Sunday, August 5, 2007

Ignorantia Juris Non Excusat

"Courts don't make law; legislatures do." This is false, although lots of people believe otherwise. And no wonder, since apparently you don't even need to have heard about the difference between statutory law and case law in order to become a conservative talk show host. In fact, if you're a conservative talk show host, you can talk about all sorts of things about which you know nothing. Witness, for example, this candid exchange between least-worst Republican candidate Mitt Romney and know-nothing Iowa radio host Jan Mickelson on Mormonism and abortion.

I'm not convinced that Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that effectively legalized abortion in the United States, was rightly decided, but I have a couple of arguments to support that position, and at least I know the first thing about the law. Furthermore, I'm fairly certain that I could opine at least as ignorantly about Mormonism as Jan Mickelson. Give me a radio show!

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