I am totally grossed out by actually understanding spousal privilege.

It is possible I'm heartless and have dictator-tendencies, but it makes no sense to me, and I'm not sure how it helps society more than it mucks things up. It's crime. Why should other people's lives or liberty be less important than my marriage vows, which I can break with a snap of a finger anyway?

I suppose that duty-to-warn, outside of a professional relationship (where, e.g., it is expertise that tells you "yes, Dude X is crazy enough to attack Dude Y" or "Yes, Dude X attacking Dude Y is, in fact, illegal"), would fall into more of the Good Samaritan context than anything else. Right? I'm neither a shrink nor a lawyer, so it's not my professional responsibility to warn Dude Y, just the responsibility of my citizenship, as my state/province/country defines it.

Interestingly, a number of states have passed laws requiring that folks report illegal activity to the authorities. Arguably, threatening to kill someone else is illegal.

The Anaheim, formerly California, formerly LA Angels are now the LA Angels of Anaheim.

This is dumb.

I know they have been wanting to have LA in their name for some reason unknown to me, (is anyone unclear where Anaheim is? Is it not true that it is in a different county and not actually in LA?)

I have no idea why this bugs me. But it does. Though I am amused that they resolved it by adopting an even sillier name than I thought possible as an outcome.

Huh. I thought spousal privilege meant that you weren't forced to testify against your spouse, not that you weren't allowed to.

Why should other people's lives or liberty be less important than my marriage vows, which I can break with a snap of a finger anyway?

And you've exactly idenitified the issue. Privilege -- any privilege -- requires a balancing of two goods (or two bads). The desire to have full and frank communication between people in particular relationships (marriage, attorney-client, priest-penitent) has to be balanced against the desire for the truth to come out and the guilty punished.

Huh. I thought spousal privilege meant that you weren't forced to testify against your spouse, not that you weren't allowed to.

This was also my understanding, based on the many years of watching Law & Order

However, I may have merely been mesmerized by Sam Waterston's eyebrows. Give 'em hell, McCoy!

Huh. I thought spousal privilege meant that you weren't forced to testify against your spouse, not that you weren't allowed to.

You definition may be correct, depending upon the state involved -- it really does vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

This was also my understanding, based on the many years of watching Law & Order

NY may be different than California.

(is anyone unclear where Anaheim is? Is it not true that it is in a different county and not actually in LA?)

The Detroit Pistons are not only not in Detroit, they're not in the same county. I think it's the same with the Lions. The Tigers and Redwings are right downtown, though.

NY may be different than California.

Indeed. Also, fiction may be different than reality. It's all good. Except Waterston's eyebrows.

t shudder

I may or may not be in the throes of a sugar high.

Also, fiction may be different than reality.

From what I've seen and read, the folks at "Law & Order" do try to be accurate about NY law. I remember a few eps with the law in other jurisdictions being an issue -- a cross-over with "Homicide" demonstrated the differences between NY and Maryland law on some matters.