July 04, 2004
Stupid law
Spring cleaning is a pain, but we're all better off when we go in to the garage, sweep out the cobwebs and throw out the the accumulated junk that no longer serves any useful purpose. When you find a gem (that really cool Space LEGO set your uncle gave you when you were six or that 1970s juicer that would look great in your new retro-look kitchen) you dust it off and put it to use. But if you don't go in and purge, one of your mischievous relatives might pull out that broken drill and hurt someone while trying to use it.
A government's body of Legislation is a lot like your garage. There's stuff crammed into the back corner, nobody has seen it in (literally) a hundred years, nobody uses it, few know it exists, but nobody does anything about it. In the City of Toronto, for example, it is unlawful to drag a dead horse up Yonge Street on Sunday. In the City of Waterloo, Ontario, five unrelated individuals are prohibited from living in the same "dwelling." Until recently, certain forms for Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources were invalid if they hadn't been filled out in red ink. These are largely harmless, but from time to time someone pulls something out of that back corner and people get hurt.
This week we have an example of such a case. In Pender County, North Carolina, a woman lost her job because she was breaking the law. What's worse, she continues to diabolically flout the law. It seems that in North Carolina and six other American States, it is illegal for unrelated men and women to cohabitate - in plain english, you can't live your boyfriend or girlfriend. [If you are gay, you don't run afoul of this law. A victory for gay rights in the American South, you say? No, I am quite sure that they have some archaic legislation against that too.] The North Carolina law had been on the books for nearly 200 years, and hasn't been used in recent memory - until now, that is.
This poor woman's employer is the local Sheriff. He gave her an ultimatum: leave your job, move out, or get married. Disturbingly, there is some sound logic to the Sheriff's request. Law enforcement officials should be held to a higher standard. It simply wouldn't do for local law enforcement to continue to employ someone who persists in violating the law, right?
Sure, but this law? It isn't as though he's going out and charging people with living in sin, but he seems to want to. In his own words: "We don't have a task force that goes out looking for that particular law violation. [With] the resources we have … we have to prioritize."
This is why I believe that every government should have a team working on identifying and proposing changes to legislation that is either outdated, unused or just plain wrong - and there is lots of it. Governments should be proactive in ensuring that antiquated legislation is not used by people who either don't have common sense, or choose to use it based on their equally antiquated beliefs.
Oh, and if you are wondering how the fine people of Pender County got saddled with this wingnut of a Sheriff, take a deep breath. They elected him.
Posted by maxthecat at July 4, 2004 10:21 AM
http://www.maxsmewsings.com/mt/archives/2004/07/stupid_law.php