Ignorance of the law excuses no man; not that all men know the law, but because ’tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to refute him.
John Selden
Orion's Cold Fire
All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!
From Mark Twain: We have an insanity plea that would have saved Cain. – 4th of July speech, 1873 Really, what we want now, is not laws against crime, but a law against insanity. – “A New Crime” If we only had some God in the country’s laws, instead of being in such a sweat to get him into the Constitution, it would be better all around. – Letter to William Dean Howells, 18 September 1875 Those people …. early stricken of God, intellectually — the departmental interpreters of the laws in Washington … can always be depended on to… Read more »
“Those people …. early stricken of God, intellectually — the departmental interpreters of the laws in Washington … can always be depended on to take any reasonably good law and interpret the common sense all out of it.
– Unmailed letter to H. C. Christiancy, 18 December 1887″
You mean as with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was to have made discrimination by race illegal was interpreted to mean that discrimination by race was required?
I attribute it to malice.