First Posted: 1/1/2015
When the North Carolina General Assembly convenes later this month, a flurry of new bills will flood House and Senate committees. Some would add pages to the state’s already voluminous lawbooks, and we’re not convinced that’s a good thing.
The complete 168 chapters of the N.C. General Statutes fill 21 softbound volumes, comprising thousands of pages. One set costs $517, more than the complete 16-volume Britannica Student Encyclopedia.
Ignorance of the law, authorities are quick to point out, is no excuse for breaking it. But if someone can be arrested, convicted and imprisoned for running afoul of an obscure statute buried among our state’s 21 volumes, has justice truly been served?
Even top-flight attorneys, policy wonks and serious scholars can’t commit our bloated legal code to memory. How likely is the average North Carolinian to know with confidence and certainty that his or her conduct is always statutorily sanctioned?
Clear and reasonable laws targeting those who harm people or property are necessary. But many rules restrict personal liberty for no legitimate reason. It’s these needless laws that concern us most.
Before the General Assembly passes the first new law of 2015, we hope legislators will repeal some of the state’s many cumbersome codes.
Some of North Carolina’s worst laws are those that violate residents’ First Amendment right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution. N.C. General Statute 14-197 bans “indecent or profane language”when used “on any public road or highway and in the hearing of two or more persons.”
Orange County Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour declared the law unconstitutional in January 2011. Lawmakers have yet to strike it from the books.
There are a few narrow categories of speech the First Amendment doesn’t protect, but language that’s “indecent” or even “profane” falls well below the constitutional standard of obscenity.
A related law prohibits the use of “any words or language of a profane, vulgar, lewd, lascivious or indecent character, nature or connotation” in telephone calls. We can’t imagine this statute is enforced often, if ever, but its continued existence is nevertheless a threat to free speech.
Among the latest bad laws to take effect targets students who create websites or online profiles that mock school staffers. The School Violence Prevention Act of 2012 defines such conduct as cyberbullying a school official, a Class 2 misdemeanor carrying a punishment of up to 30 days in jail.
Federal appeals courts have ruled parody pages that poke fun at principals and teachers are protected speech under the First Amendment. North Carolina is bucking the Bill of Rights because lawmakers would rather protect school officials from hurt feelings than shield young citizens from censorship. We believe they have their priorities backward.
This year and in the future, there will be cases where new laws are justified. But we hope lawmakers focus their efforts on repeal and reform instead of contributing to the exponential growth of our statute books.
There’s still plenty for legislators to do, starting with stripping away the bad laws that suppress speech and limit personal freedom. Existing laws can be made clearer; loose language can be tightened.
We challenge the 2015 General Assembly to strive for no net gain in the total number of laws. For every rule our representatives see fit to add, there’s at least one they ought to subtract.
Portions of this editorial have previously appeared in The Wilson Times.