On Nov 28, 2007 1:30 AM, Alan wrote:
Ignorance of the law is no excuse :)
I wonder why. That's another cool thread.
If ignorance of the law were an excuse, then to convict, you'd have to
prove that they actually knew it was against the law to murder the guy
who looked at you wrong!
Yes, on a practical level that's all true and indisputable. From an
equally practical level, how many law books are in your house? I
haven't got any in mine and I have over ten thousand books. Further,
the various legislatures that govern me are always cranking out new
laws, and their pseudo-governmental bodies churn out new regulations
daily. I'm not on the distribution list for any of that.
With all of the laws that I could be breaking, how am I expected to
know them all. More to the point, how am I expected to even know _of_
them? There may be a law making it illegal to discuss laws unless you
are face to face for all I know, and I might be breaking that law this
very minute.
How can justice be served if it's possible to break a law that I don't
know exists?
--buck
