3 ms·

What liberties are you worried about (in the context of the US)?

inglor_cz 2y ago
Not the OP, but the US has a shitton of laws that make basically everyone a felon [0] and only the sheer impossibility of tracking everyone everywhere makes ad-hoc prosecution complicated/impractical. The advent of AI may bring down this last obstacle. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/1594035229 https://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp...
- BobaFloutist 2y ago
  Assuming I don't want to pay money for that book, can you give me a single example of a law that your average American is likely to feloniously violate by accident?
- AnimalMuppet 2y ago
  I don't think it's the lack of tracking. It's that almost all of those "3 a day" violations are only technically violations. If you try to actually charge someone in front of a jury, they're going to return something along the lines of "not guilty because the prosecutor is an idiot". That's assuming that the judge doesn't find a way to throw it out long before it ever sees a jury. Courts don't like wasting their time on stupid stuff.
  - inglor_cz 2y ago
    Most trials in the US never go to jury, right? The risk of receiving a crushing sentence is just too big, so almost everyone accepts a plea bargain. Notoriously, Hans Reiser (who is guilty, never doubted that) refused a rather low plea bargain of IDK six? years, tried his luck with a jury trial, and got life.
- anigbrowl 2y ago
  I get your point but suggest finding better source material. Harvey Silverglate has made a great living out of telling just-so stories with lots of emotional activation, that fall apart on closer examination. For example he'll tell a sob story about someone being charged for collecting oysters on a Sunday, only it turns out that it's a large commercial operation that ignores environmental or employment regulations and has been defying regulators for years on end.

Not the OP, but the US has a shitton of laws that make basically everyone a felon [0] and only the sheer impossibility of tracking everyone everywhere makes ad-hoc prosecution complicated/impractical. The advent of AI may bring down this last obstacle. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/1594035229 https://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp...

BobaFloutist 2y ago
Assuming I don't want to pay money for that book, can you give me a single example of a law that your average American is likely to feloniously violate by accident?
AnimalMuppet 2y ago
I don't think it's the lack of tracking. It's that almost all of those "3 a day" violations are only technically violations. If you try to actually charge someone in front of a jury, they're going to return something along the lines of "not guilty because the prosecutor is an idiot". That's assuming that the judge doesn't find a way to throw it out long before it ever sees a jury. Courts don't like wasting their time on stupid stuff.
- inglor_cz 2y ago
  Most trials in the US never go to jury, right? The risk of receiving a crushing sentence is just too big, so almost everyone accepts a plea bargain. Notoriously, Hans Reiser (who is guilty, never doubted that) refused a rather low plea bargain of IDK six? years, tried his luck with a jury trial, and got life.
anigbrowl 2y ago
I get your point but suggest finding better source material. Harvey Silverglate has made a great living out of telling just-so stories with lots of emotional activation, that fall apart on closer examination. For example he'll tell a sob story about someone being charged for collecting oysters on a Sunday, only it turns out that it's a large commercial operation that ignores environmental or employment regulations and has been defying regulators for years on end.