Posted on Aug 6, 2017
What's on thoughts on my saying a big problem with laws and policies is that they're not written for the average person to easily comprehend?
7.86K
55
16
8
8
0
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 10
Many legal and legislative terms mean something entirely different than everyday language. A simple example would be "excuse" vs. "recuse". In the former, I'd excuse myself from something. It's pretty generic and arguable on whether or not I can. Recuse, on the other hand, is explicit. It means due to a conflict of interest, I must excuse myself from this action. It can be considered a small subset of "excuse". The legal words we seldom use have a very specific meaning, have typically been around courthouses for years, and in themselves have a common meaning. If you want to get mind boggling, just consider medicine. You got something wrong with your belly, doesn't tell you much. Medical terminology is very specific. Take any other profession with its own specific word sets. If you're not a physicist, you shouldn't get upset that you don't know quarks, quantum mechanics, string theory; you name it. Don't worry. The vast population out there doesn't know what a POG or REMF is. Enjoy your superiority.
(4)
(0)
Or, we could try to educate people so they can read and comprehend their native language. Laws do have to be specifically written to try to by crystal clear because one day the law will be involved in a legal case and clarity will be key. That is why we get laws written the way they are.
(3)
(0)
It depends on the law, really.
And quite honestly, people ought to be a bit more well grounded on how the laws are written and why they're written that way.
The problem with codifying laws is that they have to be clear on many different levels in order to understand what the laws are and how they're intended to be applied. This is important because in the law, if it's not written down or clear, it's difficult, if not impossible, to charge someone with a violation of the law because it can't be said that the written law actually applies to the person's circumstance.
For example, many terms used within any given law may require defining, so that it's clearly understood what is mean when certain words or phrases are used. This is because what you and I understand a certain word or phrase to mean in our every day usage does not necessarily mean the same thing when used in the context of the law.
It may sound silly, but the reason for this, and many other aspects of a written law, is because in a court of law, a person's life, liberty, and property may hang in the balance on these very things.
I don't know the equivalent term for "sea-lawyer" in the other branches, but a sea-lawyer is typically a sailor (usually a junior one in my experience) who has a self-proclaimed expertise on the rules, regulations, and laws within the Navy. What he really has is a superficial knowledge of these things and a whole ton of personal bias on how he thinks things SHOULD be as opposed to how they actually ARE. A sea-lawyer will nitpick a rule/regulation/law to death.
So, as an exercise, take a look at a law or policy you think is not easy to comprehend and then create your own simplified version of it. Then present it to a group of your buddy's for a critique, with the intent that they're going to nitpick this thing for every weak point they can find. Then modify your law to fix all those weak points.
Pretty soon you'll start seeing your simple law start to get more complex.
This is why we have specialists called "attorneys" when matters concerning the law become really important. We don't always need attorneys for the same reason we don't always need mechanics for our vehicles. Usually our knowledge of how our vehicles (and the law) is quite sufficient for our day-to-day lives. But when things need closer attention, we hire a mechanic/attorney to attend to the matters that need attending.
And quite honestly, people ought to be a bit more well grounded on how the laws are written and why they're written that way.
The problem with codifying laws is that they have to be clear on many different levels in order to understand what the laws are and how they're intended to be applied. This is important because in the law, if it's not written down or clear, it's difficult, if not impossible, to charge someone with a violation of the law because it can't be said that the written law actually applies to the person's circumstance.
For example, many terms used within any given law may require defining, so that it's clearly understood what is mean when certain words or phrases are used. This is because what you and I understand a certain word or phrase to mean in our every day usage does not necessarily mean the same thing when used in the context of the law.
It may sound silly, but the reason for this, and many other aspects of a written law, is because in a court of law, a person's life, liberty, and property may hang in the balance on these very things.
I don't know the equivalent term for "sea-lawyer" in the other branches, but a sea-lawyer is typically a sailor (usually a junior one in my experience) who has a self-proclaimed expertise on the rules, regulations, and laws within the Navy. What he really has is a superficial knowledge of these things and a whole ton of personal bias on how he thinks things SHOULD be as opposed to how they actually ARE. A sea-lawyer will nitpick a rule/regulation/law to death.
So, as an exercise, take a look at a law or policy you think is not easy to comprehend and then create your own simplified version of it. Then present it to a group of your buddy's for a critique, with the intent that they're going to nitpick this thing for every weak point they can find. Then modify your law to fix all those weak points.
Pretty soon you'll start seeing your simple law start to get more complex.
This is why we have specialists called "attorneys" when matters concerning the law become really important. We don't always need attorneys for the same reason we don't always need mechanics for our vehicles. Usually our knowledge of how our vehicles (and the law) is quite sufficient for our day-to-day lives. But when things need closer attention, we hire a mechanic/attorney to attend to the matters that need attending.
(3)
(0)
(2)
(0)
CPO Glenn Moss
Cynthia Croft - It is enjoyable at some level...at least on some things.
For example, I like to keep up with the various gun laws, not just in my home state, but all other states through which I may be traveling.
They're usually fairly clearly written (to me, anyway), but it's amazing how many people utterly fail to understand what those laws actually say and mean. Which indicates to me that a great many people actually operate on hear-say as opposed to reading the source documents.
I suspect this is the case for a great many other laws, as well...too much going by hear-say.
For example, I like to keep up with the various gun laws, not just in my home state, but all other states through which I may be traveling.
They're usually fairly clearly written (to me, anyway), but it's amazing how many people utterly fail to understand what those laws actually say and mean. Which indicates to me that a great many people actually operate on hear-say as opposed to reading the source documents.
I suspect this is the case for a great many other laws, as well...too much going by hear-say.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next