Think of a new criminal law

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There goes Grandpa Splunge on another one of his rants...

 

Well, I tend to agree with Splunge, no matter he's actually joking. Cops should be able to fine people for disgusting or disrespectful behaviour towards other people, or to drag the culprits by their collar to some kind of magistrate. In some places they are, but that should be everywhere.

 

Actually, while some places like restaurants and work have their own rules of appropriate clothing, generally speaking people should be able to wear what they wish. Accepting the consequences of course.

I think two gay men walking down the street holding their hands on each other's bottoms is disgusting enough to make me vomit. Let alone seeing men flirting and kissing publicly. But that's their freedom, I've got to get used to it. Clothes to me are on an entirely different scale.

This here is a matter of opinion. And opinions make very bad laws.

In Finland, at least, I'd like laws to make a better point of the fact that adults ARE superior to children. By this I don't mean slavery or somesuch. I mean that a parent's job is to educate their children and raise them, so they grow to be good members of the society. Right now, parents are -at least legally- denied all physical forms of punishment, leading to the so called "free upbringing". Best emphasized by 10-yearolds on the bus stop, calling grownups with names, screaming and wreaking havoc without fear, and none of the grownups can touch them because they'd basically get put in jail for it.

Grownups deserve respect, yet everything must be viewed with a critical eye. In my work, my position is a middle-ground office employee. Yet I view everyone above me as equal colleaques, merely with a different job. Someone's job is to tell me how to do mine? Fine. But if someone makes it personal, they lose all benefit and respect they got with their age and position, giving me full right and obligation to educate them on friendly social manners.

By default, I respect people older than I am. But they have to earn the right to continue enjoying that respect. Most older people do this easily, because most older people have at least some manner of wisdom and knowledge greater than mine, which is the reason for the classical "respect the elderly" in any case. If someone lacks that wisdom and knowledge and acts like an idiot, then I view them as no more but children in grownup's bodies.

In school, they should incorporate means to controlling the behaviour of the schoolmates towards each other. It's no rumour that children can be incredibly evil. I know far too many people, including myself, who have a very handicapped way of viewing people in general because of being rejected and bullied in school. And the reasons for that are often no more than simple luck, after which the reputation and rumours follow you everywhere spoiling any future chances.

People repeatingly making more crimes should be punished more severely. I mean it. In Finland there's a law that states that everyone has the right to use normal stores with essential products like food etc. Even those who've stolen from that store some 100 times a year, and return to steal anew despite getting caught every time. Such a person should be permanently banned from that store, they asked for it afterall.

In general, criminals should be treated like criminals. Criminals and good people are NOT equal. It seems long ago laws started with the right idea, you break the law, you pay and you pay good. Now it's gone to treating everyone equally despite people's past or circumstances. What I mean to say is this: All effort should be put to determining who was guilty of breaking the law. When that has been determined, it's easy to see who will be punished. If someone breaks into my house, I will damn sure pick the sword hanging on my wall when I go and meet him. And I will damn sure have the right to use that sword unless that burglar will get his arse out of my house that instant. He was the one breaking the law, he was the one permanently destroying my sense of security, so why the heck should I pay for defending myself and my house with the only means possible.

I had a load of text written about this, since I've some very strong opinions on many laws. But instead I'll make it short:

Environmental issues should be taken seriously. US or someother refuses to hold their end of an agreement? Fine, cut that country from all foreign / trade relations. Unrealistic? Surely. Effective on a larger scale? Most certainly.

The capitalistic attitude has got to stop. Companies should be forced to understand their responsibilities to people, instead of just thinking money all the time. Software, for example, should be made available to everyone for reasonable prices, so piratism could be stopped.

Add a load of other things I can't think of. Once again I wrote this in a very hazy state of mind, but the point got there I'm sure.

 

Perhaps a good idea would be to make judges able to set some kind of low ranking laws for a particular convict along with prescribed behaviour. OK, they're already able to exact some kind of punishment if the convict doesn't give a damn about court orders, but that's it. It should work like a wager: OK, you have threatened to harm that man, but we don't put you behind bars yet. You pay N money fine and you can't get closer to him than 10 metres or speak to him unless spoken to. If you do, you will serve X years.

And I mean years. It looks a bit like suspended sentence with probation, but the idea is different. No evaluation of the convict's conduct whatsoever. He breaks the orders, he goes behind bars.

Agreed with Foradasthar on repeated shoftlifting. Should work the same for approaching victims of one's offences etc. Any kind of sexual crime involving forcing people or deceiving them into whatever, should get the criminal sterilised.

 

I reckon animal protection laws should be firmed up.... there was a case a while ago where a couple of army guys got drunk and tortured a litter of kittens to death. Involving running them over and setting them alight. They only got fined and a dishonorable discharge.

How wrong is that? I wrote an email to the Department of Defense regarding possible solutions.... sadly I cant repeat it here.

"Whosoever commits a crime while drunk is doubly guilty: For he has become drunk, and he has commited a crime"

 

Lies from politicans. Should be one year per lie.

 

I've seen girls as young as 5 wearing tarty clothes, my law would be to ban them

 

Privacy and good name protection is overdone in some countries. Spreading knowledge about someone's past conduct might be a wrong thing to do, but I would feel guilty if I did NOT tell a girl her boyfriend or fiance is cheating on her (or tell a guy his girlfriend or fiancee is cheating on him) if I knew. It hardly feels a private concern if someone's going to end up marrying a cheater.

Next, make it a crime for evil corporations to browse your hard disk without you knowing. It's not allowed to break into your supposed thief's house to look for your stolen goods. Why should it NOT be a crime for them to search your hard disk for specific files and check the files when found?

Smallprint and other dishonest practice in private law contracts based on adhesion. Intent of deceiving the other party (in this case most often a simple citizen without much knowledge in laws) is so obvious that LACK OF criminal prosecution is harmful to justice. In some most blatant cases, fraud attempt can be charged more or less successfully, but it's not enough on a more general basis.