Quote Originally Posted by 120mm View Post
It is futile to argue "law" with someone who has deemed the cost of whatever activity as an acceptable cost. For someone who values honor more than anything else, a tribal code is not subordinate to law.
I'd be curious to hear some views on that specific point - particularly from the folks in law enforcement. I'm thinking about lower class, black teens who grow up in the ghetto, who seem to identify themselves as members of a class that is oppressed by the government - particularly the law enforcement personnel. Because their identity is in large part based upon opposition to law enforcement, going to jail is a badge of honor. It is respectable to earn a living in a manner that is illegal or otherwise flaunts society's norms. Any law directed at their anti-social behavior is immediately viewed as a government reprisal against their way of life (for example, laws against possession of crack were argued to be biased against blacks rather than against crack possessors). Am I way off base with this?