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Have you ever complained about "those idiots in Congress"? Think
you could do better? What about Supreme Court justices?
Ever want to re-write their opinions? Well, now's your chance to
do that. Sort of.
A new wiki-site--Wikocracy--
allows you to edit the law. Of course, it allows every one to edit it as well. The result? Open source law.
But is this just a fun distraction or might this actually serve as a
model of law making? I've never been a fan of the iniative process
that many states have. From personal experience, I know that
Washingtonians (folks from the state not the capital) have in enacted some
pretty moronic laws. But to me, there seems to be a difference between
that form of direct democratic participation and the form of
participation embodied by Wikocracy. For one, Wikocracy at least requires a little effort on the part of the would-be contributor.
On the other hand, check out the entry for the Controlled Substance Act:
21 U.S.C. (Title 21, Chapter 13 of the United States Code) is also known as the Controlled Substances Act
is hereby repealed.
Furthermore the controls on the consumption and sale of alcohol are to
be relaxed allowing those aged 13 and over to buy their own alcohol and
those aged 12 and under to buy and consume alcohol with permission from
the parent/guardian. This law shall not be construed to restrict
private establishments from following their own policies for the sale
of alcohol.
And even if only sincere, reasonable, and intelligent people
contributed, that wouldn't guarantee good results: we all know
how effective the first open-source legal brief was.
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