Rule Models

Unknown and Conflict

Missing and conflicting facts remain explicit in a trace. Honesty note: US classroom stated-rule model; the pinned first step states the as-of date; not legal advice; code encodes an interpretation of a stated rule, not the law itself.

highlighted = computed this step

Rules as code honesty note

Honesty note: US classroom stated-rule model; as of 2026-06-24; not legal advice; code encodes an interpretation of a stated rule, not the law itself.

classroom model as of 2026−06−24\text{classroom model as of }2026-06-24

Rules need uncertainty states

A trace should distinguish present facts, missing facts, and disputed facts instead of forcing a binary answer.

unknown and conflict states\text{unknown and conflict states}

Example mixed fact packet

The toy packet has a known fact, a missing fact, and a disputed fact. The disputed fact is represented as a conflict row.

known missing disputed\text{known missing disputed}

The trace preserves both problems

The trace keeps uncertainty visible. It has 1 unknown row and 1 conflict row.

unknown=1,conflict=1\text{unknown}=1,\quad \text{conflict}=1

Diagram note

The diagram is an uncertainty audit. Unknown and conflict are trace states, not advice.

uncertainty audit only\text{uncertainty audit only}

Jurisdiction: US; as of 2026-06-24; not legal advice; Code encodes the stated-rule interpretation.

Unknown and conflict trace known: satisfied via known=True compare=True missing: unknown via missing=None compare=True disputed: conflict via disputed=conflict compare=True

Narrow summary

When facts are missing or disputed, the model should show that status and hand the row to review.

show uncertainty before review\text{show uncertainty before review}