Seems to me that it should have been disclosed, period. If they choose to make it a crime, it makes no sense to have no punishment for it, right? But if they don't have it there, it would suck to punish someone with a punishment they made up on the spot. Think of going to a different state, speeding, and then finding out the punishment was $200,000. That needs to be disclosed when it is made illegal, not when they finally catch someone for that crime. Also, if I understand it correctly, the US Constitution prohibits the passing of ex post facto laws.

I disagree with the concept that someone should be made aware of what they could be penalized for commission of a crime, simply because knowledge makes it no less of a crime.

I'm not saying we should have a law on the books and, once someone breaks that law, determine what the maximum punishment is for that crime. In fact, I believe that maximum penalties for various crimes are already determined. All someone has to do is a little digging to determine what those penalties are.

If someone is ignorant of those penalties when he commits a crime, that's just too fuckin' bad for him...

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For those who have fought to defend it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know...



If it wasn't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all...

I voted yes! The teacher would be considered as an accessory after the fact which is also against the law! I'm a "by the numbers" kind of guy with exception to any laws deemed unconstitutional or excessive so in this case, I'm obliged to vote yes!

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I have the body of a god! To bad its Buddha!

There is a difference between not knowing what a disclosed penalty is because of ignorance and not knowing what a penalty is because they didn't disclose it. When you said "disclosed," I thought you were talking about a law that didn't have an entry for "maximum penalty" or any penalty at all.