Some commonality between France and California in that both now have this constitutional enshrinement, and both purport that it will not affect laws on later-term abortions which are not at all optimal.
(Not sure if France's laws make them difficult in practice when they are for medical reasons, as is the case 99.9% of the time, or just on paper. As we know from blog experience, California's chilling legal effect is not just on paper.)
California's chilling effect is boundless.
Marginally on topic, I was intrigued by the depiction of the French legal system in Anatomy of a Fall and would appreciate anyone who kows how accurate it is.
Is that the one where the murder happens on a fancy yacht in French waters and gets pinned on a goofy American couple, played by Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, who solve the mystery through their understanding of French inheritance law?
Second 4, I was very confused about whether the French legal system is that insane, whether it's only that insane if you're in a small town, or whether it's intentionally unrealistic.
What is odd about it in that depiction? I just read the Wikipedia plot summary, but it focuses on the underlying family drama as opposed to the legal track.
The lawyers just say whatever the fuck they want, there seems to be no rules and no order. The kid just decides he wants to testify again even though he'd already testified and everyone is all "sure, why not?"
Like one of the lawyers is just like "ah, let me read an excerpt about a minor character in one of your novels whose thought process proves that you want to kill your husband." What??? Are there no rules of evidence?
A little googling (of reddit questions like "if you've seen anatomy of a fall...is the french justice system literally batshit insane??!") suggests that:
1) It's not super realistic as a depiction.
2) They don't really have rules of evidence in the same way that common law jurisdictions do. For example, hearsay is totally fine.
3) There's no right to silence, which also makes it feel very different from an American trial.
Without rules, how can the screenwriters find a way to have a character say the phrase "highly irregular"?
Would you choose irregularized rules of evidence in exchange for enshrined abortion rights?
British cop dramas put some emphasis on the lack of a right to silence, via their Miranda equivalent.
Speaking of countries and their legal system, Ajay was insisting here that the UK had speedy trials that let them enforce minor laws quickly and easily. But now I see Sam Kerr is charged with calling a cop a "stupid white bastard" a year ago and the trial isn't happening for a whole nother year and will take 4 days?!?
The British version of Miranda rights are so complicated, I always forget the beginning of the sentence by the time they get to the end of it. Seems like you need a college education at least just to understand it.
I still don't understand the "you are under caution" bit. It seems to be a very vague warning with no particular consequences instructed or action recommended. My best guess is that it's a formalized implementation of wanting to be able to say "Now don't say you weren't warned to be careful" later on in court? And somehow separate from the more detailed warning supposedly read on arrest*?
*In the US, Miranda rights only have to be read before questioning, not upon arrest, so I suspect UK TV makes the same dramatization.
16: That's just because David Tennant is using his full accent.
British cop dramas put some emphasis on the lack of a right to silence, via their Miranda equivalent.
This made me think of something I read a while ago about the weirdness of people outside the US, but influenced by US politics, talking about "free speech" rights in a very 1st Amendment-y sense. All I remember is that it* was something about the export of right-wing culture war vocabulary.
*I'd like to say it was an actual article or blog post, but who am I kidding? It was probably a quote tweet of a screenshot of text with an added comment like "dude thinks there's a 1st amendment in Moldova, lol".
It's weird to see my Canadian in-laws post pro-2nd amendment type memes.
I went to summer camp in Canada and we took a field trip to Ottawa and got a tour of some courthouse and the guide asked, "Now who knows what the prosecutor is called?" and I said, "The district attorney" and they laughed and said "Oh you watch too much TV, it's the Crown Counsel" and I was thinking Fuck you I'm an American.
17: it's confusing because "caution" means three different things. It's the right to silence thing that's read out on arrest, or at the start of an interview of someone who's not under arrest.
And it is also something completely different which happens in court after you've admitted guilt to a very minor offence - you get let off with a caution. Basically it goes on your record and you get told not to do it again. It isn't technically a conviction.
In Scotland its called an admonition and you don't need to plead guilty, but it does count as a conviction. A caution in Scots law is pronounced to rhyme with nation. If you're convicted you may get released under caution which means you leave a few grand with the court and if you do anything bad over the next few months you don't get it back.
and I was thinking Fuck you I'm an American.
You do understand that at that point you were actually in Canada, which is a different country with different names for things, right? You don't carry a little bubble of America around with you like a personal travelling miasma.
But now I see Sam Kerr is charged with calling a cop a "stupid white bastard" a year ago and the trial isn't happening for a whole nother year and will take 4 days?!?
Who is Sam Kerr?
You're right, I'll tell my self conscious 14 year old self to be more culturally aware next time
I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a 14 year old to know what country they're in at any given time.
Yes and 14 year olds shouldn't be surly when a professional laughs at them in front of their peers. I'm glad you live in such an ideal world.
I used to have a professor who's go-to rhetorical question was "Is this the best of all possible worlds?"
We must all cultivate our own rhetorical questions.