4 ms·

There is only one definition of "legal": allowable under the law. The constitution and the laws of your state outline your rights (if you live in the US). Part

by tg3 13y ago

There is only one definition of "legal": allowable under the law. The constitution and the laws of your state outline your rights (if you live in the US). Part of the deal is that sometimes you can be arrested for crimes you didn't commit. But that's why we make sure that people who are arrested are guaranteed a speedy trial from a jury of their peers, etc.

jlgreco 13y ago
> The constitution and the laws of your state outline your rights (if you live in the US). It seems fairly uncontroversial that the constitution and laws are merely imperfect encodings of your rights. The encoding is necessary, since our legal system runs on it, but due to its imperfect nature it cannot be considered the master copy. Pre-1960s, many of our laws did not reflect what we expect of them and as a consequence of this the rights of countless were 'legally' trampled. Lectures about the law are rarely of comfort to those that are a victim of it.
mindcrime 13y ago
There is only one definition of "legal": allowable under the law. But there is more than one definition of "the law". The constitution and the laws of your state outline your rights Not really. The constitution is more properly thought of as a list of the restrictions on what the government can and can't do. My rights exist quite outside of that framework. Whether I can defend them or not is a separate issue, of course. Part of the deal is that sometimes you can be arrested for crimes you didn't commit. But that's why we make sure that people who are arrested are guaranteed a speedy trial from a jury of their peers, etc. Sounds good on paper. Probably works as intended most of the time. May be about as good a compromise as we can come up with. But by no means is this system totally just, especially if you're someone who is convicted of a crime you didn't commit, or a "crime" that is nothing of the sort (smoking marijuana, homosexual sex, etc.)

by tg3 13y ago

jlgreco 13y ago

> The constitution and the laws of your state outline your rights (if you live in the US). It seems fairly uncontroversial that the constitution and laws are merely imperfect encodings of your rights. The encoding is necessary, since our legal system runs on it, but due to its imperfect nature it cannot be considered the master copy. Pre-1960s, many of our laws did not reflect what we expect of them and as a consequence of this the rights of countless were 'legally' trampled. Lectures about the law are rarely of comfort to those that are a victim of it.

mindcrime 13y ago

There is only one definition of "legal": allowable under the law. But there is more than one definition of "the law". The constitution and the laws of your state outline your rights Not really. The constitution is more properly thought of as a list of the restrictions on what the government can and can't do. My rights exist quite outside of that framework. Whether I can defend them or not is a separate issue, of course. Part of the deal is that sometimes you can be arrested for crimes you didn't commit. But that's why we make sure that people who are arrested are guaranteed a speedy trial from a jury of their peers, etc. Sounds good on paper. Probably works as intended most of the time. May be about as good a compromise as we can come up with. But by no means is this system totally just, especially if you're someone who is convicted of a crime you didn't commit, or a "crime" that is nothing of the sort (smoking marijuana, homosexual sex, etc.)