Jack Downey Comments on Canadian Issues to Inform and Amuse.



Photo Credit to Julie Ann Biggs out on the Mekong River, Cambodia Vietnam Border.".

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Who Made the Rules?


Have you ever wondered where and how the Laws and Rules that protect and punish us originate? I've often pondered the "Shot Gun Law" covering everything in the military - 'Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order and Discipline.' Are these laws in control of our lives? I'm sure you've heard the sayings 'Who made that Stupid Rule?' or 'The Law is an Ass!'. Do we need more or tougher laws? Should we have penal colonies in the arctic for criminals on their third conviction? Should serial killers and pedophiles be placed in an abandoned Coal Mine in Nova Scotia and fed through a chute? Should Narcotics dealers be injected with Sulfuric acid? As the song Bobbie McGee says 'Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose.' It seems there are some issues that merit a return visit. There are old laws that need to be discarded or rewritten and there are new laws that need to be written. We have rules to cover everything from Armpits to Zucchinis, but is Society safe? Laws are like great gobs of Giraffe dung falling on us from a great height, disconcerting to say the least.

Canadian (Except for those of Quebec) and USA laws are based on British Common Law. Instead of being clear and understandable, so that the people they are designed to control can know what it is they are expected to obey, our laws are contaminated with lawyer jargon. The resulting confusion causes one to need Lawyers, Courts, Judges, and various levels of Appeal Courts, up to and including the Supreme Court of Canada, to sort out "Who Killed Cock Robin." Even though the case is clear against the gangster Sparrow and the Bow and Arrow ballistics test prove the arrow was from the same Bow and all other enemies of Cock Robin have fool proof alibi's, either the Crown or Defense Turkeys will appeal. Why? Money! Everyone knows that Cock Robin was crossing the CDN/USA border for years without a Visa. Cock Robin was a vicious criminal, killing worms with no signs of remorse. He was responsible for robbing people of their sleep by having the 'The Early Bird Gets the Worm' law passed. I ardently believe that Sparrow should receive The Order of Canada for doing Robin In and allowing more sleep for all our Fishermen/women in need of bait. The case of Regina vs. Sparrow, now before the Supreme Court of Canada clearly shows that the Law is an Ass. I sit in silent desperation, hoping (no, praying), for an acquittal for the bird that shot Cock Robin down. If there ever was a case for Justifiable Homicide then this is it.

I offer you some examples of the many Laws that make the LAW MAKERS look like REAL ASSES.

• Scientifically speaking, tomatoes are a fruit, but legally speaking, they're a vegetable. Ruling in an 1893 tariff case, the U.S. Supreme Court said that, because tomatoes are normally eaten during a meal and not afterward, they are legally vegetables.
• In Canada, if a debt is higher than 25 cents, it is illegal to pay it with pennies.
• In Alabama it is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle.
• In 1985, an Arizona legislator proposed that each candidate for the legislature take a reading and an IQ test three months before the election and that the scores be listed on the ballot. For some reason, a majority of legislators voted the proposal down.
• Under the law of the state of Washington, any restroom with pay toilets has to have an equal number of free toilets. This law came to be passed, so to speak, after the speaker of the state House of Representatives raced to an all-pay facility without a dime.
• It is illegal to loiter in the Detroit city morgue.
• In New York it is unlawful for any person to do anything that is against the law
• It is illegal to ride a streetcar on Sunday if you have been eating garlic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

These are but a few Laws that make you shake your head. You'll find many more on click here


It is illegal to a wake a bear for the purpose of photography in Alaska.

The majority of our Parliamentary Law Makers are lawyers! They receive tax deductible donations from other lawyers and Law firms to run for Parliament. Is there a small print clause we don't know about attached to these cheques? Perhaps that clause reads, "I the undersigned agree to vote only for passage of those Bills in the House of Commons that are convoluted to ensure all lawyers steady employment for a minimum of 20 years. I also swear that no Bill I vote for will be understandable by the public." The new Canadian Gun Control Law is a perfect example of following this fine print.

As said in Robert Service's Poem, The Shooting of Dan McGrew, "I'm not so wise as you lawyer guys...." But, I would sure like to know how this Law Cabal got started. There is nothing like history to sort things out.

2350 BCE: Urukagina's Code
This code has never been discovered, but it is mentioned in other documents as a consolidation of existing "ordinances" or laws laid down by Mesopotamian kings. An administrative reform document was discovered which showed that citizens were allowed to know why certain actions were punished. Punishment in those days was quite harsh by modern standards. Thieves and adulteresses were to be stoned to death with stones inscribed with the name of their crime. The code also confirmed that the "king was appointed by the gods."

