It's the year 2173.
The annual "Issuing of the Indictments" tradition is underway.
It's an annual tradition; no one quite remembers why it is done, but there is some recollection that it began in the year 2016.
A solemn ceremony is held in which a grand Indictment is issued by an attorney to someone portraying the politician, who then loudly proclaims, "I shall ignore it.". Someone playing the role of a lawyer then steps forward and puts forth a petition to a Court that seeks to quash the indictment. The court clerk, acting in the designated role, agrees with the petition, and the ceremony is over.
The "Issuing of the Indictments" tradition is undertaken throughout the land as a solemn memory of the Before Times when indictments actually mattered, and the law had some effect.
Everyone goes back to their lives, morose and sullen, awaiting the next year, the annual "Issuing of the Indictments" tradition.
Every year, the tradition continues. No one remembers why.