I understand, yes, that Fischer and LaBarbera are for recriminalization; but again, there is no compelling plan for enforcement. There was a time when cohabitation and adultery were illegal; but now with so much water under the bridge, who can envision them being recriminalized?
A great example of selective enforcement via profiling and personal bias.
Even if a state were to recriminalize sodomy, the 2003 SCOTUS ruling of Lawrence v TX has protected sodomy at the federal and constitutional levels. Even though Bryan Fischer is pointing out that sodomy was always a felony in the US, he admits that from 1970 on, (post Stonewall, and with the help of the APA) the 49 states which had anti-sodomy statues began to fall like dominos.
With Lawrence v TX, this took a monumental leap forward and against States Rights.
Not sure what this means.
I have long recognized and understood LaBarbera's stance but the feasibility is the glaring problem.
The reason things have gotten to the present juncture - with more and more Republicans and so-called social conservatives and Christians embracing same sex marriage - has its roots in the Lawrence v TX ruling, and Scalia in his dissent in 2003 predicted our present social moment.
Not sure why feasability of enforcement is really an issue for law selection.
Laws are not just for controlling people directly via
crude strong-arm tactics like police brutality and incarceration.
Just as sentences have multiple purposes, i.e.,
(1) punishment
(2) restitution
(3) deterrance
(4) ideological and religious purpose
(5) order
(6) balance, fairness, justice
(7) symbology for appearance and convention for communication
So do Laws themselves have multiple purposes,
(1) Enforcement of approved behaviours
(2) prevention of injury to individuals and society
(3) scientific and medical applications for health and quality of life
(4) EDUCATION, instruction and indoctrination
(5) Influence on progress and evolution of society and community infrastructures
A great example of an 'unenforceable' law is
the illegality of suicide.
Obviously strictly speaking, the law can never punish a person
guilty of suicide, and contents itself with punishing aiders, abettors,
inciters, and accesories of suicide.
But the law against suicide, even when allowing exceptions in
special or extreme cases, (see below),
does have a very important purpose, namely
providing necessary perspective to vulnerable people
who might potentially engage in this self-destructive and
potentially dangerous practice.
Reasons why Suicide is against the Law:
(1) Its an extreme and inappropriate solution to most problems.
(2) Its wrongly used as an attention-getting behaviour, or
(3) Its wrongly used to 'punish' or injure other parties,
(4) Its failure can nonetheless lead to horrific consequences
for both the individual and other related parties, including
society as a whole.
(5) It can unnecessarily add to the cost of law enforcement, medical care,
and order.
(6) It causes grief and significant emotional, mental and philosophical difficulties for those remaining behind.
Typical Exceptions:
(1) Extreme and intolerable pain and suffering
(2) Fatal prognosis in near future (cancer, organ failure)
(3) Extensive and irrepairable brain damage or fatal conditions
(4) Indefensible lack of any quality of life now or in the future
(5) Severe and dangerous and incurable mental conditions resulting in suffering and unhappiness, with no foreseable cure.
(6) Impossible or preposterous expense for sustaining of life, in a condition lacking any reasonable quality of life.