As we watch President Obama struggling to implement - and serially delaying - the ironically named Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), it is plain to see two things that ought to inform all of our decisions relating to laws in the future.
First, a law must be easily understood and simple to enforce. It must not be overly broad and must not seek to exempt or include special groups, companies, industries or classes of citizens. In fact, what is good for the goose ought surely be applied to the gander, too.
Second, because laws are intended to provide safety and predictability in human and societal relations, they must be applied equally and enforced in ways that are predictable. For example, if one is driving 4 miles per hour over the speed limit on virtually any freeway in America, he runs almost no risk of a speeding ticket. And similarly, if one is driving 4 miles per hour too fast through a school zone, there is virtual certainty that a citation will follow. Most drivers understand this and drive accordingly.
When a broad and complex law is written (I think that it should have to fit on a single sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper) and the complexities of the law are then applied capriciously, then society loses its ability to rely on safe and predictable relationships.
When that "rule of law" is shown to be unreliable, then the people become subject to the "rule of the sovereign." This is what our forefathers noticed and ultimately cast off in the American Revolution.
I suggest that we similarly embrace the rule of law. That means a lot of work for all of us; a lot of responsibility. Funny how freedom and responsibility go hand in hand.
Otherwise we will ultimately be subjects of a tyrant who may have a (D) after his or her name, and may have an (R), but it is certain we will be no longer free citizens of a nation.
First, a law must be easily understood and simple to enforce. It must not be overly broad and must not seek to exempt or include special groups, companies, industries or classes of citizens. In fact, what is good for the goose ought surely be applied to the gander, too.
Second, because laws are intended to provide safety and predictability in human and societal relations, they must be applied equally and enforced in ways that are predictable. For example, if one is driving 4 miles per hour over the speed limit on virtually any freeway in America, he runs almost no risk of a speeding ticket. And similarly, if one is driving 4 miles per hour too fast through a school zone, there is virtual certainty that a citation will follow. Most drivers understand this and drive accordingly.
When a broad and complex law is written (I think that it should have to fit on a single sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper) and the complexities of the law are then applied capriciously, then society loses its ability to rely on safe and predictable relationships.
When that "rule of law" is shown to be unreliable, then the people become subject to the "rule of the sovereign." This is what our forefathers noticed and ultimately cast off in the American Revolution.
I suggest that we similarly embrace the rule of law. That means a lot of work for all of us; a lot of responsibility. Funny how freedom and responsibility go hand in hand.
Otherwise we will ultimately be subjects of a tyrant who may have a (D) after his or her name, and may have an (R), but it is certain we will be no longer free citizens of a nation.
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