Kemp Hannon’s “There Ought To Be A Law” contest for students is a fine educational and public service program…But, I’d rather see him spend his time getting his State Senate and Assembly colleagues to pass “better” laws than they currently do. By “better” I mean: Laws that are so well thought out that, in practice, they don’t turn out to have unintended consequences (usually bad ones) and unforeseen “loopholes” one could drive a truck through.
Laws that will be strictly enforced by police, district attorneys, prosecutors, judges, prison officials, and parole board members.
Laws with penalties sure, swift, and severe enough to serve their truest purpose—not to punish, but to deter people from committing the proscribed crimes in the first place.
Richard Siegelman
