Wayne B. wrote:
There's no question to me that common sense and the law do not always
go together. I'm not a lawyer, but I think that if I were, I'd much
rather be arguing on the side of what the law actually says.

Since lawyers write all the laws (and they are generally written
purposefully to be as verbose and obtuse as possible - just look at the
tax laws), generally only those lawyers understand what they wrote. That
is one reason why we can have so many judges so easily misinterpret
those laws. So why would anyone expect someone in customs or the Coast
Guard to understand what most judges can't?