Deniability [SIC]

[Jean-David Beyer]

Jerry wrote:
> On Sun, 3 Apr 2011 11:48:13 +0100
> MFPA <expires2011 at ymail.com> articulated:
> 
>> Isn't it a fairly standard maxim that "ignorance of the law is no
>> defence?"
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignorantia_juris_non_excusat
> 
> <quote>
> 
> Ignorantia juris non excusat or ignorantia legis neminem excusat (Latin
> for "ignorance of the law does not excuse" or "ignorance of the law
> excuses no one") is a legal principle holding that a person who is
> unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law merely
> because he or she was unaware of its content. In the United States,
> exceptions to this general rule are found in cases such as Lambert v.
> California (knowledge of city ordinances) and Cheek v. United States
> (willfulness requirement in U.S. federal tax crimes).
> 
> </quote>
> 
> See also:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausible_deniability
> 
If I remember correctly, the U.S.Criminal Code is a set of volumes that
takes about 4 to 5 feet of shelf space at my public library. This
probably does not include the collection of Federal Regulations.

It is my understanding that for most bills passed by congress, the
congressmen and senators never even read the bills, though they
sometimes read the summaries prepared by their assistants.

One time I got a copy of a bill because I was urged to oppose it. The
bill was illegible because it was the form of a set of amendments to the
existing law. So there was page after page of stuff of the form

change  Page xxx, line yy, change  will do  to  will not do

So it is useless to even read that without running it through some kind
of text processor to do all those changes. My view is the dolts in
congress do not even know what they are voting for or against.

Then there are state and municipal laws and regulations.

While ignorance may be no excuse, there is now way to be informed
either. The turkeys that pass the laws do not even know that, and there
is no way we could keep up even if we tried.

-- 
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