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A ban is, generally, any decree that prohibits something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some see this as a negative act (equating it to a form of censorship or discrimination) and others see it as maintaining the "status quo". Bans in commerce are referred to as embargos.
Banning Marriages An example of a popular ban in the early 21st century is a marriage ban, used to prevent certain categories of people from marrying each other. For much of the 1800s and 1900s there were bans on marriage between people of different races (interracial marriage). However, the ban on interracial marriage was taken up by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1967 in the landmark civil rights case Loving vs. Virginia, in which the Court ruled Virginia's miscegenation law an unconstitutional violation of the fundamental right to marriage. A growing minority of citizens favor extending the right to marriage to couples of the same gender. (Gay marriage). However, as evinced by the laws that have been passed against it in several U.S. states, there is also considerable popular feeling against this idea, especially from conservatives and particularly from the religious right. In the future, a case involving the rights of couples of the same sex to marry (or couples in which one of the partner is a transsexual and therefore has legally changed their sex) may appear in front of the federal judiciary. President George W. Bush favors a ban on marriage for homosexuals. Banned persons under Apartheid During the Apartheid régime in South Africa, the National Party government issued banning orders to individuals seen to be threats to its power — often black politicians or organisations — and acted as suppression orders. Individuals banned by the government could not communicate with more than one person at any time unless at home (thus removing them from partaking in political activities), travel to areas without government approval, or leave the country. Banning and perverse incentives Advocates for a law banning a good or service often present the law as a way of getting rid of the banned thing. However, the enactment of a ban rarely can cause the banned thing to suddenly disappear from society. For instance, prohibition (of alcohol) did not make alcohol use go away; rather, it drove it underground into the black market of speakeasies and moonshiners. Likewise, prostitution is illegal in most nations, but is still widely practiced. Banning does not make the banned goods or services go away -- all it does is threaten with prosecution those who are caught with the banned good or engaged in the banned service. Law enforcement is never perfect, so some people will be able to get away with breaking the law; this is why a black market is possible. A perverse incentive can arise when banning a good makes it more profitable to supply, by driving up the price. Similarly, the creation of a black market can create a profitable economic niche for organized crime. See also | ||||||||
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