On Sun, 19 Jan 2014, Jim Bell wrote:
It is also very difficult to get a court to rule that something is legal before you get prosecuted or sued for doing it, which, given the complexity of our legal systems, seems like a fairly significant flaw. Test cases provide some protection in civil matters, but there isnÿÿt really a practical analogue in criminal matters.
Sorry to contradict you, but I recall cases (up to the level of the US Supreme Court) allowing this. How 'difficult' it is, I don't recall. Problem is, I don't have access to the Lexis system that I used while stuck in the Fed's "gated communities". But at least at the Federal level, such a mechanism exists. I wish I could be more specific. I'll check www.law.cornell.edu. Jim Bell You are looking for "Declaratory Judgments". //Alif -- Those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent revolution inevitable. An American Spring is coming: one way or another.