Laws not for the Common Good...?

Question

could any name a law that has been passed that is not for the common good

I mean one that is really not for the common good

Answer 1

Really a tough question because it would be so easy to argue about both "common" and "good" as separate words and as a phrase. For, example a local Air Force base was saved from closure. It's in a town of only about 10,000. Saving it from closure is good for the economy of Clovis, New Mexico, but is that "common" good for the nation? Las Alamos National Labs is losing jobs--that is partly due to more streamlined modern research and a more limited mission. That's bad for Los Alamos but probably good for the nation. If you fail to pay child support, you can lose your driver's license. If you drive on a revoked license, you go to jail. How can you work and pay child support if you can't get to a place of employment? That a very common law that makes no sense to me at all. Look at DUI laws, too. If you start driving and realize you're too drunk to drive, you may wish to pull off the road to sleep it off. You're still quilty of a DUI/DWI if the keys are in the ignition because you're in custody and control of the vehicle. That doesn't seen to be for the common good. Many local laws limit the number of pets you can have. If you rescue a starving dog and that puts you over the local limit, you've saved a life and you've violated the law. Where's the common good? Here's a thought I got from a question on here a few minutes ago. A 13 year old girl is pregnant and her parents are allowing her to marry. Why is a pregnant child better off married to another child? Where's the common good in even allowing her parents to make that decision? On a broader societal level, you could fashion an argument about marijuana use. I'm a fairly old guy and not a smoker, but does anyone ever get stoned on pot and murder the liquor store owner? (ok-maybe the Hersey's chocolate owner). Wouldn't it be better to tax marijuana and concentrate on hard drugs that either kill people or make them violent? Even free speech, which is very precious to me, can be carried too far. Should those crazies from the Westboro Baptist Church really be allowed to show up at military funerals and harass the families of our fallen soldiers?

Answer 2

It depends. Do you mean one that really is not for the common good (many many example) or one that people have never claimed is for the common good?

Many laws are passed claiming they are for the common good -- in fact, almost all general public laws fall into this category. There is disagreement -- often vehement -- about whether a given law actually IS for the common good, however.

Some recent federal examples -- the Partial Birth Abortion ban (arguably, an improper exercise of Congressional authority to regulate state medical practice); the Military Commissions Act (directly violates at least four separate Constitutional provisions); the law amending FISA to allow for domestical warantless wiretapping (which violates only two separate Constitutional provisions); and so on.

Answer 3

The common good is often regarded as a utilitarian ideal, thus representing "the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number of individuals".

Subsidies for Archer Daniels Midland or the Chrysler bailout. Any pork barrel project and saving Clovis AFB not for the common good.

Remaining in Iraq takes money away from education

Answer 4

Campaign Finance Reform. It should be called the "Get John McCain reelected Act.