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When the code gets cranky, its time to refactor. Piling shit on top of it just makes it worst.

I'm not talking about NIHS or rewrites, I'm talking about refactoring.

And lots of edge cases and special things are not a good thing in law or software I think.

I don't disagree with you on the need for careful refactoring of our legal code. In fact, a few years ago I wrote an essay on this very topic:

http://quandyfactory.com/blog/30/software_as_a_model_for_gov...

I do believe we need to exercise caution, balance and good judgment, and that most of the time, careful refactoring is more prudent and effective than throwing out the existing code and starting from scratch.

Agreed.

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