1850 BCE: The Earliest Known Legal Decision
A clay tablet reveals the case, in 1850 BC, of the murder of a temple employee by three men. The victim's wife knew of the murder, but remained silent. Eventually, the crime came to light and the men and the wife were charged with murder. Nine witnesses testified against the men and the wife and asked for the death penalty for all four, but the wife had two witnesses who told the court that she had been abused by her husband, that she was not part of the murder ,and that she was even worse off after her husband's death. The men were executed in front of the victim's house but the wife was spared.

1300 BCE: The Ten Commandments
According to the Bible, it was in approximately 1300 BC that Moses received a list of ten laws directly from God. These laws were known as the Ten Commandments and were transcribed as part of the Book of Moses, which later became part of the Bible. Many of the Ten Commandments continue in the form of modern laws such as "thou shalt not kill" (modern society severely punishes the crime of murder), "thou shalt not commit adultery" (modern society allows a divorce on this ground) and "thou shalt not steal" (modern society punishes theft as a crime). The Bible chapter that contains the Ten Commandments (Exodus) follows the recitation of the Commandments with a complete set of legal rules, which are based on the "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" legal philosophy of Hammurabi's Code.

621 BCE: Draco's Law
This Greek citizen was chosen to write a code of law for Athens (Greece). The penalty for many offences was death. Draco's code was so severe that the word "draconian" comes from his name and has come to mean, in the English language, an unreasonably harsh law. Draco's were the first written laws of Greece. These laws introduced the state's exclusive role in punishing persons accused of crime, instead of relying on private justice. The citizens adored Draco and, as he entered an auditorium one day to attend a reception in his honour, the citizens of Athens showered him with their hats and cloaks, as was their customary way to show appreciation. By the time they dug him out from under the clothing, Draco had been smothered to death.

536 BCE: The Book of Punishments
This legal book, printed in China, limited the ways to punish someone who had been convicted of a serious crime. Allowable punishments included tattooing, cutting off the nose, castration, feet amputation and death.

700 CE: Fingerprinting Is Invented
Fingerprinting was in use by this time in China as a means of identifying people.

1100 CE: First Law School
In medieval Italy, students of law would hire a teacher to teach them Roman Law, especially Justinian's Code, Corpus Juris. One teacher, known as Irnerius was particularly popular and students began to flock to him from all over Europe. He taught in Bologna and the surge of students meant that he had to hire other teachers to form the world's first law school. By 1150, this law school had over 10,000 students and contributed to the revival of the Corpus Juris and the spread of Roman law throughout Europe!

1215 CE: Magna Carta
At Runneymede, England, on June 15, 1215, King John of England signed the Magna Carta, in which he conceded a number of legal rights to his barons and to the people. In order to finance his foreign wars, King John had taxed abusively. His Barons threatened rebellion and coerced the King into committing to rudimentary judicial guarantees such as the freedom of the church, fair taxation, controls over imprisonment (habeas corpus) and the right to all merchants to come and go freely, except in time of war. The Magna Carta had 61 clauses, the most important of which may have been #39: "No freeman shall be captured or imprisoned ... except by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land". It was the first time a king allowed that even he could be compelled to observe a law or the barons were allowed to "distrain and distress him in every possible way", just short of a legal right to rebellion. Once the ruling class was sworn to the document, letters were sent to all sheriffs ordering them to read the Charter aloud in public. The Magna Carta has been called the "blueprint of English common law" and was even recently pleaded in a English case

1804 CE: Napoleonic Code
Under the government of Napoleon, France adopted a comprehensive code of law in 1804, which enshrined many of the victories obtained during the Revolution, such as individual liberty, equality before the law and the lay character of the state. The Code regulated most private law matters such as property, wills, contracts, liabilities and obligations. Many of its parts are traceable to Roman law. The Napoleonic Code inspired similar civil codes in the Canadian Province of Quebec (1865), Germany (1900) and Switzerland (1907). Perhaps the most important aspect of the Code was the fact that the law was written (as opposed to judge-made) and in a non-technical style and thus more accessible to the public.

The preceding excerpts are from Law Museum where you'll find a more complete Time Line and details of several historically important trials.

After considerable research, I have concluded that Society cannot exist with out Laws and Courts. Lawyers are an adjunct to the system, some are very good and some are very bad. Like any other profession, the Bell Curve applies. The only improvement I can suggest, is that it should be madet against the law for any lawyer to run for public office. They are not at Arms Length and should be replaced with PEI Potato Farmers who will plow up the lawn on Parliament Hill, plant spuds, and then maybe Parliament can make a profit for a change.



PS. The Rule of Thumb has been repealed. This old English law said, "it was all right for a man to beat his wife if the rod was no thicker than his thumb." The abused Canadian women of today have got a revenge law voted in. It is called the Nip and Slice Bill 45 magnum.

© Jack C. Downey CD

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