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I tend to agree with Elon Musk's idea that every law should come with an expiry date. So that there is debate before it is renewed.

mey 8y ago
Our (assuming US) federal legislators can barely pass a budget. At best they would simply rubber stamp the existing laws. More likely expiring laws would be used as political hostages. Granted, that is pretty much the existing status quo. Not sure it would change the behavior in a positive direction.
salawat 8y ago
That was Thomas Jefferson oriiginally actually. It was also intended as a soft limit to the number of laws that would be passed, as it would ensure that only the most important would generally be reaffirmed.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
trhway 8y ago
>every law should come with an expiry date. So that there is debate before it is renewed. [anti]dovetails with the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings and the fears that the important established precedents (Roe, Brown, etc) will come up for debate/overturn soon once he(or similar guy) gets the position. Btw, Constitution is a law too. Should it have an expiry date too?
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  > Btw, Constitution is a law too. Should it have an expiry date too? Not necessarily. A constitution is a foundational law, a set of principles by which the nation is to be governed. Those principles are not expected to change very often, so no expiry date is needed. The detailed implementation of these principles, however, could - and probably should - be done with an expiry date.
  - 0xcde4c3db 8y ago
    Ideally, yes. But some constitutions end up being dumping grounds for laws where the amendment process was considered preferable to that of statutes (e.g. if a constitutional amendment requires approval by popular vote and therefore can't be repealed by legislators alone). The Alabama constitution is infamously over 40 times the length of the US constitution and contains 900+ amendments.
    - TeMPOraL 8y ago
      Didn't realize that individual states have their own constitutions! TIL, I guess. Thanks!
- boomboomsubban 8y ago
  >Btw, Constitution is a law too. Should it have an expiry date too? Yes? Why would one assume an 18th century framework should be preferred to one considering the modern world? Codifying our ideals seems like a better system than entrusting them to precedent.
- notriddle 8y ago
  > Btw, Constitution is a law too. Should it have an expiry date too? What happens if it's allowed to expire? Does the government just disband, and the country allowed to turn into Somalia while all the existing powerful organizations try to form their own government?

mey 8y ago

Our (assuming US) federal legislators can barely pass a budget. At best they would simply rubber stamp the existing laws. More likely expiring laws would be used as political hostages. Granted, that is pretty much the existing status quo. Not sure it would change the behavior in a positive direction.

salawat 8y ago

That was Thomas Jefferson oriiginally actually. It was also intended as a soft limit to the number of laws that would be passed, as it would ensure that only the most important would generally be reaffirmed.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

trhway 8y ago

>every law should come with an expiry date. So that there is debate before it is renewed. [anti]dovetails with the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings and the fears that the important established precedents (Roe, Brown, etc) will come up for debate/overturn soon once he(or similar guy) gets the position. Btw, Constitution is a law too. Should it have an expiry date too?

TeMPOraL 8y ago
> Btw, Constitution is a law too. Should it have an expiry date too? Not necessarily. A constitution is a foundational law, a set of principles by which the nation is to be governed. Those principles are not expected to change very often, so no expiry date is needed. The detailed implementation of these principles, however, could - and probably should - be done with an expiry date.
- 0xcde4c3db 8y ago
  Ideally, yes. But some constitutions end up being dumping grounds for laws where the amendment process was considered preferable to that of statutes (e.g. if a constitutional amendment requires approval by popular vote and therefore can't be repealed by legislators alone). The Alabama constitution is infamously over 40 times the length of the US constitution and contains 900+ amendments.
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    Didn't realize that individual states have their own constitutions! TIL, I guess. Thanks!
boomboomsubban 8y ago
>Btw, Constitution is a law too. Should it have an expiry date too? Yes? Why would one assume an 18th century framework should be preferred to one considering the modern world? Codifying our ideals seems like a better system than entrusting them to precedent.
notriddle 8y ago
> Btw, Constitution is a law too. Should it have an expiry date too? What happens if it's allowed to expire? Does the government just disband, and the country allowed to turn into Somalia while all the existing powerful organizations try to form their own government?