how can I know everything that is illegal?
The simple truth is, I can’t. There are so many laws on the books, beyond the basics of don’t steal, don’t kill. There are very specific laws that just pertain to specific industries like land development or food production. But even putting that aside, there are how many laws that govern my own life and actions? I don’t even know how many. I certainly don’t know what they all are. And if I don’t know about a law, how can I follow it? I might just get lucky.
Here is a small selection of obscure laws (source: DMV.org)
In University City, Missouri it is illegal to honk the horn of someone else’s car. In Reno, Nevada it is against the law to place a bench or chair in the middle of the road. In Hilton Head, South Carolina, it is illegal to store trash in your vehicle. In Chico, California it is against the law to plant rutabagas in roadways. In Connecticut hunting from cars is illegal.
I’m not saying that any of these things should be legal. Just that the burden should be on the state to educate people about the laws they need to follow. I don’t think it’s fair to prosecute people for breaking laws they don’t know about.
I think there should be a law that says it has to be proven that someone knew a law existed before they can be found guilty of breaking it.
I’m completely serious, folks. Do you agree that would make the justice system more just?
35 comments on “how can I know everything that is illegal?”
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I remember very well the day in law school when I brought this up in my criminal law class. The professor very patiently explained that “ignorance of the law is no excuse” is what is known as a “legal fiction” that is necessary to allow our system of laws (and hence, the social compact) to operate. Our legal system doesn’t expect everyone to know all the laws, but it does obligate us to investigate those that are likely to pertain to the activities of life in which we choose to participate. For example, you should see an attorney before you open a business, as there are a lot of laws with which you will be expected to comply. Similarly, before you drive in another country, you should check out their rules of the road so that you don’t do something dumb (like drive on the wrong side of the road) and get yourself and others killed. Typically, in gray areas, law enforcement hands out “warnings” so that next time you can’t say you didn’t know.
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I can almost understand and agree to system that places the burden on the individual to educate themselves. The problem I have with that is the laws are not easily accessible to most of us commoners. I don’t think anyone should need to have the means to hire a lawyer to understand the laws pertaining to them because lawyers are not uniformly accessible to all people. And the law needs to be written in clear, simple language if we are to read it ourselves and come out with understanding on the other side. I am fairly well educated, I graduated high school and attended college for several years and I am very well read. But reading all the laws, just that pertain to myself, that I need to follow in my daily life, would spin my head around and I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to correctly interpret a large portion of it.
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Hi. Here in London we are subject to European laws which govern the ‘shape’ of our bananas amongst other things. It is completely against logic and totally ridiculous.
I think law should be there for a few things:
Social stability.
Protecting the vulnerable.
Maintaining equality and fairness for minorities.
I don’t see how the shape of our bananas achieves this. Which probably means that in Britain, the law is not working for us in the same way that it used to.
😦
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I might revise the above to: Maintaining equality and fairness for all people. I really don’t know how the shape of bananas could factor in there. Strange.
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Correct. It should be for all people 🙂
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“I think there should be a law that says it has to be proven that someone knew a law existed before they can be found guilty of breaking it.
I’m completely serious, folks. Do you agree that would make the justice system more just?”
There may already be such a law, but I don’t know for sure. Either way I think it is a good idea. Whether or not the justice system can be more just or not, I have no clue.
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There is always room for improvement. Whether or not my plan is the way to improve it – that I do not know.
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You just reminded me how much of a staple the idiosyncratic laws of America are on British comedy shows like this one http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007mf4f
Without the creativity of your law makers, we would be a sadder people 🙂
Do you think any of the past law makers knew that inventing improbable laws would guarantee fame for their words far, far into the future? Perhaps they were all disappointed novelists, doomed to spend their lives in government administration, with only the occasional Friday afternoon law to channel their desperate creativity. Maybe they had competitions, between states, for the most ridiculous law slipped past the consciousness of the voters. Maybe they were early Surrealists.
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Perhaps there is something to what you say. Lawmakers see an opportunity to leave their mark on society. Though I highly doubt the person who drafted the law to make roadway rutabaga plantings illegal is going to go down in the history books as a champion of society.
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Of course, rutabaga could be an anagram, or a coded message to the unattainable woman that he adored.
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Ooo plot twist!
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Just realised that rutabagas are what we call swedes over here. Swede wouldn’t give much joy as an anagram, would it? Weeds is the best I can do. did you see the scary Hallowe’en rutabag carving here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutabaga#mediaviewer/File:Traditional_Irish_halloween_Jack-o%27-lantern.jpg
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We have a town called Weed in CA too. Perhaps the desirable lady love lived in Weed.
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And maybe her name was Sadie.
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Crikey! An actual law against no rutabagas planted in the streets…a good thing too. (I am now going to google what a rutabaga is, a vegetable methinks?)
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A root vegetable no less. I assume the law was created because of dangerously located rutabaga plantings. Interesting from a historical perspective, but I can’t imagine the law is still needed.
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I remember learning as a kid that ignorance of the law was not valid excuse and wondering the same thing you outline here in this post. I think lots of laws don’t come into play until someone has hurt/damaged someone or something else and needs to be held responsible. For example, it is against the law here to operate a riding lawn mover while drunk on your own property. Odds are, though, that if you’re just buzzed while cutting the grass, know one knows or cares. If you hit and injury a neighbor’s kid, though, they will have something more significant with which to charge you.
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And chances are, having a law against something like that is not keeping anyone safe from bad accidents. So what good does it do to bog down the legal system with frivolous laws?
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The tax code laws are only like 400,000 pages long. Read though it and have it on my desk by Monday. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Lol 🙂
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Perfect example. I think I’m probably abiding those laws, but I don’t have time to find out for sure. Even assuming I would understand it if I did read it.
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I think everyone should be protected from rutabaga
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This is the kind of inflammatory statement that I just cannot tolerate 😸
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I knew there was a reason to hate Chico! Anti-rutabaga fascists!
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Bastards!
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Ehhh… “But I swear I didn’t know murder was illegal!”
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Your comment made me realize I should have used some specific examples, so I have updated my post.
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It will be better to make the justice system more just.
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Great write! Completely agree.
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TY
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🙂
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Did you discover an unknown law?
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I realize I should have used some specific examples, so I have updated this post.
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We live in a dictatorship. ..
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When George Washington became president there were just 4 federal laws I think: piracy, treason, counterfeiting and pay federal taxes.
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That’s the sort of legal framework I think most people could understand. 🙂
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