Nor, except in the most extreme cases, will judges be impressed by the "my brain made me do it" defence.
Is the assumption that any woman wearing something light obviously wants to be ogled not a distant cousin of the "she asked for it" defence?
Hardman was promptly asked on Twitter if she flirts for stories – the old "ah, but you were asking for it?" defence – or accused of fussing about nothing much.
In their stead are appeals to bipartisanship, sombre discussions about economic uncertainty and law and order, and, of course, the flag.On the face of it, defence and crime are Republican themes.
In other words, the "I knew nothing about it" defence might just work - even for the man in the corner office during the most notorious Wall Street banking collapse since the Great Depression.
Often delving into the technical details of internet security, calling it "defence against the dark arts in the digital realm", he said the systems currently available, if used by the general public, would make NSA bulk surveillance programmes much more difficult.
