Stilly River SAge (somewhere up in there) said, in part:

the law of unintended consequences comes into play. It means that because these laws are poorly crafted and tie the hands of judges regarding things like "three strikes,"

There is in the law a maxim that "Hard cases make bad law, and bad law makes hard cases."

That is, to make a rule of law (whether case law or statutory) as a result of uncertain or aggravated cases makes law that is uncertain or draconian. As a result of such bad law, other cases down the line get prosecuted, tried, or punished badly.

Dave Oesterreich