If the Law Is This Complicated, Why Shouldn’t Ignorance Be an Excuse?

[endicom]

Townhall
Clark Neily, Jack Brown
Oct. 30, 2017

“Because I said so.” “Life isn’t fair.” “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” These are some of the great cop-outs of all time, and the last one is particularly troubling in a country with so many laws that it is impossible to count—let alone read—them all. When was the last time you sat down with a complete set of the federal, state, and local codes setting forth the tens of thousands of criminal violations for which you could be sent to jail? If you answered “never,” you’re in good company. Nevertheless, America’s judges still cling to the proposition that it’s perfectly fine to lock people up for doing something they had no idea was illegal. But it’s not fine, and the justifications for that palpably unfair rule have only grown more threadbare with time.

More... https://townhall.com/columnists/clarkneily/2017/10/30/if-the-law-is-this-complicated-why-shouldnt-ignorance-be-an-excuse-n2401290

[Smokin Joe]

If it makes no sense, what law? This crap is why jury nullification is essential to jurisprudence. When laws make no sense, they only exist to trap the unwary and fill the troughs lawyers feed at. The legal system was never meant to be a minefield.

[EasyAce]

Townhall
Clark Neily, Jack Brown
Oct. 30, 2017

“Because I said so.” “Life isn’t fair.” “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” These are some of the great cop-outs of all time, and the last one is particularly troubling in a country with so many laws that it is impossible to count—let alone read—them all. When was the last time you sat down with a complete set of the federal, state, and local codes setting forth the tens of thousands of criminal violations for which you could be sent to jail? If you answered “never,” you’re in good company. Nevertheless, America’s judges still cling to the proposition that it’s perfectly fine to lock people up for doing something they had no idea was illegal. But it’s not fine, and the justifications for that palpably unfair rule have only grown more threadbare with time.

More... https://townhall.com/columnists/clarkneily/2017/10/30/if-the-law-is-this-complicated-why-shouldnt-ignorance-be-an-excuse-n2401290

Did the author of the article omit the all-time classic---If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about.

If Americans want good government, hundreds of failed government programs must be abolished
and legions of laws that turn government into a public nuisance must be repealed. All other "reforms"
will merely prolong the abuse of the American people.

---James Bovard, from "feeling your pain": The Explosion and Abuse of Government Power in the Clinton-
Gore Years

(Emphasis added.---EA.)