Worst laws that are still enforced
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  Worst laws that are still enforced
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Author Topic: Worst laws that are still enforced  (Read 9011 times)
Dr. MB
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« on: October 10, 2017, 05:41:23 PM »

What are the worst laws on the books that are still enforced today? Can be state, local, or federal law.

For me, a few examples come to mind:

Marijuana – Recreational marijuana should be legal. It's pointless to lock people up for it.
Curfew – Local curfew ordinances in my opinion violate the 1st Amendment, specifically freedom of assembly. Also, they don't work. If someone is planning on committing a crime, they are going to commit it. They won't care whether or not they can legally be out at 2 AM.
Campaign Finance – Money does not equal speech. Period.
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MarkD
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« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2017, 09:30:46 PM »

Campaign Finance – Money does not equal speech. Period.

Has the Supreme Court ever said that money equals speech? Or is that just the spin that those of you oppose Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United v. FEC feel like putting on those decisions?

If Congress were to pass a law that restricts the amount of money that journalists are allowed to spend on their efforts at investigative journalism, wouldn't that violate the principle of the Freedom of the Press? If Congress were to pass a law that restricts the amount of money that church congregations can spend on constructing chapels, wouldn't that violate the principle of the Free Exercise of Religion? The Court would not have to say "Money equals journalism," or "Money equals religion" in order to arrive at conclusions that those freedoms had been abridged.

Nonetheless, even though I do not disapprove of how the Supreme Court interpreted the Constitution in cases such as Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United v. FEC, I do support the adoption of a constitutional amendment that says that, notwithstanding the First Amendment, any level of government in the United States may adopt campaign finance reform measures that limit the expenditure of money on political campaigns.

And the law that I think is the worst -- or maybe it's more accurate to describe it as a doctrine than a law -- is the continued existence of "substantive due process." That doctrine takes the phrase that goes:
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law

And the judges read it as if also says:
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due law.

"Substantive due process" has gotta wither on the vine and die. It's just gotta.
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NewYorkExpress
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« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2017, 09:34:18 PM »

Stand Your Ground Laws. They're basically an excuse for killing minorities and saying "he/she had a weapon" when no such thing was true.
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« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2017, 10:43:42 PM »

That it is legal to murder babies
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Alabama_Indy10
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« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2017, 11:38:08 PM »

What are the worst laws on the books that are still enforced today? Can be state, local, or federal law.

For me, a few examples come to mind:

Marijuana – Recreational marijuana should be legal. It's pointless to lock people up for it.
Curfew – Local curfew ordinances in my opinion violate the 1st Amendment, specifically freedom of assembly. Also, they don't work. If someone is planning on committing a crime, they are going to commit it. They won't care whether or not they can legally be out at 2 AM.
Campaign Finance – Money does not equal speech. Period.

That is the exact argument against gun control.
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Virginiα
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« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2017, 11:56:39 PM »

Curfew – Local curfew ordinances in my opinion violate the 1st Amendment, specifically freedom of assembly. Also, they don't work. If someone is planning on committing a crime, they are going to commit it. They won't care whether or not they can legally be out at 2 AM.

Not to say I am for curfews by any means, but to be fair, it's not about hoping criminals stay home. If you have a curfew, it makes it harder for criminals to freely move around at night. For instance, someone who just burgled a house after curfew is taking a big risk if they are stopped by the police, who would have a legitimate reason to stop them.
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dead0man
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« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2017, 08:03:08 AM »

AFAIK, there are no active curfew laws in the US...no?


as for the OP...

85% of state occupation regulations
civil asset forfeiture
speed limits on rural controlled access highways
a thousand more that put regular folk at odds with the popo for little good reason
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Dr. MB
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« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2017, 05:30:21 PM »

What are the worst laws on the books that are still enforced today? Can be state, local, or federal law.

For me, a few examples come to mind:

Marijuana – Recreational marijuana should be legal. It's pointless to lock people up for it.
Curfew – Local curfew ordinances in my opinion violate the 1st Amendment, specifically freedom of assembly. Also, they don't work. If someone is planning on committing a crime, they are going to commit it. They won't care whether or not they can legally be out at 2 AM.
Campaign Finance – Money does not equal speech. Period.

That is the exact argument against gun control.
Which I also oppose for the exact same reason.
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Alabama_Indy10
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« Reply #8 on: October 14, 2017, 10:30:28 PM »

What are the worst laws on the books that are still enforced today? Can be state, local, or federal law.

For me, a few examples come to mind:

Marijuana – Recreational marijuana should be legal. It's pointless to lock people up for it.
Curfew – Local curfew ordinances in my opinion violate the 1st Amendment, specifically freedom of assembly. Also, they don't work. If someone is planning on committing a crime, they are going to commit it. They won't care whether or not they can legally be out at 2 AM.
Campaign Finance – Money does not equal speech. Period.

That is the exact argument against gun control.
Which I also oppose for the exact same reason.

FF!
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TPIG
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« Reply #9 on: October 15, 2017, 12:25:09 AM »

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Blackacre
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« Reply #10 on: October 15, 2017, 02:00:13 PM »

Taft-Hartley, civil forfeture, and the entire war on drugs
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Mr. Reactionary
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« Reply #11 on: October 15, 2017, 10:24:53 PM »
« Edited: October 20, 2017, 03:33:20 PM by Mr. Reactionary »

I've been crash coursing the city ordinances in my hometown. No idea how stringently its enforced, but apparently children 11 and older are not eligible for the trick or treating exemption to the ban on door to door solicitation. Also, our panhandling, noise limits, public swearing, and curfew laws appear unconstitutional based on recent case law. The worst laws are the ones drafted so poorly or vaguely that they could or could not criminalize normal behavior depending on how much of a jerk the government wants to be on a particular day.

