AuntiE Loc: 45th Least Free State

http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/30/born-guilty-how-the-fed-govt-has-replace

Born Guilty: How the fed govt has replaced Original Sin with its own version of existential guilt

Christians believe in the concept of original sin: Simply by being born you are in a fallen state, separated from the divine. Secular government is racing to catch up by making huge swaths of everyday life subject to all sorts of criminal penalties.

Have you diverted rain water from around a building? Then you might be guilty of a crime. Inadvertently pick up a feather that once belonged to a bald eagle? Same deal. Welcome to the Kafkaesque world of "regulatory crimes," a vast atlas of misdeeds that increasingly covers just about the whole of everyday existence.

Writes the Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds of University of Tennessee, in USA Today:

"Regulatory crimes" of this sort are incredibly numerous and a category that is growing quickly. They are the ones likely to trap unwary individuals into being felons without knowing it. That is why Michael Cottone, in a just-published Tennessee Law Review article, suggests that maybe the old presumption that individuals know the law is outdated, unfair and maybe even unconstitutional. "Tellingly," he writes, "no exact count of the number of federal statutes that impose criminal sanctions has ever been given, but estimates from the last 15 years range from 3,600 to approximately 4,500." Meanwhile, according to recent congressional testimony, the number of federal regulations (enacted by administrative agencies under loose authority from Congress) carrying criminal penalties may be as many as 300,000.

And it gets worse. While the old-fashioned common law crimes typically required a culpable mental state — you had to realize you were doing something wrong — the regulatory crimes generally don't require any knowledge that you're breaking the law. This seems quite unfair. As Cottone asks, "How can people be expected to know all the laws governing their conduct when no one even knows exactly how many criminal laws exist?

Noting that relying on prosecutorial discretion is no corrective, given all the pressures on and tendencies of prosecutors to build up numbers of convictions uber alles. He suggests a fix, though:

To solve this problem we need for judges to abandon the presumption that people know the law, at least where regulatory crimes are concerned, and require some proof that the accused knew or should reasonably have known that his conduct was illegal. Alternatively, Congress should adopt legislation requiring such proof. (And I would favor allowing defendants in any action brought by the federal government — civil or criminal — to have the option of arguing to the jury that the government's action against them is unfair or biased, with the charges dropped and legal fees being charged to the government if the jury agrees.)

And closes with this bon mot:

Law that can't be known is no law at all.

Read the whole thing here.

Read Harvey Silverglate, author of Three Felonies a Day, on this problem with vague and expansive laws.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

No one has ever broken a law until someone notices that they have. I have often said, that it appears that law makers are intent to force every citizen to hire a personal attorney, to follow them around everywhere and advise them before any action is taken - to avoid breaking a law. I have also said that, if I can't understand a law that I'm responsible for obeying, then I can't be held accountable.

If laws were made by ordinary human beings, then it could be expected that ordinary humans would understand those laws. What we've got, are laws created by lawyers - that only another lawyer can understand - and in many cases, even THEY are confused.

So the only way to avoid being arrested and charged with a crime, is to not be noticed, because if you ARE noticed, they'll also note that you have broken a law of some sort.

AuntiE Loc: 45th Least Free State

I see you are utilizing your destroyer today.*

By writing laws using convoluted language, the laws can be interpreted to suit whoever is involved on either side.

*I have decided I am going to grade your comments based on which vehicle is applicable. Your canoe, with that hole in, will be for being incorrect (as I see it). The destroyer is when you are correct (as I see it). You need to hurry up and build the mine sweeper for those times I partially agree. :lol: :lol: :roll: :roll:

archie bunker Loc: Texas

Well...I wake up, put my feet on the floor, leave the house, and go to work every day. I never pictured myself as an outlaw...reckon I might be....

Now I need a good sounding outlaw name to go with my persona....

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Your no outlaw but you are a maverick~~~ :wink:

archie bunker Loc: Texas

Good luck gettin a rope on me! 8-) :lol:
Thanks Linda! :thumbup:

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Your Welcome, Maverick Arch~~ :lol:

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

haha! You should have been a lawyer :lol: No, I'm kidding, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I believe you're quite correct, with the convoluted language assessment. Some of our lawmakers/lawyers here think they're quite cute, with the careful wording of ridiculous laws, that SEEM to say one thing - but actually say another. What they don't realize, is that even dummies like me - can look stuff up and figure out the "coded messages" in their new laws.

The problem is, by the time I ( and others ) figure out what they REALLY say, they've been signed into law - which will require waiting 1 1/2 more years to correct ( if then ). Pretty slick, if you ask me, but hardly honorable. I guess what really torx me off, is the p***e they display at having hoodwinked their constituents. I can't tell you how many folks are pissed about our recent passage of a law, that SEEMED to establish ethics guidelines for lawmakers, but ACTUALLY eliminated terms limits and authorized them to set their own pay raises. I read the whole thing and saw the trick, but by the time I could get the word out - it was too late, folks were already v****g. They know NOW, but the legislature is counting on folks forgetting about it come Nov. 2016. I intend to remind everyone beginning about Aug 2016.

I thank you for your nautical concerns and the mine detection equipment is on order. :XD:

MrEd Loc: Georgia

What you have left out is the laws written in Latten. It's bad enough that they use language that no one understands, but is still English, but when they start using a dead foreign language it is time to put a stop to it.