[Eugene Volokh, April 1, 2008 at 4:53pm] Trackbacks
April Fool's Joke or Not? You Decide:

The L.A. Times reports:

Los Angeles City Council members ... plan to vote today on a 40-hour moratorium on homicide, a symbolic gesture that comes as the city has seen an uptick in killings in recent months.

A "nonbinding resolution," the article assures us.

Daniel Chapman (mail):
Boy just you wait until that moratorium is up... I'd kill you now if it weren't for that damn resolution!
4.1.2008 6:00pm
ras (mail):
Why is it considered so much more risible to expect killers to voluntarily stop killing than it is to expect them to voluntarily turn in their guns?

I mean ... it is ... but ... is it just that we're more used to pols calling for the one than for the other that the one is expected and the other is not?
4.1.2008 6:04pm
Thorley Winston (mail) (www):
Does anyone know if Jack Bauer will be abiding by the resolution or is there an exception for CTU employees?
4.1.2008 6:07pm
Sean M:
1L Torts hypo:

Bob, who has a gun at his hip, says to Alice, "I would shoot you if it were not 40 hour moratorium on homicide time." Does Alice have a claim for assault?

Discuss.
4.1.2008 6:09pm
ejo:
it's as symbolic as Chicago public school students marching against guns, already illegal in Chicago, yet not saying a word about gang violence ie. the ones who pick up the guns and shoot people. for some reasons, none of the reverends do either.
4.1.2008 6:12pm
CDU (mail) (www):
Does anyone know if Jack Bauer will be abiding by the resolution or is there an exception for CTU employees?


Jack only kills people one day a year. The odds that the moratorium will happen on that day are pretty low.
4.1.2008 6:16pm
Sub Specie AEternitatis (mail):
You mean all the hundreds and thousands of murders in LA over recent years could have been prevented if the city council just had gotten their act together and declared a moratorium on homicide earlier?!?

Those BASTARDS!
4.1.2008 7:01pm
KeithK (mail):

You mean all the hundreds and thousands of murders in LA over recent years could have been prevented if the city council just had gotten their act together and declared a moratorium on homicide earlier?!?

Those BASTARDS!


And why stop at 40 hours? Why make it a non-binding resolution? If they were actually serious about this issue maybe they could go all the way and make homicide illegal.

Oh wait...
4.1.2008 7:04pm
ras (mail):
And why stop at 40 hours?

After 40 hours, time and a half kicks in.
4.1.2008 7:33pm
theobromophile (www):
Los Angeles City Council members ... plan to vote today on a 40-hour moratorium on homicide, a symbolic gesture that comes as the city has seen an uptick in killings in recent months.

I would vote for an April Fool's Day joke, but for the fact that:
1. The 40 hours is longer than one day, and, therefore, the moratorium outlasts April Fool's; and
2. It's L.A. Do we really expect anything different?
4.1.2008 7:38pm
SMatthewStolte (mail):
Couldn’t we all just wear rubber bands around our wrists and promote awareness? Or if they're really serious about it, why don’t they start a mandatory two-week education program for Los Angeles residents, so that they can learn about the destructive social effects of large homicide rates? That’s the trouble with legislatures: too narrow minded.

Incidentally, I’m voting for an April Fools joke. Ha ha ha. Those crazy guys at the LA Times. Ha ha ha.

… Heh …

right?
4.1.2008 7:38pm
Sean M:
I think ras wins the thread.
4.1.2008 7:46pm
Joshua:
Does this moratorium cover (otherwise) justifiable homicides, such as self-defense?
4.1.2008 7:50pm
Richard Aubrey (mail):
They should make it binding. Have they no compassion?
4.1.2008 8:24pm
Clayton E. Cramer (mail) (www):
And to think that Los Angeles used to be a place run by adults.
4.1.2008 8:24pm
Ex-Fed (mail) (www):
I like to calm myself by remembering this: if these people were not spending their time on this issue, they might be trying to do something substantive.

It also works for Congress.
4.1.2008 8:33pm
PersonFromPorlock:
I'd go for April Fools' myself except I'd have to assume that someone at the LA Times or City Council has a sense of humor. Since it's wall-to-wall Liberals....

And ras definitely wins the thread.
4.1.2008 8:35pm
one of many:
I'm just glad it's a non-binding resolution, can you imagine what the would be like if killing people were illegal? Oh wait a minute... .
4.1.2008 11:13pm
Tony Tutins (mail):
The LA City Council specializes in futility. They recently passed a mandatory spay-neuter ordinance for all puppies and kittens in the city. My dog show friends are up in arms, as no altered animals can be shown (duh, the purpose of dog shows is to identify the best breeding stock.)
4.2.2008 1:32am
galeH (mail):
Were all actions of all legislative bodies Non-Binding we could rest knowing our persons and wallets are secure awhile from legislative thuggery.

My untrained legal mind is aware of no pressing societal problems which could not be solved by absence of legislative corrective action and reform.

If legislators must meet to justify their salary and perks, then I propose they receive a ten-fold increase in their current pay contingent on salary deductions of 30% net for authoring any new law, 20% net for co-sponsoring any new law, and 10% net on voting Yea each new law. Voting No or Present on any new law would result in no deduction.

Speaking outside the legislative assembly on public policy matters would result in automatic forfeiture of all salaries and benefits for a time equal to the term of office, and require involuntary continuation of their office if it be their first offense. Recommended punishments for additional offenses are under study by a select committee and will be published when determined by the committee.

Legislators gone fishing, golfing, visiting mistresses, and similar harmless activities for an entire legislative session are granted an exemption equal to the length of the session from paying income taxes. Those doing so for their entire term of office are granted income tax exemption for double the number of years the legislator is elected to serve.

My proposal may have minor flaws VC readers will be able to identify and correct.

Regards to all.
4.2.2008 1:50am
Milhouse (www):
Sean M: Assault means that the victim is put in reasonable fear of immediate violence. In this case, Bob has just told Alice that he will not shoot her, because he's obeying the voluntary moratorium; thus she can rest assured that she's safe, at least from him, until the moratorium is over. Thus, no assault.

PS: I have seen an actual appeals court decision that a known hit-man who told someone "I will cut your f---ing head off and bury it in the basement" was not guilty of assault, because the threat was conditioned on the person not paying his debt by a certain time, and thus could not have reasonably put him in fear of violence before that time.
4.2.2008 9:48am
Turk Turon (mail):
How does the moratorium work, exactly?

Do I have to SKIP killing the people I WAS going to kill during that 40 hour period?

Because if I have to catch up, it WILL require overtime!
4.2.2008 10:32am
Javert:
Can you say "Cargo Cult Science"?
4.2.2008 11:58am
Mark Robinson (mail):
I am so glad that my circus umm I mean city counsel has been so entertaining. This is supposedly the entertainment capital of the world. Nice to see that the city counsel has lived up to that reputation.
4.3.2008 12:25am