Dead Kids make Bad Laws
From reason.com
http://reason.com/archives/2011/05/24/dead-kids-make-bad-laws
There was pushback on NJ’s “Kyleigh’s Law”, but for the wrong reasons! Parents feared that their precious offspring would be targets of predators!
Then something unusual happened: New Jersey residents began fighting back against the underage driving sticker. Kyleigh’s Law has proven unpopular not just with young drivers but with many of their parents. But the adults’ opposition does not stem from an objection to intrusive for-the-children legislative hysteria. It reflects a semi-hysterical for-the-children fear of their own: that teen drivers, once identified as such, would become targets of predators.
An interesting parallel happened about 20 years ago, in California. Two “what about the children”-type factions were at opposing sides: California PUC was having hearings about “Caller ID” and whether to allow phone companies to have that feature. The tear-filled arguments for and against went like this:
1. Women who claimed they were harassed over the phone, and that Caller ID would help them identify their alleged-harasser
2. “Battered Woman” organizations who claimed that Caller ID would hurt the ability of women who are in battered woman’s shelters to call and get help without revealing who they are
(Google “Domestic Violence Agencies Lose Suit to Remove FCC Caller ID Protection in California” to see some of this. It was insane.)