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Nah, the rule makes sense most of the time. If you know you've got a legal claim and can't get your butt to court inside of 3 or 6 years, then you have volunteered to give up your claim -- you obviously don't want it. This rule was put in place so that people don't spend the rest of their lives worrying about that car accident they had or that contract they got in a fight over -- it allows closure. It also avoids fighting over stale evidence.
And, there are exceptions. In many cases, there is a "discovery rule" -- meaning the time period doesn't begin ticking until the injured party knows about their injury. Of course, the strong doctor's lobby has been able to obtain exceptions to the "discovery rule" in almost every state, but that's another story.
Where criminal law is concerned, though, it's simply a time dating to the date of the act. And, the legislature is free to change the rule whenever it sees fit.
[ 09-28-2004, 12:30 PM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]
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