> Consider a simple case of theft... Why is this wrong? Theft is illegal. Wrong is a different topic. > any distinction between government and organized crim

> Consider a simple case of theft... Why is this wrong? Theft is illegal. Wrong is a different topic. > any distinction between government and organized crime quickly dissolves. The difference between organized crime and government has nothing to do with rights. Think about the range of governments that exist. > If you want the prosecutor to be able to cheaply lock up guilty people, ... I haven't spelled it out, but the goal of the legal system is to separate the guilty from the innocent. Percentage of innocent punished, percentage of guilty freed, and cost are all factors for evaluating how well the system works. Rights are a foundation for a legal system in the same way that religion is a foundation for a system of morality. That is, lots of people use them/it as a foundation, but that's neither necessary nor ideal.