3 ms·

I spend a considerable amount of time studying case law and I can say confidently that I have no idea whether I am committing a crime even doing something that

I spend a considerable amount of time studying case law and I can say confidently that I have no idea whether I am committing a crime even doing something that seems to me to be completely innocuous such as sitting in my office posting on HN right now. In fact, I suspect I probably am in some obscure way that never occurred to me. Actually, there is a way that occurs to me. The article said "if you lie to your employer on your time and attendance records and, unbeknownst to you, he submits your records, along with those of other employees." My employer does have some government contracts and it's possible I am not supposed to be using the computer for personal reading. Perhaps my time now, even though after a solid 8 hr day, accounts by percentage of total work per day which is being reported to the government. By posting on HN I am defrauding the government of the taxpayer's hard earned cash. So actually I probably am committing a serious crime, see, I didn't even have to think to hard to come up with a possibility. Maybe someone will say this is not a crime, but how can they really know? Just because I haven't been charged yet doesn't mean this isn't illegal. Now the rest of life is the same way. It's possible that every minute of the day some crime is being committed unwittingly by myself. Talking to police and saying anything at all virtually guarantees that they will be made aware of some sort of illegal activity that I am engaged in. Perhaps I watered my lawn at the wrong hour. Maybe I failed to signal before changing lanes. Maybe I accidentally threw away a lithium battery that wasn't supposed to go to the landfill.

noonespecial 15y ago
Don't forget all of the stuff that you can not do that will also land you in the klink. Damned if you do damned if... never mind, just skip right to damned.
Roboprog 15y ago
Which is an excellent reason for a trail by jury. It leaves open a chance for a jury to decide "this is bullshit!" There's of course a legal term for that, but I'll be damned if I remember it, IANAL and all...
- ScottBurson 15y ago
  I believe you're thinking of jury nullification.
hga 15y ago
Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent by Harvey Silverglate: http://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/1594035229/ http://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/... "The average professional in this country wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, eats dinner, and then goes to sleep, unaware that he or she has likely committed several federal crimes that day. Why? The answer lies in the very nature of modern federal criminal laws, which have exploded in number but also become impossibly broad and vague. In Three Felonies a Day, Harvey A. Silverglate reveals how federal criminal laws have become dangerously disconnected from the English common law tradition and how prosecutors can pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, for even the most seemingly innocuous behavior. The volume of federal crimes in recent decades has increased well beyond the statute books and into the morass of the Code of Federal Regulations, handing federal prosecutors an additional trove of vague and exceedingly complex and technical prohibitions to stick on their hapless targets. The dangers spelled out in Three Felonies a Day do not apply solely to “white collar criminals,” state and local politicians, and professionals. No social class or profession is safe from this troubling form of social control by the executive branch..."

noonespecial 15y ago

Don't forget all of the stuff that you can not do that will also land you in the klink. Damned if you do damned if... never mind, just skip right to damned.

Roboprog 15y ago

Which is an excellent reason for a trail by jury. It leaves open a chance for a jury to decide "this is bullshit!" There's of course a legal term for that, but I'll be damned if I remember it, IANAL and all...

ScottBurson 15y ago
I believe you're thinking of jury nullification.

hga 15y ago

Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent by Harvey Silverglate: http://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/1594035229/ http://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/... "The average professional in this country wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, eats dinner, and then goes to sleep, unaware that he or she has likely committed several federal crimes that day. Why? The answer lies in the very nature of modern federal criminal laws, which have exploded in number but also become impossibly broad and vague. In Three Felonies a Day, Harvey A. Silverglate reveals how federal criminal laws have become dangerously disconnected from the English common law tradition and how prosecutors can pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, for even the most seemingly innocuous behavior. The volume of federal crimes in recent decades has increased well beyond the statute books and into the morass of the Code of Federal Regulations, handing federal prosecutors an additional trove of vague and exceedingly complex and technical prohibitions to stick on their hapless targets. The dangers spelled out in Three Felonies a Day do not apply solely to “white collar criminals,” state and local politicians, and professionals. No social class or profession is safe from this troubling form of social control by the executive branch..."