GOVERNMENT THAT WORKS
and
CITIES THAT WORK
Purpose, Performance, and Prosperity
An Initiative of
Power Serving Purpose
A Future 500 Project
Laws for Purpose
Governance for Cost-Effective Performance
Entrepreneurism, Microenterprise, and Sharing for Prosperity
LAWS FOR PURPOSE
Laws are intended to serve public purposes. They should be enforced to advance those purposes – not simply to benefit the enforcement agency or a private interest group.
But often, the purpose of a law slowly becomes less clear; instead, its enforcement becomes automatic.. It comes to be administered “because it is there,” or to serve a number of interests only marginally related to its purpose:
- To provide evidence that an agency is carrying out its mandate “according to the letter of the law” – on the assumption the letter still accurately reflects the purpose
- To serve the interests of loud or powerful stakeholders and vested interests
- To serve the convenience of the administering agency or influential constituents
- To raise money through fines and fees that are set at levels not clearly related to advancing the purpose of the law – for example, parking fines that are abusive to the poor and ineffective for the wealthy, whether or not they actually result in rational and fair use of parking facilities
- “Because we have always done it this way”
We believe that laws should advance their public purposes – not serve private interests, convenience, or momentum. The PURPOSE of law should guide the POWER of law.
Q&A
Q: What is legal abuse?
A: Legal abuse happens when laws are enforced in ways that comply with their letter, but undermine their purpose.
It happens when a corporation or government agency enforces a legal requirement not to advance the purpose of the law, but to maximize revenue generation, placate a loud or powerful constituent at unfair expense to others, serve administrative convenience, or because it is an unquestioned practice.
Legal abuse typically exploits individual citizens – especially the poor and middle classes. It takes the form of fines, penalties, and mandates on individuals that do not clearly advance the purpose of the enabling statutes, and for which alternatives less costly to citizens cannot readily be identified.
Q: Is legal abuse against the law?
No – not usually. The enforcement of the law is often legal – but carried out to advance institutional self-interest, not the public’s interest.
Legal abuse undermines the legitimacy of government. It fosters cynicism and distrust of institutions. It encourages corruption at large scale and small.
Q: Are lazy bureaucrats to blame for legal abuse?
No – rarely. Legal abuse is a systemic problem. It has many causes. Monopolies – whether public or private – often fall into the trap of abusing their legal authority. Vested interest groups often coerce agencies to serve their private interests, by enforcing certain statutes more aggressively or precisely than others. The constant “need” for money often motivates agencies to maximize revenue from places that put up the least fight – which often means poor or middle class citizens without the time or knowledge to fight back. Blaming lazy bureaucrats, corrupt politicians, evil vested interests, or inept citizens is popular – depending on one’s political biases. But in reality, this is a problem that we face as a community. The only way to deal with it is as a community.
Q: What are common examples of legal abuse?
- “Gotcha” parking tickets. When parking tickets are issued not to regulate parking, but to raise money for cash-hungry government or business entities – like towing companies, auto impound centers, or parking bureaus.
- Too-rigid building codes. When building codes are enforced not to protect public safety, but to placate unreasonable demands by individual stakeholders, achieve administrative efficiency for an agency, protect vested business or political interests, or raise money for business or government.
- Monopoly protection. When licenses and permits are issued to protect monopoly interests, rather than insure safe, convenient, and affordable services to residents.
It is appropriate for public and private entities to raise money legitimately, by providing needed services. But it is abusive when they take advantage of the relative misfortune or powerlessness of average citizens.
Q: How does legal abuse happen?
A: Laws, codes, and regulations are usually adopted to serve legitimate purposes. Agencies and companies are assigned to enforce the rules in order to advance those purposes.
But sometimes, the tables turn. Instead of enforcing a law to serve a purpose, institutions tend to use the purpose as an excuse to enforce the law. For example:
TICKET-BLASTING. Instead of enforcing parking laws to assure that people can find a place to park, agencies issue tickets at every opportunity, exploiting technical violations and public confusion to issue many tickets at little or no public benefit.
FINE-MINING. Instead of using building codes to promote safety, agencies impose them rigidly in order to achieve administrative efficiency, shift costs to the public, raise revenues for the agency, or serve their own convenience.
QUIETING THE LOUDEST. Instead of working with citizens to meet everyone’s needs, agencies are often pressured to respond to the loudest, most powerful, and most unreasonable interest groups, taking sides in disputes that could be better worked out neighbor-to-neighbor.
POWER-PROTECTION. Instead of issuing permits and licenses in ways that maximize benefits to the public, agencies may shape the rules to provide gains to vested interest groups and local monopolies.
Q: What are my rights? What three key questions does government need to answer?
Government agencies, and the businesses they authorize to enforce laws, have a responsibility to answer and support three questions whenever a citizen challenges a ticket, fee, or fine:
1. What is the purpose of the rule?
2. Is that purpose significantly advanced in this specific case?
3. Is there any better cheaper way to advance the purpose in this case?
If the answer to #2 is No, then the agency has a responsibility to drop the penalty.
If the answer to #2 is Yes, but the answer to #3 may also be Yes, then the citizen has a right to contest the penalty, and the agency has a responsibility to accept the better cheaper alternative.
If the agency refuses, the citizen may need to resort to political penalties. While legal challenges may also be justified, CALA does not believe it is useful to seek legal remedies that further increase costs to innocent citizens, unless necessary to drive systemic reform.
