----- Original Message ----- From: "MJ Ray" <mjr@phonecoop.coop>
It is hard to convict somebody for violating a law that they honestly have no reason to belive they might have violated. [...]Never heard the expression "ignorance is not a defence"? One would still be found guilty, but penalties less severe.
Ingorance is not a defence is reasonable for some things.It is only reasonable if a person has any idea at all that there is even a chance that the activity is illegal. If it accepctable only if a person could possibly imagine a reason why said activity is illeagal.
If a person has no reason to think that something may possibly be illeagal then there is likely a severe problem with the law.
For example, if a law prohibits walking outside (like walking through a town, lets say) durring the middle of the day, ignorance is very much an excuse. There would be little reason to even suspect that the activity is illegal.
On the other hand, if the law prohibited this only at night, it is proably a curfew law, and the phrase 'ignorance is not an excuse' may reasonably apply.
-- MJR/slef My Opinion Only: see http://people.debian.org/~mjr/ Please follow http://www.uk.debian.org/MailingLists/#codeofconduct