Sounds like Cornelius Publius Tacitus in the Annals of Rome:
"Olim passi sumus a scelerisque, nunc nos pati a legibus."
("Formerly we suffered from crime, now we suffer from laws".)
Pessima re publica, plurimae leges.
(When the republic was at its worst, there were the most laws.)
Seems to resemble our current situation.
Quoting Tacitus from memory so not sure if the wording is 100% accurate.