"It's difficult to legislate behavior," said Jim Scherr, the chief executive of the U.S.O.C. "We hope it doesn't have to be a conscious thought.
Similarly, it seems a good basic ground rule that we should not legislate behavior based on the the lowermost percentile of cognitive ability.
As many segregationists once argued -- you can't legislate behavior.
But we must go on to say that while it may be true that morality cannot be legislated, behavior can be regulated.
But legislating parental behavior through punishment doesn't seem like the best use of governmental "muscle".
The preachers who attempt the role of politician, with the intent of legislating human behavior, should cause one to question their ability to reason or lead.
Whenever you try to legislate professional behavior, there are bound to be unintended consequences.
"If members were comporting themselves with principles of good practice, it wouldn't be necessary to legislate board behavior," said Richard Novak, a senior vice president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.
The City Council and the State Assembly are trying to legislate better behavior and more tolerance among students, and that is nice, in a "We Are the World" sort of way.
In many cases, the campaigns to legislate good behavior have replaced robbery and assault with trespassing, public drinking and spitting on baseball players on court dockets across the city.
