On Law
14 March 2007
The Editor, The Boston Globe
To the Editor:
Bill McLaughlin rightly points out that declaring in a statute that an act is illegal is insufficient to make that act wrong or even illegal (Letters, March 14).
Here's language currently on the books in Massachusetts: "A married person who has sexual intercourse with a person not his spouse or an unmarried person who has sexual intercourse with a married person shall be guilty of adultery and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years or in jail for not more than two years or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars." In short, the Massachusetts government declares adultery to be illegal. But would any jury in your state send such adults to prison, or even fine them, for consensual love-making?
No - which suggests that legality is determined much more by practice and expectations than by mere statutory language.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
The Editor, The Boston Globe
To the Editor:
Bill McLaughlin rightly points out that declaring in a statute that an act is illegal is insufficient to make that act wrong or even illegal (Letters, March 14).
Here's language currently on the books in Massachusetts: "A married person who has sexual intercourse with a person not his spouse or an unmarried person who has sexual intercourse with a married person shall be guilty of adultery and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years or in jail for not more than two years or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars." In short, the Massachusetts government declares adultery to be illegal. But would any jury in your state send such adults to prison, or even fine them, for consensual love-making?
No - which suggests that legality is determined much more by practice and expectations than by mere statutory language.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Thursday November 8, 2007 at 1:50pm