the shirley argument

People are very fond of the Shirley argument. The Shirley argument goes like this: “Surely the people who implement this law will do common-sense things to avoid ridiculous results!” The Shirley argument is always wrong, usually because of non-systematic yet surprisingly pervasive discrimination… and sometimes because of systematic and intentional discrimination. And occasionally because people aren’t perfect. But it’s always wrong. Laws can be incredibly pedantic: if you’re not sure, go read...