Most Popular
1500 questions
75
votes
7 answers
At what point can you walk out of a restaurant if they make you wait to pay the bill?
The other day, I ate at a restaurant; the food was fine, and I got to paying the bill. Their payment system went down. They couldn't accept cards; only cash, and I didn't have the cash on me for the bill. In the end, their payments system was…
Jez
- 1,157
- 2
- 9
- 11
74
votes
7 answers
Is it illegal to ride a drunk horse?
Tedd owns a riding horse. One day, Tedd notices that his horse has somehow gotten itself drunk. Tedd has someplace where he needs to be, so he saddles up his drunken horse and rides to his destination.
Has a crime been committed?
Answers are…
Vikki
- 965
- 4
- 10
- 25
73
votes
4 answers
What happens if I negatively answer the court oath regarding the truth?
Bailiff: (to the witness) Please raise your right hand. Do you swear
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Witness: No.
What would happen? Unfortunately, in the limited research I did, I could not find a definitive…
Aloha
- 741
- 1
- 5
- 6
72
votes
9 answers
Why is murder considered a more serious crime than attempted murder?
By its sentencing guidelines (the world over?), murder is considered a more serious crime than attempted murder.
If intent to kill has indeed been proven, does the latter crime reward incompetence with leniency? Shouldn’t the incarceration of such a…
Tom Bowers
- 742
- 1
- 5
- 11
72
votes
2 answers
Why are lawyers typically excluded from juries?
At least in the United States practicing lawyers are called to serve on juries. But my understanding is at least one side will always remove them before trial. Why would it always be the case that at least one side would not want someone with…
feetwet
- 22,409
- 13
- 92
- 189
69
votes
14 answers
Can a law protect itself?
Can a law protect itself? For example, could it be written in to a law that, under no circumstances, it should be amended or abolished (a) for a fixed duration or (b) indefinitely?
I am most interested in the United Kingdom but would also be…
danger mouse
- 745
- 1
- 6
- 8
68
votes
2 answers
Is it legal for a company to claim 'our phones lines are unusually busy' all day every day?
In the UK it's become usual when attempting to contact any public facing organisation by phone to hear the phrase
"our phones lines are unusually busy right now, please be patient your
call is important to us"
Or some similar platitudes.
This has…
ConanTheGerbil
- 3,701
- 1
- 21
- 39
68
votes
2 answers
Is it legal for a company to offer free coding courses to women only?
A company is offering free coding courses to women and non-binary individuals only.
Is this kind of sex-based discrimination legal?
Lucien
- 739
- 1
- 5
- 6
67
votes
10 answers
Can I legally include a line break in my child's name?
Ethics aside, is it legal (or even possible) to include a line break (newline) in my child's name? Preferably at the end of the child's first name, directly after the last letter. So instead of (for example) the name "John Doe", the name would…
Paul Omans
- 740
- 1
- 4
- 8
66
votes
2 answers
Can you refuse to swear on the Bible?
Everyone has heard the procedure to get sworn in in an American court:
Put your hand on a Holy Bible and answer yes to "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
However swearing on a Holy Bible to…
ratchet freak
- 1,020
- 1
- 8
- 12
66
votes
3 answers
Is it truly illegal for the US Armed Forces to hire someone whose IQ is less than 83?
In this video, Jordan Peterson says that
[...] anybody into the Armed Forces if they have an IQ of less than 83
Is this true? What law is this supposed restriction based on?
user4234
- 1,089
- 1
- 9
- 17
63
votes
1 answer
Why can't advertisers say 'Super Bowl'?
Around this time every year there are lots of ads talking about 'The Big Game' or the 'Suberb'-something. Essentially whatever it takes to say their thing is for the Super Bowl, without actually using the word.
I've heard that this is because the…
Pyrotechnical
- 2,728
- 1
- 16
- 39
63
votes
2 answers
Is it legal for private citizens to "impound" e-scooters?
This recent article from The Verge claims that two men in San Diego have create a repo company that impounds e-scooters from companies like Lime, Bird, Lyft, Uber and Razor.
However as far as I can tell these guys are doing this entirely on their…
David says Reinstate Monica
- 838
- 2
- 8
- 17
63
votes
2 answers
How does SE's arbitration clause hold up under the GDPR?
Today the new Terms of Service of Stack Exchange have been released, sparking a lot of unrest about its arbitration clause; see the comments and answers on the linked meta above, and also this question.
Does the GDPR prevent Stack Exchange from…
Adriaan
- 715
- 5
- 10
63
votes
7 answers
What power do I have as a driver if my interstate route is blocked by a protest?
I recently read about protests blocking an interstate. I feel like ethically no one no (non-police) citizen has the right to obstruct my travel (on a public interstate for the sake of protest), therefore I'm interested to know if I personally have…
J.Todd
- 1,486
- 2
- 13
- 23