Posted on 06/11/2002 11:07:01 PM PDT by Pistol
More Injustice on the Way
Paul Craig RobertsJune 12, 2002
In 1999, Edward Tenner published "Why Things Bite Back," a provocative book about the unintended consequences of technology. Someone should write a similar book about law, because the unintended consequences are even more far-reaching.
Gene Healy, a Cato Institute scholar, recently provided a thorough exploration of the unintended consequences of one law, the new Bush-Ashcroft plan to federalize gun crimes, known as the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. The unintended consequences of this law are frightening.
The law originated in a strategy by the National Rifle Association and the Bush administration to forestall further anti-gun legislation by emphasizing tougher enforcement of existing gun laws. To this end, the legislation funds 113 new assistant U.S. attorneys and 600 new state and local prosecutors, whose only beat is to prosecute gun crimes. And there lies the unintended consequences.
As Healy rightly notes, one consequence is the over-enforcement of gun laws and a "proliferation of 'garbage' gun charges – technical violations of firearms statutes on which no sensible prosecutor would expend his energy."
Conviction rates are the key indicator in judging the performance of U.S. Attorneys' offices. Unlike other prosecutors, whose bailiwicks cover all criminal offenses, the 713 Safe Neighborhood prosecutors are limited to one offense. Once they run out of serious gun crimes, they push on with technical and meritless indictments.
Meritless convictions were fast in coming. Last January, the Des Moines Register asked: "What sort of country would put a man in federal prison for 15 years for possessing a single .22 caliber bullet? Ours would." Dane Yirkovsky, a drug user and sometime burglar, was sentenced as an armed criminal for forgetting to dispose of a bullet that he found on a floor while installing a carpet.
Katica Crippen, a 32-year-old woman with a drug conviction, posed naked for her photographer boyfriend holding one of his guns as a prop. Police found the photos while surfing Internet porn sites. Her nakedness was no offense, but prosecutors interpreted holding a gun as "being in possession." Crippen was given an 18-month federal sentence for being an "armed felon."
Sentencing guidelines force judges to give unjust sentences for such non-crimes. Federal judge Richard Matsch, who presided over the Oklahoma City bombing trial, found Crippen's case on his docket. Outraged at the lack of prosecutorial judgment, he asked: "How far is this policy of locking up people with guns going to go? Who decided this is a federal crime?"
Reporter David Holthouse examined 191 Colorado federal firearm cases. The vast majority convicted as "armed felons" had no record of violent felonies. Most were drug possession charges. Only four had actually fired a gun during a crime.
In Richmond, Va., the meritless gun cases pursued by federal prosecutor David Schiller caused federal judge Richard L. Williams to observe that "90 percent of these defendants are probably no danger to society."
Prosecutors already had a hearty appetite for expansive interpretations of gun laws prior to Project Safe Neighborhoods. Candisha Robinson sold illegal drugs to undercover officers in her apartment. A subsequent search found an unloaded gun locked in a trunk in her closet. She was charged by federal prosecutors with "using" a firearm while committing a drug offense.
Readers might lack sympathy for unsavory characters, but unsavory character is no justification for unsavory indictments.
In the end, many law-abiding citizens will end up in jail for merely being gun owners or acting in self-defense. A spouse, maneuvering for the upper hand in a divorce proceeding, can place a gun owner in violation of gun laws merely by obtaining a restraining order. Prosecutors already bring first-degree murder charges against occupants who shoot threatening intruders in self-defense.
Healy notes other unintended consequences of Project Safe Neighborhoods. The law contravenes President Bush's endorsement of federalism and the Supreme Court's effort to resist Congress' inclination to federalize crime. Just after his inauguration, President Bush told the National Governors Association, "I'm going to make respect for federalism a priority in this administration." Bush neither respects federalism nor upholds the Constitution when he crosses 10th Amendment lines and federalizes petty gun crimes.
