psi Corps===

The '''Psi Corps''' is an agency of the Earth Alliance responsible for all humans with [[telepathy|telepathic]] or other para-psychological abilities anywhere within Earth-controlled space. All persons with Psi abilities are required to either join the Corps, face lifetime imprisonment, or submit to a lifetime of drug treatments to suppress their abilities. Prolonged treatment with these drugs has a depressing effect. ''Psi Cops'' are members of a para-military body enforcing laws related to telepaths and operates with few checks against their authority. 

The Corps was originally established to protect, nurture and train humans with Psi abilities, and to protect the mundane population from possible abuse or criminal activities by talented individuals. The Psi Corps' headquarters has hospitals, offices and a [[boarding school]] where young people possessing telepathic and telekinetic power (known colloquially in the series as ''[[telepathy|teeps]]'' and ''[[telekinesis|teeks]]'') can develop without the fear and persecution they would face among the normal population (referred to by psychics in the series as ''[[mundane]]s'').

At some point the Corps realized that it could not be controlled by any external authority, and the Corps developed into a fascist state-within-a-state, pursuing its own agenda using the Psi Cops and other means, and taking an active role in Earth politics. By the time of the pilot movie, ''[[Babylon 5: The Gathering]]'', the Corps has degenerated to the point where many potential and former members prefer a life on-the-run as rogue psychics (referred to by the Corps as ''blips'') to the safety and comfort of living and working under its wing.

After the colony on Babylon 5 was forced to leave, [[Lyta Alexander]] began a crusade against the Psi Corps. Her actions led to a war in which rogue telepaths and non-telepaths fought the Psi Corps. The old Psi Corps was destroyed, and a new Psionic Monitoring Commission was built to replace it. Once the Telepath War was over, the Psionic Monitoring Commission dedicated itself to hunting down those members of the Corps who committed war crimes, such as [[Alfred Bester (Babylon 5)|Alfred Bester]]. Bester was eventually captured and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison with his abilities taken away by drugs. Many private schools were founded to educate telepaths; they met with mixed success. Telepaths were allowed a much wider range of options as far as their lives were concerned. Rather than having to join the Psi Corps, they were able to do almost anything they wanted. This included joining the Earth Alliance military and working for private organizations.