People v. Butler

Opinion

RUBIN, J. *

This case affords us the opportunity to examine the fascinating and often uncertain relationship between law and technology. While courts must be sufficiently receptive to the notion of adapting legal principles to address societal changes brought upon by new technologies, where, as here, the issue involves an interpretation of existing statutes, we must maintain our usual deference to the Legislature in such matters and ask ourselves first how that body would have handled the problem if it had anticipated it. (Lewis v. Ryan (1976) 64 Cal.App.3d 330, 333 [134 Cal.Rptr. 355].)