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Three types of laws governments should


banning drugs including marijuana, to abortion – all things a certain percentage of people will do and can do without detection. These activities seem to be part of human need. The same is true of the “sins” of the body. People have sex and are willing to pay for it. Women know when they are ready for a child. Animals, even certain insects, get “high” deliberately. Why would people be different? Over the years, governments have tried banning alcohol with disastrous results as, to meet the demand, crime skyrocketed and the taxable economic activ- ity went underground. Yet bil- lions were spent on attempted enforcement, ordinary people were jailed and their lives ru- ined all because a certain ele- ment of the population felt they


never pass G


Dorothy Dobbie


had to impose their will and their idea of morality on others. Apart from morality, the other motivator is money. Gov- ernments like to pass laws that extort “fines” for certain be- haviour. I remember as a six-year-old in Toronto being told to run inside, turn off the radio and hide it in the dresser drawer. Why? Because my mother and some ladies were gos- siping in the garden and word came down the street that the radio license inspector was on his way. They all ran home to shut off their radios, too. He got no license money that day. They eventually abandoned the “law”, although, believe it or not, to this day in Britain you do have to hold a license to “watch or record live television transmissions as they are be- ing broadcast (terrestrial, satellite, cable, or Internet)”. (See sidebar).


All this is not to say that we can’t form consensus about


what is good and desirable social behaviour, but we should question whether spending money on law enforcement for things that cannot be stopped is the wise course of action. Would we not be better served through education and sup- port for changing self-harming behaviour? Governments should also avoid passing laws that are meant to punish or as a way of deterring behaviour. Exorbitant fines can do great harm to those least able to pay and are really not a deterrent; jail terms for minor of- fences simply expose the perpetrator to new opportunities to live on the fringes of society. Today, governments are assessing extortionate fines and punitive penalties on people for having the minutest bit of alcohol in their blood when they are in control – or were recently in control – of a car. Yet the statistics do not bear out the claim that .05 has any impact on the number of traf- fic deaths being experienced. The MADD people have, how- ever, convinced lawmakers that this is justified. This law is based on a double whammy: money and mo-


rality.


DON’T MISS AN ISSUE!


overnments often pass laws that they have practically no chance of effectively enforcing. This would include everything from prostitution to


MPI list of Common distractions


Distractions can happen both inside and outside your vehicle. Here are some of the most common distractions.


Inside your vehicle: • hand-held electronic devices such as cellphones and MP3 players


• passengers - including pets • eating, drinking, smoking • adjusting the radio, CD player and climate controls • programming GPS navigation • reading - including maps • personal grooming • daydreaming


Outside your vehicle:


• pedestrians and other road users • domestic animals and wildlife • building and road construction • commercial signs


• roadside distractions such as emergency situations


As a driver, it is your responsibility to learn how you can avoid these distractions.


Source: MPI Website


Enforcing the British broadcast licensing law


Wonder how the Brits enforce the broadcasting licensing? “Enforcement tasks include visiting addresses, identifying people watching TV without a licence, taking statements, and achieving prosecutions of TV licence evaders.” They also use detector vans, hand held detectors and optical detectors. Li- cence evaders are liable for prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000 in the UK. The fine varies however, and can be as low as £70 in Jersey. There are lots of evaders – mostly women. In 2014, these wicked scofflaws numbered over 204,000, but the BBC recently reported that this number has grown to 1.9 million! Interestingly, I couldn’t find the cost of enforcement. Hmm.


There are new draconian fines assessed on folks for “dis-


tracted driving”. While nobody believes that texting and driving or even reading texts while driving is a prudent ac- tion, the new regulations go beyond what is reasonable, leav- ing too much room for improperly motivated judgement calls by enforcement agencies, and some of them will not be enforceable. According to MPI, “Distracted driving means any activity that diverts your attention from the road.” They then go on to list things that could occur inside the car (cell- phone use and personal grooming, eating and drinking, pas- sengers talking and daydreaming are on the list). They also list distractions outside your car – don’t know how they will charge you with what goes on outside or prove your inat- tention while daydreaming, but there it is. It’s in the rules now! The supreme court will no doubt get to deal with this at some point.


u 5 ‘Laws government shouldn’t pass’


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