I am officially stealing that quote, starting with “All part of”. That’s the problem in a nutshell, and so accurate that you may soon be receiving legal threats from lawyers.

The same could be said of too many other areas. New York City might find itself legally liable when police assert themselves at the Puerto Rican Day parade, or, if they don’t. All part of the legal culture’s refusal to recognize that things can happen without being a deep pocket’s fault. Besides putting a drag on the economy, the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t approach to law deepens public cynicism and undermines the rule of law itself. A law-abiding person faced with the prospect of sanction for every available action – including inaction – throws up his hands in exasperation. Why bother? A virtuous legal system ought to have some general coherence and even (gasp) general principles within the understanding of non-lawyers. But most perceive the legal system for what it has become: formalized opportunism for the shameless.