Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Old laws

[Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

> > Just because a law wasn't brought up for a 100 years should not make it
> > any less valid. That's what the lawyers get paid the big bucks for,
> > right -- remembering all the laws applicable to any particular case?
> > Those laws can serve as pretty good sanity checks, reflecting how the
> > society has changed over the years. If a law doesn't make sense anymore,
> > who has the power to repeal it - the legislators or the judiciary?
>
> The problem I have with the current situation in Missouri is that the law
> existed for 130 years, say, and tuition has been charged at MU for, what,
> 100 of those years?  More?  Fewer?  Anyway, the point is, the law was
> being violated continually for many decades.  Obviously, no one knew.
> Now, suddenly, the law matters again and the state must make ammends for
> "illegally" (under its own absurd, forgotten laws) charging tuition.
> *Every* other state in the country charges tuition at their universities.
>
> I would have been fine with it if the law was evoked within the first year
> or two after they started to charge tuition.  Then I wouldn't care how old
> the law was.  The thing that strikes me as preposterous is that the law
> was ignored for *many* decades.  There ought to be some way for states to
> protect themselves against this kind of mistake!
>
> This is so crazy that I'm really surprised I haven't seen it in the
> national news.

If the situation were reversed and it was individuals that'd violated a
130 year old law the state would still fill free to use that law to get
what they wanted. I don't want to see the state wiggle out of this. It
serves them right. It'd only be better if it could pull the funds directly
from the legislators own pockets.
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