Edit: also we apparently ban nunchucks.
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Dr. MB
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« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2017, 03:44:51 PM »

Not a law, but Roe v Wade is worth mentioning. Time for Democrat SC judges to step down now and allow President Trump to nominate real conservatives who respect our constitution and OVERTURN Roe v. Wade.
What makes you think that'll happen? Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 83, 84? and it'd surprise me if she voluntarily steps down before a Democrat is president.
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Mr. Reactionary
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« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2017, 06:14:50 PM »
« Edited: October 18, 2017, 09:44:58 PM by Mr. Reactionary »

Curfew – Local curfew ordinances in my opinion violate the 1st Amendment, specifically freedom of assembly. Also, they don't work. If someone is planning on committing a crime, they are going to commit it. They won't care whether or not they can legally be out at 2 AM.

Not to say I am for curfews by any means, but to be fair, it's not about hoping criminals stay home. If you have a curfew, it makes it harder for criminals to freely move around at night. For instance, someone who just burgled a house after curfew is taking a big risk if they are stopped by the police, who would have a legitimate reason to stop them.

Most active curfew laws are directed towards minors, which presents a different set of issues since citizens cant be forced to carry ID. Maybe 5 or 6 years ago in redneckville where i live, i saw the cops pulling people out of midnight movie lines for curfew violations, because "places of amusement" are specifically mentioned in the ordinance language. No id requirement though, means arbitrary enforcement which can be concerning.
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Starry Eyed Jagaloon
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« Reply #14 on: October 18, 2017, 11:07:26 PM »

What are the worst laws on the books that are still enforced today? Can be state, local, or federal law.

For me, a few examples come to mind:

Marijuana – Recreational marijuana should be legal. It's pointless to lock people up for it.
Curfew – Local curfew ordinances in my opinion violate the 1st Amendment, specifically freedom of assembly. Also, they don't work. If someone is planning on committing a crime, they are going to commit it. They won't care whether or not they can legally be out at 2 AM.
Campaign Finance – Money does not equal speech. Period.

That is the exact argument against gun control.
Except restrictions on guns are easier to enforce than restrictions on going outside, and are morally defensible.
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Mr. Reactionary
blackraisin
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« Reply #15 on: October 19, 2017, 05:10:20 PM »

What are the worst laws on the books that are still enforced today? Can be state, local, or federal law.

For me, a few examples come to mind:

Marijuana – Recreational marijuana should be legal. It's pointless to lock people up for it.
Curfew – Local curfew ordinances in my opinion violate the 1st Amendment, specifically freedom of assembly. Also, they don't work. If someone is planning on committing a crime, they are going to commit it. They won't care whether or not they can legally be out at 2 AM.
Campaign Finance – Money does not equal speech. Period.

That is the exact argument against gun control.
Except restrictions on guns are easier to enforce than restrictions on going outside, and are morally defensible.

Barely and no.
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#gravelgang #lessiglad
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« Reply #16 on: October 19, 2017, 06:34:36 PM »

This isn't a strictly perfect answer to this question, but...

Massachusetts's law declaring cookies to be a physical presence for the purpose of taxable nexus under Quill was unbelievable. It's good that it was nixed before it could be enforced.
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Karpatsky
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« Reply #17 on: November 16, 2017, 11:27:32 AM »

That one PA law that pops up on /r/legaladvice all the time about terrible parents being able to sue their children for financial support.
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Bandit3 the Worker
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« Reply #18 on: November 21, 2017, 12:28:10 PM »

Some of the worst are laws against cohabitation. I think there was a case in North Carolina or somewhere where a woman was denied some sort of government benefit because she was cohabitating.

"No pass, no drive" laws are laws that revoke driver's licenses from teenagers for bad academic performance - while rewarding those who bully them. These laws are actually classist (because kids from poor backgrounds are already discriminated against by schools), and they penalize kids with dyslexia.

Pretty much anything enacted by the fascist 104th Congress was bad.
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Bandit3 the Worker
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« Reply #19 on: November 21, 2017, 12:28:52 PM »

Also, Singapore has a law making it illegal to chew bubble gum, but that's not the U.S.
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Bandit3 the Worker
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« Reply #20 on: November 21, 2017, 12:33:58 PM »

That one PA law that pops up on /r/legaladvice all the time about terrible parents being able to sue their children for financial support.

So parents in Pennsylvania can sue their kids to make them pay for their eyeglasses they had in grade school? Or some other medical expense?
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TexArkana
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« Reply #21 on: November 21, 2017, 01:06:50 PM »

Any obscenity laws.
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Karpatsky
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« Reply #22 on: November 21, 2017, 02:58:47 PM »

That one PA law that pops up on /r/legaladvice all the time about terrible parents being able to sue their children for financial support.

So parents in Pennsylvania can sue their kids to make them pay for their eyeglasses they had in grade school? Or some other medical expense?

Old age support, like retirement home/medical expenses. There's a post every three months or so about kids who were beaten/abused in other ways as children being forced by the state to support their abuser.

Here's an example thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/bestoflegaladvice/comments/4au8db/pennsylvanias_filial_responsibility_law_strikes/?st=jaa1ki0e&sh=1ebd2288
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dead0man
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« Reply #23 on: November 21, 2017, 03:42:20 PM »

The state govt in PA hates it's residents and they are too stupid to do anything about it, that's the only thing that makes any sense.
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dead0man
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« Reply #24 on: November 21, 2017, 06:54:34 PM »

How's about the ironically named Congressional Accountability Act, that uses tax payer money ($17M worth over the last 20 years) to cover up Congressmen's screw ups, making sure nobody ever finds out anything bad happened.  The balls on these people.
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