eli5: Whats the difference between something that’s legal and a law that’s in the gray area

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Isn’t anything that’s not illegal, legal?

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Sometimes, in light of new things like new technologies, old laws can seem a bit vague, and so either the courts decide how to apply the law to new situations, or the legislature has to update the law to address them.

So, until the judiciary or the legislature definitively decides how to treat something, it’s in a grey area.

Also, sometimes, a certain thing can be legal or illegal depending on context. Like carrying a knife in a city where doing so is illegal. If the knife is a vital tool of your job and you’re either on-the-job or heading to work, then it’s probably fine.

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