Why do we have laws? Lots of reasons, but when you think about it, every law has a common denominator: Every law comes about, at least in part, because individuals don’t exercise self-restraint and consideration.
Speed laws wouldn't be necessary if individuals wouldn't drive so fast that they endanger others. Securities laws wouldn't be necessary if individuals wouldn't try to bilk investors out of money. Environmental laws wouldn't be necessary if businesses wouldn't dump toxins in an effort to increase net profits.
That common denominator was the driving force behind a bill passed by the Michigan Senate earlier this month: a prohibition on “drive-by porn.”
What's drive-by porn? It's when a person watches pornography in his car in a manner that allows other people to see it.
I read about the problem a year ago. It seems men have started to play pornography on their car video systems. The result? You pull up to a traffic light with your kids, and the SUV next to you has Debbie Does Dallas on the video screen. The kids look up and see the screen and ask, “Hey, what's that?” By the time you have pulled your assault rifle from the gun rack, the SUV is gone.
That's drive-by porn.
Drive-by porn has also taken place in neighborhood parks and baseball diamonds. A guy shows up for his son's little league game and, being unable to go three hours without video or pornography, puts a raunchy DVD in his car's video player. As people walk by, they get a glimpse of it.
Michigan has a disorderly person statute that would seem to prohibit such conduct. I'd prefer to see such things prosecuted under such a general statute, rather than passing yet another law. But the thing is, some prosecutors don't think such conduct is prohibited by the statute. As a result, the Senate passed a law that specifically prohibits it.
Bloggers and other Internet commentators are having a great time disparaging the law. Some think it's a denial of fundamental freedom (“Hey dude, my car, my porn, my property; step off”). Some think it's a sign that the Michigan legislature has too much time on its hands. Some think it's just another little law that, combined with hundreds of others, creates a maze that brings the state into every aspect of our lives.
The law might be a little bit of all those things.
But mostly, it's a law that shouldn't be necessary in the first place. Unfortunately, a handful of individuals can't muster the most basic levels of self-restraint and courtesy, thus requiring the legislature to act.
I agree with the commentators who dislike all these little laws. I agree that this maze of laws has created a police state of sorts where the cops must vigilantly keep guard against all sorts of violations, from drive-by porn to public intoxication.
I don't like the laws, either. But the solution isn't to eliminate the laws.
The solution is to eliminate our disordered desires and passions that make the laws necessary in the first place.
It's a fundamental rule of life: A thing rules itself or it will be ruled from the outside.
I don't care what “the thing” is. If a dog can't control his aggression, its owner needs to put him on a leash. If a child that can't control his video game compulsion, the parent needs to take away the game. If an adult can't control his drug addiction, the state needs to jail him.
Because here's the problem: If those things aren't controlled, they hurt others: The dog bites, the child becomes emotionally disturbed, the adult steals to get his fix.
“Why then the law?” St. Paul rhetorically asked in his letter to the Galatians (3:19). “It was added because of transgressions.”
We don't have laws because of decent behavior. We have laws because of transgressions. It's quite simple.
Drive-by porn legislation. I agree with the critics: It is ridiculous.
Ridiculous that we need such a law.
© Copyright 2005 Catholic Exchange
Eric Scheske is an attorney, the Editor of The Wednesday Eudemon, a Contributing Editor of Godspy, and the former editor of Gilbert Magazine.
