We all make assumptions, and I may be guilty of assuming too much in some responses on this message board and others.
On the topic of Confederate military law, the average person who has a question about their ancestor's military records will not understand conscription, term of service, bounties and other related topics. That's okay. However, researchers who regularly spend time with Confederate military records, should be reasonably well informed.
Anyway, I've always assumed that most good researchers understood how Confederate military law was supposed to work. Of course, Confederate military laws changed over time, so the answer to a question depends on time frame, as Confederate Congressmen made regular efforts to improve on existing statutes. In other words, it's a moving target.
Example: The Conscript Act of 1862 allowed a man subject to military service to opt out of the army by furnishing a substitute. On Dec 28, 1863, Congress abolished substitution, so substitution was a factor only between April 1862 and Jan 1864.
It's simply a matter of personal curiousity. Responses by regular posters sometimes suggest lack of familiarity with general dates and facts on this topic. How much do you expect a good researcher to know? If you're responding to a regular on a message board, how much should you have to explain? Your responses are appreciated.