Friday, November 14, 2008

What happens when you make a mistake with your law drafting

I have no idea whether we have the equivalent of "safe haven" laws in the UK but they have them in the US. essentially most states have these and what it means is that a parent can legally abandon their child at a hospital to be taken into care if they want to.

Usually they are written to cover just new-born children, but Nebraska it appears made a bit of boob in July when they drafted their law. This resulted in them suddenly seeing parents dropping off their teenagers at hospitals to be taken into care.

In typical Government style the state reacted by announcing in October that the law would be fixed to only cover new-borns in November. The result? A tripling of teengaers being dropped off.

Unintended consequences huh?
Hat Tip: Crossed Pond

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