Judicial Precedents Paved the Road to Serfdom (Part II)

I liked the previous piece of this series a lot.  When I reread it, I liked it so much I reread it again.  In the days after it went out, however, I was reminded of my favorite -- actually my only -- Nietzsche quote: "Every doer loves his deed much more than it deserves to be loved."

From the response I got from you, my faithful correspondents, Nietzsche was right, because it apparently didn't resonate.  One of you said that I had gone all intellectual, and that it was "Too esoteric.  And too long."

Another one said, "I liked that piece you wrote earlier this week."

Which one?" said I, hopefully.



"The one about the spreading red, white, and blue spot."

"Oh." I said, "That was my brother's piece."

But one reader liked my judicial-precedent commentary almost as much as I, and since I think his comments are very much on point, I'll share them with you, along with a few short -- short! -- comments of my own interspersed.

1) Posit that laws need to be clear and applied consistently so that we may have an orderly society. People must understand what is illegal so that they may go about their business unimpeded by the police... think TSA rules as a good example of a bad example. Also, if contract law, tax law, fire codes, building codes, zoning regulations, etc. and ad nauseam are so complex, conflicting, and so capriciously and unevenly applied, then it becomes difficult and risky to invest our capital. More insidious is that our laws and regulations force people to err on the side of caution, whether in asserting their rights or in starting a business. We are clearly at the stage in America where both our freedoms and our opportunities are being strangled.

I completely agree, except for some concern that the desire for consistent application of the law is what has given us our autocratic, hierarchical judicial system that reads its own pronouncements more than the legislature's.  Emerson wrote that "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines," though that might be going a little too far.

2) Our government violates the Constitution daily and with impunity.  The Founders gave us a pretty clear document and God got by with just Ten Commandments, yet we have volumes and volumes which interpret, modify, expand, subvert, pettifog and parse our birthright away.  I routinely tell people that the answer to any legal question is, "Sometimes, maybe and it depends."  That just puts a happy face on a hell of a mess.

I could never have said it that well or succinctly.  Certainly, not that succinctly.

3) I don't know if we can reverse the damage, but if we ever do, then we should have every single law subject to a sunset clause every 10 years, with the provision that each law must be debated and passed individually.  This would serve not only to clear the books, it might also keep the legislature too busy for other mischief.

I have often thought that such sunset provisions were a good idea, and I fully subscribe to the notion that idle legislatures are the devil's playthings.

4) I think I detected real emotion in your piece; better check your blood pressure. Me too.

It's a dead giveaway when I go on too long and, attempting humor, end up dripping sarcasm.