4 ms·

A felony per day? That cannot possibly be true; maybe the average person commits 1+ "crimes" per day, but not felonies. The only felonies I can think of that an

A felony per day? That cannot possibly be true; maybe the average person commits 1+ "crimes" per day, but not felonies. The only felonies I can think of that an "average person" can plausibly have committed in their entire life: mail fraud, damaging mailboxes, election fraud, tax evasion (willful and intentional evasion of a federal tax), accidental violation of the NFA (on something like what counts as an SBR), obscenity (because who even knows what counts as obscenity anymore), selling/buying _large_ quantities of drugs, grand larceny, cyber crime, vandalism of federal property, and copyright infringement (for _significant_ profit). Most of those are seriously straining plausibility on the "average person" front. Am I missing something? I just can't see how a felony a day is even close to the correct order of magnitude.

dannyphantom 5y ago
This Twitter is pretty fun to read through every few weeks: https://twitter.com/CrimeADay https://twitter.com/CrimeADay Same person wrote a book with this as the description: >Have you ever clogged a toilet in a national forest? That could get you six months in federal prison. Written a letter to a pirate? You might be looking at three years in the slammer. Leaving the country with too many nickels, drinking a beer on a bicycle in a national park, or importing a pregnant polar bear are all very real crimes, and this riotously funny, ridiculously entertaining, and fully illustrated book shows how just about anyone can become—or may already be—a federal criminal.
- eindiran 5y ago
  None of these seem to be things an average person would do with any regularity though. Also, some of them seem pretty reasonable: https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1444874259357130753 https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1444874259357130753 https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1436176842470342660 https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1436176842470342660 https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1427072331743170563 https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1427072331743170563
BitwiseFool 5y ago
Might I recommend Three Felonies a Day by Harvey A. Silverglate? The felony per day comes from two angles. One, when the magnitude of the felony is small, but still a felony nonetheless. If I find a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk and fail to report that as income, I'm technically committing tax evasion. The government would never find out and no reasonable prosecutor would come after me, but it is a crime nonetheless. The other angle comes from ambiguously worded laws or overly broad laws. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is a notorious example. Breaking a ToS can count as a violation of this law. Exceeding your access or permission level is also notoriously fraught with selective enforcement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Fraud_and_Abuse_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Fraud_and_Abuse_Act
- eindiran 5y ago
  Regarding your first claim; you don't even need to report gifts up to 15k/person/year. You do have to report gambling prizes, but that's because the casino wrote it off so the IRS wants to make sure somebody is paying taxes on it (lol). Whoever lost the 20 has paid taxes on it. Look in here and notice the complete lack of mentioning this case: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p525 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p525 Regarding the second claim, I guess that might get us close to the same order of magnitude (assuming people are constantly violating enforceable sections of site and app ToSes). I just got a copy of the book, will give it a read.
  - BitwiseFool 5y ago
    My source on the first claim is from this article on TurboTax: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/general/what-to-know-about-taxes-on-found-property/L9BfdKz7N https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/general/what-to-know-ab... "The IRS plainly states that taxpayers must report “all income from any source," even income earned in another country, unless it is explicitly exempt under the U.S. Tax Code. This covers a wide range of miscellaneous income, including gambling winnings. According to the Cesarini decision, money you find isn’t explicitly exempt."
    - eindiran 5y ago

dannyphantom 5y ago

This Twitter is pretty fun to read through every few weeks: https://twitter.com/CrimeADay https://twitter.com/CrimeADay Same person wrote a book with this as the description: >Have you ever clogged a toilet in a national forest? That could get you six months in federal prison. Written a letter to a pirate? You might be looking at three years in the slammer. Leaving the country with too many nickels, drinking a beer on a bicycle in a national park, or importing a pregnant polar bear are all very real crimes, and this riotously funny, ridiculously entertaining, and fully illustrated book shows how just about anyone can become—or may already be—a federal criminal.

eindiran 5y ago
None of these seem to be things an average person would do with any regularity though. Also, some of them seem pretty reasonable: https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1444874259357130753 https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1444874259357130753 https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1436176842470342660 https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1436176842470342660 https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1427072331743170563 https://nitter.net/CrimeADay/status/1427072331743170563

BitwiseFool 5y ago

Might I recommend Three Felonies a Day by Harvey A. Silverglate? The felony per day comes from two angles. One, when the magnitude of the felony is small, but still a felony nonetheless. If I find a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk and fail to report that as income, I'm technically committing tax evasion. The government would never find out and no reasonable prosecutor would come after me, but it is a crime nonetheless. The other angle comes from ambiguously worded laws or overly broad laws. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is a notorious example. Breaking a ToS can count as a violation of this law. Exceeding your access or permission level is also notoriously fraught with selective enforcement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Fraud_and_Abuse_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Fraud_and_Abuse_Act

eindiran 5y ago
Regarding your first claim; you don't even need to report gifts up to 15k/person/year. You do have to report gambling prizes, but that's because the casino wrote it off so the IRS wants to make sure somebody is paying taxes on it (lol). Whoever lost the 20 has paid taxes on it. Look in here and notice the complete lack of mentioning this case: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p525 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p525 Regarding the second claim, I guess that might get us close to the same order of magnitude (assuming people are constantly violating enforceable sections of site and app ToSes). I just got a copy of the book, will give it a read.
- BitwiseFool 5y ago
  My source on the first claim is from this article on TurboTax: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/general/what-to-know-about-taxes-on-found-property/L9BfdKz7N https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/general/what-to-know-ab... "The IRS plainly states that taxpayers must report “all income from any source," even income earned in another country, unless it is explicitly exempt under the U.S. Tax Code. This covers a wide range of miscellaneous income, including gambling winnings. According to the Cesarini decision, money you find isn’t explicitly exempt."
  - eindiran 5y ago