Shikha Dalmia — who, I should note, in the interests of full disclosure, is a colleague of my husband's and a charming dinner companion, as well as a Bloomberg View contributor — recently wrote a column for Reason magazine and the Week about affirmative consent laws. I've already said my piece about affirmative-consent laws, to which I will just add this:
I am disturbed by the number of feminists I've seen defending these laws on the grounds that of course they will rarely be enforced. Why pass laws you don't intend to enforce?
Unenforceable laws weaken our whole legal framework by conceding that really, the whole thing is just an arbitrary exercise of power by authorities — a theory of justice that has not, I must point out, generally redounded to the benefit of women and minorities. It is, in the words of P.J. O'Rourke, "Pinning a 'kick me!' sign on the backside of the majesty of the law."