Laissez Les Jailbreaks Roulez

In court decisions, it is not uncommon for judges to refer to "the infinite wisdom of the legislature." Bostonist realizes that this may be an exaggeration, but we understand what it means: When it comes to ordinary, non-constitutional cases, courts are stuck with what the law actually says, not what it ought to say. A decision issued by the Massachusetts Appeals Court today (Commonwealth v. Clay) provides an excellent and amusing example of this principle: Escaping from jail or prison is, as you might expect, a crime. However, the law that makes it a crime specifies that escape must be from a "penal institution." Another law defines "penal institution" in such a way that the term does not apply to a cell block in a police station. End result: Because of a legislative oversight, it is not illegal to escape from some police lock-ups. So even though the defendant in this case went missing from his cell in the Cambridge police station and "was discovered halfway down the length of the cell block, hiding in a two-foot gap between the top of the cell block and the building ceiling," his escape conviction was overturned. As the Appeals Court decision gently puts it, "The Legislature may wish to enact a statute that includes the conduct that occurred here."