Things I’ve Learned About the Legal System
1. Private citizens do not charge people with crimes. Only the government can do that.
Citizens can only file civil suits against each other. Any charge of a crime, by definition, must come from a government agency - specifically, from a prosecutor. Frequently a prosecutor will decide whether to charge an alleged perpetrator based on whether someone else appears willing and able to provide strong testimony, but “pressing charges” does not cause criminal proceedings to begin automatically, nor can you stop the government from charging someone with a crime by deciding not to press charges. That decision is entirely out of your hands.
2. Bills are not formally evaluated for legality before they’re passed into law.
It’s the job of judges, and the judiciary in general, to rule on the legality of laws, but only after those laws come into existence. Acting judges don’t officially review and affirm the legality of proposed laws before the legislative branch votes on enacting them. Lawyers, retired judges, and other legal experts are often (but not always!) called upon to do these analyses, but not live judges.
3. Only people that a law applies to can challenge whether it’s legal, and often only after it’s affected them.
Tax laws can’t be challenged until after the government attempts to collect taxes subsequent to the laws’ passing, and only by people paying it. Michael Newdow wanted to sue the school system to stop it from making his daughter recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that he couldn’t, on the grounds that his post-divorce arrangements left him no legal custody of his daughter and so he couldn’t sue anyone about anything on her behalf.