Free Republic

If you're planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you'd best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products. The initiative, which targets toys and other products for children, enforces a new provision that makes it a crime to resell anything that's been recalled by its manufacturer. "Those who resell recalled children's products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children's lives at risk," said Inez Tenenbaum, the recently confirmed chairwoman of...

The federal government is cracking down on immigrants who have been deported and then returned to the United States illegally. The Los Angeles Times reviewed U.S. attorney's statistics and found prosecutors filed 539 such cases in fiscal year 2007. That's 35 percent of the total caseload compared to 207 in 2006 - 17 percent of all cases. Federal authorities say they are mainly targeting gang members, drug dealers and career criminals who have re-entered the country after being deported. But critics say people who commit minor crimes have been caught up in the recent crackdown. The newspaper reports immigration officials...