Uh oh. Umm. No, I do not agree. Allow me to explain.

Policy is a decision made before some imaginary thing might happen. It’s an anticipatory action.

School districts' Zero Tolerance discipline policies are a good example. School boards decided that IF a student did x, y or z, this would be the punishment. It did not matter why a student did x,y or z – once a school board had adopted a zero-tolerance policy they “had” to enforce it. As a result, Zero Tolerance came before students, fairness and justice. IOW, school boards started protecting zero tolerance policies, instead of students ( and at the expense of students).

Next thing we know, bullies were ruling our schools. Since zero tolerance policies said that any student caught fighting would be expelled, kids defending themselves were expelled right along with the bully (or gang member/s). Zero tolerance policies made things easy for adults and impossible for students.

The same thing happened in the courts with mandated sentencing requirements. It happened in police departments with qualified immunity. It happened in prisons with zero tolerance policies. It is happening right now in states adopting abortion policies that eliminate any possibility that pregnancy is a choice.

Any time and every time, we institute a policy, we relieve those in power of responsibility for considering circumstances and people on a case-by-case basis. With very few exceptions, policies backfire in really awful ways. If people don’t want to make decisions, they need to stay out of decision-making positions.

I will continue in a separate comment.