Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by badkins 5503 days ago
man, I have been thinking this for years. If ilaws were written in code there would be no reason to have judges or lawyers. We have those only because spoken language is ambiguous and open to interpretation.
1 comments

It's not that easy though, for example, Jacobellis v. Ohio - how would you go about defining the threshold of pornography?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it

Great point. Your question reminded me of the scene from Aviator: "Dr. Branson is a mathematician of some note...yes. And he will prove that, in fact, Ms. Russell's mammaries are no more prominant than any of these other fine ladies. Doctor? Doctor... you forgot your calipers."
that's my point. If something can't be specified unambiguously in code, it shouldn't be in a law. Whether the verdict is innocent or guilty shouldn't rest on who happens to be sitting on the bench that day.