Ever been the victim of an EXORBITRANT FINE by a utility, a building department, or a corporate or government bureaucracy - but lacked the ability to fight it?
and
CITIES THAT WORK
Purpose, Performance, and Prosperity
An Initiative of
Power Serving Purpose
A Future 500 Project
Laws for Purpose
Governance for Cost-Effective Performance
Entrepreneurism, Microenterprise, and Sharing for Prosperity
LAWS FOR PURPOSE
Laws are intended to serve public purposes. They should be enforced to advance those purposes – not simply to benefit the enforcement agency or a private interest group.
But often, the purpose of a law slowly becomes less clear; instead, its enforcement becomes automatic.. It comes to be administered “because it is there,” or to serve a number of interests only marginally related to its purpose:
- To provide evidence that an agency is carrying out its mandate “according to the letter of the law” – on the assumption the letter still accurately reflects the purpose
- To serve the interests of loud or powerful stakeholders and vested interests
- To serve the convenience of the administering agency or influential constituents
- To raise money through fines and fees that are set at levels not clearly related to advancing the purpose of the law – for example, parking fines that are abusive to the poor and ineffective for the wealthy, whether or not they actually result in rational and fair use of parking facilities
- “Because we have always done it this way”
We believe that laws should advance their public purposes – not serve private interests, convenience, or momentum. The PURPOSE of law should guide the POWER of law.
Q&A
Q: What is legal abuse?
A: Legal abuse happens when laws are enforced in ways that comply with their letter, but undermine their purpose.
It happens when a corporation or government agency enforces a legal requirement not to advance the purpose of the law, but to maximize revenue generation, placate a loud or powerful constituent at unfair expense to others, serve administrative convenience, or because it is an unquestioned practice.
Legal abuse typically exploits individual citizens – especially the poor and middle classes. It takes the form of fines, penalties, and mandates on individuals that do not clearly advance the purpose of the enabling statutes, and for which alternatives less costly to citizens cannot readily be identified.
Q: Is legal abuse against the law?
No – not usually. The enforcement of the law is often legal – but carried out to advance institutional self-interest, not the public’s interest.
Legal abuse undermines the legitimacy of government. It fosters cynicism and distrust of institutions. It encourages corruption at large scale and small.
Q: Are lazy bureaucrats to blame for legal abuse?
No – rarely. Legal abuse is a systemic problem. It has many causes. Monopolies – whether public or private – often fall into the trap of abusing their legal authority. Vested interest groups often coerce agencies to serve their private interests, by enforcing certain statutes more aggressively or precisely than others. The constant “need” for money often motivates agencies to maximize revenue from places that put up the least fight – which often means poor or middle class citizens without the time or knowledge to fight back. Blaming lazy bureaucrats, corrupt politicians, evil vested interests, or inept citizens is popular – depending on one’s political biases. But in reality, this is a problem that we face as a community. The only way to deal with it is as a community.
Q: What are common examples of legal abuse?
- “Gotcha” parking tickets. When parking tickets are issued not to regulate parking, but to raise money for cash-hungry government or business entities – like towing companies, auto impound centers, or parking bureaus.
- Too-rigid building codes. When building codes are enforced not to protect public safety, but to placate unreasonable demands by individual stakeholders, achieve administrative efficiency for an agency, protect vested business or political interests, or raise money for business or government.
- Monopoly protection. When licenses and permits are issued to protect monopoly interests, rather than insure safe, convenient, and affordable services to residents.
It is appropriate for public and private entities to raise money legitimately, by providing needed services. But it is abusive when they take advantage of the relative misfortune or powerlessness of average citizens.
Q: How does legal abuse happen?
A: Laws, codes, and regulations are usually adopted to serve legitimate purposes. Agencies and companies are assigned to enforce the rules in order to advance those purposes.
But sometimes, the tables turn. Instead of enforcing a law to serve a purpose, institutions tend to use the purpose as an excuse to enforce the law. For example:
TICKET-BLASTING. Instead of enforcing parking laws to assure that people can find a place to park, agencies issue tickets at every opportunity, exploiting technical violations and public confusion to issue many tickets at little or no public benefit.
FINE-MINING. Instead of using building codes to promote safety, agencies impose them rigidly in order to achieve administrative efficiency, shift costs to the public, raise revenues for the agency, or serve their own convenience.
QUIETING THE LOUDEST. Instead of working with citizens to meet everyone’s needs, agencies are often pressured to respond to the loudest, most powerful, and most unreasonable interest groups, taking sides in disputes that could be better worked out neighbor-to-neighbor.
POWER-PROTECTION. Instead of issuing permits and licenses in ways that maximize benefits to the public, agencies may shape the rules to provide gains to vested interest groups and local monopolies.
Q: What are my rights? What three key questions does government need to answer?
Government agencies, and the businesses they authorize to enforce laws, have a responsibility to answer and support three questions whenever a citizen challenges a ticket, fee, or fine:
1. What is the purpose of the rule?
2. Is that purpose significantly advanced in this specific case?
3. Is there any better cheaper way to advance the purpose in this case?
If the answer to #2 is No, then the agency has a responsibility to drop the penalty.
If the answer to #2 is Yes, but the answer to #3 may also be Yes, then the citizen has a right to contest the penalty, and the agency has a responsibility to accept the better cheaper alternative.
If the agency refuses, the citizen may need to resort to political penalties. While legal challenges may also be justified, CALA does not believe it is useful to seek legal remedies that further increase costs to innocent citizens, unless necessary to drive systemic reform.
Ever been the victim of an EXORBITRANT FINE by a utility, a building department, or a corporate or government bureaucracy - but lacked the ability to fight it?