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From: cliff@unmvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: long live lawyers -:)
Message-ID: <580@unmvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 16-Jan-85 23:09:47 EST
Article-I.D.: unmvax.580
Posted: Wed Jan 16 23:09:47 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 21-Jan-85 03:17:39 EST
References: <748@loral.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Lines: 44

Yup.  It is a ridiculous concept.  The law is so complex that a special
group of people have to train many years too have a chance to understand it
on more than a basic level.  (don't get the wrong idea, I represent myself
in court, both criminal and civil.  The only time I have lost was the one
exception I was foolish enough to let a lawyer represent me.)

On top of that the people that write the new laws have little incentive to
clean things up.  Special interests make sure that the laws are filled with
special cases.  If anyone ever wrote code that looked like:

	if (x < 3 && x < 5 && x < 7) {
	    if (x == 2)
		y = 7;
	    else if (x == 4)
		y = 9;
	    else
		y = x + 5;
	} else
	    switch (x) {
	    case 7:
		y = y - 2 + 3;
	    case 6:
		++y;
	    case 5:
		y = y + 2;
	    case 3:
		y += 2;
	    case 1:
		y++;
		break;
	    default:
		y = x + 5;
	    }

noone would have much faith in the final product.  However the U.S. legal
system is much more obtuse.  How many different laws can you think of just
for one person hitting another?

				Remember, when the laws are simple
				lawyers, congresspeople, policepeople
				and judges, will have much less power
				then they do today.

				--Cliff