Its probably due to just how complex and increasing complex a society it is, but very year in the United States, thousands of new laws are added to the statute books. There are so many of then no one could really know them all. Actually it would require such an exotically savant- like level of  understanding of the law that either one becomes a kind of barrack room lawyer or remain forever at the mercy of an un navigable matrix of rulings and amendments that goes into the hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of pages, a kind of unknown the likes of Google might be able to consume.  Speaking of Google and many Google like search engines consider, if you like, the legal implications of the fact that the entire digital world is currently being rebuilt simulacra like inside computing systems, which help run search engines. Every person, place, and thing—and all the relationships in between—are being catalogued. According to Stefan Weitz (the director of Bing – Microsoft’s  search engine) in his very badly titled book Search: How the Data Explosion Makes Us Smarter (Green House Collection) Hardcover – November 4, 2014. It’s nearly 4 Zetabytes this year alone. That’s enough to fill 130 billion 32GB iPads. So if everything is being catalogued, virtually and reliably, then it is a matter of time before everything pertaining to you becomes potential evidence.

Thus the experience of being stopped or questioned by a policeman (who can now legally search your ‘smart’ phone) puts any average or indeed not so average person in a vulnerable position. (Its a staple of so many cop shows that the panic stricken citizen is stopped by the hardass cop and intimidated into some kind of admission of guilt.) Legally speaking, it seems that the citizen is always at a disadvantage saying anything to a police officer. For example: given that though anything you say may be taken down in evidence against you, equally anything you say may not be taken down to exonerate you, a very strange and seemingly unjust thing. Furthermore if you do say something and it is misrecorded, the fact that you may later deny what you said has no validity – it apparently is what is referred to as hearsay. That is but one example. There are so many others.

Despite its endless complexities, the USA is a country whose laws and justice system fascinate us. Millions of books are written about it and every night hundreds of cop shows demonstrate the dynamics of American law. Its also equally true that whatever one might think of the justice system in the United States, no one on the planet remains unaffected by it. I came across this interesting video which talks about the dangers of overcriminalization of American society how, when too many laws begin to detract from justice (where one can, for another example, be arrested for importing a lobster that is too small or to eating a French fry in a subway), the best course of action is to never ever speak to a police officer. For myself I have had lengthy conversations with police. I talk endlessly and ask too many questions. Also I have on many occasions naively  answered all questions that were put to me and never for a moment felt I was in any way shape or form incriminating myself. But I live in Ireland and have a rather unadventurous lifestyle.

Anyway, this is a highly entertaining, well presented, funny, informative, and thought provoking video. It also paints a foreboding picture of the relationship that possibly exists between regular citizens and the police. I regret to say I have not been able to find out the name of the law Professor who gave it. But still, a great lecture.