Barbed or barbless, not that big a deal in my book.
But it is symbolic of some of the nonsense the government inflicts on people.
There should be accountability for when government makes mistakes, or simply goes off half cocked as is the case here.
Problem is, there is no such thing as accountability in government or in the court system. A conviction based on a misguided law or worse, an illogical or unnecessary law, is still a conviction even when that law is subsequently thrown out.
At least for the average person that's the way it works. I suppose if you have deep enough pockets you might get some justice. But a court appointed lawyer is about as helpful as no lawyer at all.
I was lucky, I was never checked for barbed hooks. That's a good thing because I didn't realize one could be convicted of violating that law by simply having a new hook still in the package, in their possession.
My friend found that out the hard way.
I'm sure some rocket scientist or is that rock scientist, will claim that such a charge would never hold up in court. Well maybe if you can afford to take it to court that would be true. If you can't, maybe because you'd have to miss too much time from work and would therefore loose your job, then it doesn't matter what the courts may say. You are deemed guilty by virtue of the fact you paid the fine.
So what happens to my friend when it turns out that this law was never legally enforceable? Nothing, that's what. He will receive no refund, no apology, his record will not be cleared. At the very most he'll be told, "to bad so sad."
But for him it was a small fine and an entry in the records that no one will ever look at.
For me, this same sort of thing has cost me thousands of dollars and years of pain and frustration and all I have to show for it is an injured back and an empty bank account. And I'm lucky compared to some.
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