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I would argue no person can know "the law" unless they have read it. All of it. Constitutions, statutes, case law / jurisprudence, common law, HOA bylaws, etc.
by thephyber 6y ago
I would argue no person can know "the law" unless they have read it. All of it. Constitutions, statutes, case law / jurisprudence, common law, HOA bylaws, etc. for every jurisdiction they are in.
I have no expectation that the average police officer "knows the law", but that same problem should not be used against civilians.
It does stand, however, that an officer should be reprimanded for trying to enforce a law where they don't know the law.
- craftinator 6y agoI think that is the idea. If people can be convicted for breaking laws they don't know about, then cops can be convicted for enforcing laws that don't exist.
- staticautomatic 6y agoAnother good reason to abolish common law.
- thephyber 6y agoI'm a critic of all of the foundations of the US legal system, but I would want to know more about the effects of something like "abolish common law" before we jump right in. I see that a little like someone yelling "let's abolish gravity" without stopping to consider: "what continues to exist if gravity no longer applies?"
- nemosaltat 6y agoI first encountered Chesterton’s Fence [0] in an HN thread about a year ago. I think your comment echoes that principle nicely. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Chesterton%27s_fence https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Chesterton%27s_fen...
- staticautomatic 6y agoI've spent more than a decade working in the courts. Also there is an entire section of the Wikipedia page on common law called "alternatives to common law systems".
- staticautomatic 6y agoImagine a system in which every time you encounter a new problem or a new variation on a known problem, the only acceptable response is one which comports with what you've done before. That's common law.