Reply To: Hitch Hikers In Lakewood Ticketed By Police Story

My strong reaction comes from the belief that callousness is a disease of the soul. And dina demalchusa dina has been used as an excuse for callousness in the most extreme of cases. You just need to look at examples such as stephen wise in ww2 to see that illustrated.
I don’t know why NJ counts itself among four states in the union that ban hitch hiking. I am sure that the originators of this law had good intentions. But it’s an unnecessary law. For those worried about the danger of swerving to pick up hikers, that is called reckless driving and let LE ticket for that. Don’t criminalize being a good person.
Lakewood should urge a change to the law. Why is this different than our fights against shecita bans etc. ? We should be a model of chessed to the nations.