How can Republicans demand respect for the Constitution when the centerpiece of their crime-fighting program leads off by trampling all over it?
Another consequence, which might not have been unintended, is jury-shopping by prosecutors. Black juries resist prosecutors' efforts to convict based on expansive interpretations of laws and meritless charges. In contrast, white juries believe the prosecutor.
Federalizing gun charges lets prosecutors escape urban jury pools by moving cases to suburban federal district courts.
Healy advises President Bush to abandon Project Safe Neighborhoods, because it is an "affront to the Constitution and the rule of law." No one should be surprised when many of those prosecuted in the name of Safe Neighborhoods are hapless gun owners who are no threat to society.
Dr. Roberts' latest book, "The Tyranny of Good Intentions," has been published by Prima Publishers. Copyright 2002 Creators Syndicate, Inc. See NewsMax's special offer for "The Seven Myths of Gun Control."
Many of the local and state groups formed independently of the NRA have warned about this for some time.
On the National Level Gunowners of America, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Citizens of America, Right to Keep And Bear Arms etc. have also questioned this approach.
For whatever reason the NRA has more of an "inside the beltway" mentality than a pro 2nd Amendment, pro Constitution mentality.
As with so many other things, real Americans need to regain control of the NRA.
Best regards,
Actually Ronald Reagan supported the Brady Bill. As Governor of Calif, Reagan signed gun legislation that imposed a 15 day waiting period. As President, Reagan supported "Brady-like" legislation at the state level.
" It is called the Brady Bill, and Reagan said Congress should enact it without delay. ``It's just plain common sense that there be a waiting period to allow local law enforcement officials to conduct background checks on those who wish to buy a handgun,'' the former president said."
The affront to the Constitution was the passing of this unConstitutional garbage by Congress and Presidents who signed the laws. The only way to rid ourselves of these onerous laws is to prosecute them until the Supreme Court is forced to rule. Selective prosecution is a dangerous power to grant to the government and should be avoided. If the law is on the books, then prosecute.
This is the very valuable beginning to a process which will eventually end when judges recognize the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as the law of the land. Like Judge Cummings in the Emerson case, they need to dismiss due to violation of the Second Amendment and force the appeals courts to deal with the consequences. Failure to do this duty is a great part of why we find ourselves in the present mess.
This stuff gives me the "willies". It's no slap on the wrist when the Feds pick up the charge for "unlawful possession of a "firearm" by a felon". The Statuatory minimum is 5 years. Make that a an illegal class three weapon and you are gone for a long time...I think 20 years. Fed time means 87% if you get the 54 days/year good time. How the Crippen girl in the article only got 18 months is interesting. Either the judge bucked the min/mans (almost impossible) or she cooperated in another matter.
Now Clinton yanked the US Marshall's previous right to restore gun rights to felons who applied with good intent and Bush and Ashcroft sure don't sound like they are going to do anything to help. Another 20 years or so and probably 1 in 20 American males of adult age will be vulnerable to these draconian laws ...some even with only misdemeanor records. Problem is....how does one start a political movement to restore gun rights to felons who've "paid their debt" as they say?...LOL....might as well try to build a rocket to the moon with Sterno cans.
The pivotal time will come when enough "normal joe" American families have a loved one doing time for this overkill law. Then folks might pay attention. For now, if one is busted for a firearm violation, they better hope the Feds don't grab the case.
But we may get some applecart upsetting events in the near to midterm which will sweep this nonsense away.
There Goes the Neighborhood: The Bush-Ashcroft Plan to "Help" Localities Fight Gun Crime, by Gene Healy
David Holthouse article posted here:
Living in Exile -- Federal prisons are filling up with people whose only crime is gun possession
Real Americans should join a gun group. The politicians aren't afraid of gun organizations that have 5% of the gun owners. They certainly aren't afraid of any group that has less that a half million in their membership.
And, Bump.
- Abraham Lincoln
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