Are You a Criminal? Maybe You Are and Don’t Know It

The Cato Institute ^ | December 9, 2009 | Tim Lynch

[2ndDivisionVet]

Yesterday, Michael Dreeben, the attorney representing the U.S. government, tried to defend the controversial “honest services” statute from a constitutional challenge in front of the Supreme Court. When Dreeben informed the Court that the feds have essentially criminalized any ethical lapse in the workplace, Justice Breyer exclaimed,

[T]here are 150 million workers in the United States. I think possibly 140 [million] of them flunk your test.

There it is. Some of us have been trying to draw more attention to the dangerous trend of overcriminalization. Judge Alex Kozinski co-authored an article in my book entitled “You’re (Probably) a Federal Criminal.” And Cato adjunct scholar, Harvey Silverglate, calls his new book, Three Felonies a Day to stress the fact that the average professional unknowingly violates the federal criminal law several times each day (at least in the opinion of federal prosecutors). Not many people want to discuss that pernicious reality. To the extent defenders of big government address the problem at all, they’ve tried to write it all off as the rhetoric of a few libertarian lawyers. Given yesterday’s back-and-forth at the High Court, it is going to be much much harder to make that sort of claim.

For more on this subject, go here, here, and here.

[2ndDivisionVet]

It'll only get worse with this crew.

[Nosterrex]

Every honest citizen is a criminal under our current legal system. Only the criminals are innocent. Sometimes a society has to overthrow it political and legal systems in order to survive. We are way past the idea of reform. We need a revolution.

[enduserindy]

I had White Castle tonight, I’m not sure is tooting a crime yet? (Sorry had to do it.)

[arthurus]

In a socialist Utopia that which is not required is forbidden. The EPA new rules will make us ALL criminals ALL THE TIME when the permissible CO2 production of individuals is adjusted downward the 6th or 7th time.

[ThanhPhero]

I see a novel here-The Breath Police, a breathtakingly fast paced thriler.

[Ronin]

“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”

Ayn Rand, from "Atlas Shrugged"

[republicangel]

Um, excuse me, but you have exceeded your limit of expelling greenhouse gases.

[OneWingedShark]

That’s exactly what we see.