Legal Matters: I Had Never Thought of This Consequence Before

This column by Clark Neily makes an interesting point: the law is so complicated these days that ignorance of it can be an excuse. I’ve often heard about the proliferation of laws these days, but I had never connected it up with the saying that ignorance of the law is no excuse. But Neily is right. If there are so many laws that no one can possibly know them all, then ignorance of the law can and should be an excuse. As Neily observes, that old saying emerged in the days when there were few laws to worry about, and of course it made perfect sense back then. That is no longer true, so lawmakers and those agencies that somehow get to make laws on their own should think twice before enacting yet another law that no one will know about.