Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I respectfully disagree with you that it is illegal, which is the reason that I've been asking in vain for an example of case law which illustrates its illegality. As you are well aware, at the end of the day it's the courts which determine whether or not something is illegal, and if something has never been tested in court, one cannot definitively state that it's illegal.
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HarryT. There are three levels when looking at the law.
Level 1. No law has been written, no case ajdicated. - Action is legal. Period. No case can be ajudicated, as there is no law to be ajudicated.
Level 2. A law has been passed with criminal penalties, but no case has been adjudicated. Is breaking this law illegal. Yes, inasmuch as you can be arrested and tried for the crime (criminal penalties, remember). You can argue in court that the law does not pass Constitutional muster, and therefore should be vacated, but until the law is vacated, either by the initial court or on appeal, it is the law of the land, and to break it is illegal.
HarryT, by your reasoning no new criminal law could ever be enforced, because no arrest could be made, and no test case could be brought before the court to provide case law. After all, if it's not illegal, you can't be arrested...<shrug>
Level 3. A law has been passed and there is now a test case to see if it passes Constitutional muster. It has. Breaking the law is illegal both from a legislative sense and a case law sense.